Catfish Report-June 25 1999 The catfishing is still good in the south end of the lake and is getting even better in the north end. Most of the fish in the north end have moved shallow to spawn. Ed Ott of Ed's Market in Nice (707-274-8029) reports many of his customers are returning with huge channel cats up to 19 pounds for him to photograph. According to Ed the top bait by far is a big lively nightcrawler about 4 feet under a bobber fished near the tules. Ed says most of the Nice/Lucerne shoreline is producing fish. There have been a lot of 5 to 8 pound channel cats caught around Holiday Harbor in Nice with crawlers. I nailed a 10 pound 12 ouncer yesterday morning with a crawler right at the mouth of the harbor. At the south end of the lake Al Freitas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake reports good results by anchoring near the mouth of Cache Creek or along the Clearlake shoreline, preferably in rocky areas. The top baits have been cut mackerel, clams and crawlers. A lot of fish up to 15 pounds have been taken. Good Fishin.................Catfish Ed As of 9:00AM this morning the lake level is at 5.47 feet above rumsey.   Catfish Report-June 21 1999  Although the brisk northwest winds are making it a little more difficult, the catfishing remains decent, especially in the south end of the lake. Al Freitas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake reports drift fishing around Bass Alley and White Rock to Indian Island is still productive when the wind cooperates. Cache Creek is still giving up good numbers of channel cats using clams and nightcrawlers. There are a lot of large catfish spawning in submerged tires and large shallow rocks in the north end of the lake. They are difficult to catch due to the clear water. The best bet is to fish from 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning till around 6:30 or 7:00 with live crawdads or shrimp under a bobber. There are a few smaller fish being caught off docks in the Nice/Lucerne area using anchovies and clams. Good Fishin.................Catfish Ed Sorry, no lake level readings available since Friday morning.   Catfish Report-June 18 1999   The catfishing is rated very good for most fishermen. Drift fishing is the preferred method in the south end of the lake and crawdads or nightcrawlers under a bobber is the way to go in the north end. According to Bob Higgins of Limit Out Tackle in the Oaks, the hot spot is the mouth of the Clearlake Oaks Keys around M&M Campground where they're catching a lot of 5 to 9 pounders on crawdads, liver and clams. Wendy Freitas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake reports excellent catfishing in her area. The hot spots are Cache Creek, Bass Alley and White Rock to Indian Island. Most anglers are drifting minnows or mackerel at Bass Alley and White Rock while anchoring with clams or nightcrawlers in Cache Creek. Terry knight of the Lake County Record Bee reports seeing a lot of spawning catfish in tires and around rocky areas in the Lakeport area. Terry says most of the fish he saw were in the 15 pound class. The best method in the north end of the lake has been live crawdads, nightcrawlers or a hunk of shrimp under a bobber fished around deep tules, rocky areas or docks with submerged tires. Good Fishin.................Catfish Ed As of 11:00AM this morning the lake level is at 5.88 feet above Rumsey.   Catfish Report-June 14 1999  The catfishing remains good for most anglers. The derby this weekend produced a lot of trophy sized channel cats. Click here for a complete report on the derby. Al Freitas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake says the fishing is excellent for both boat and shore fishermen. The hot spots are still Cache Creek, Bass Alley and all along the City of Clearlake shoreline. Jumbo minnows and crawdads are the top baits with mackerel, clams and sardines also working well. Al reports a 25 pounder caught at the white bridge in Cache Creek with sardine, unfortunately the lucky angler wasn't entered in the derby. Bob Higgins of Limit Out Bait and Tackle in Clearlake Oaks reports lots of huge fish taken around Rattlesnake Island this weekend, of course this was due in part to all the boats fishing the derby. The bite in the Keys slowed down possibly due to all the derby boat traffic going in and out at all times of the day and night. Most of the fish were taken with jumbo minnows and crawdads. The north end of the lake is a little slow. I fished it on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning with only a couple of 8 or 9 pounders for my effort. There are still a few decent catfish coming from Rodman Slough with crawdads and clams. Good Fishin.................Catfish Ed As of 11:00AM this morning the lake level is at 5.99 feet above Rumsey.    Catfish Report-June 10 1999  The catfishing is getting better every day. It should be a great weekend for those of us that are participating in the derby. Bob Higgins of Limit Out Bait and Tackle says most everybody is catching fish. There are a lot of fish in the 6 and 7 pound class with a few up to 13 pounds being taken at the mouth of the Keys with clams. Bob suggests another good producer is right up against the tules almost anywhere in the Oaks area with a live crawdad or jumbo minnow under a bobber at around 4 feet. Al Freitas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake says the fishing is really great. He reports drift fishing minnows and crawdads at Bass Alley and White Rock to Indian Island is giving up a lot of cats with several trophy size fish from 15 to over 20 pounds being weighed in. He adds that Cache Creek is producing a lot of nice fish with minnows and clams either from the shoreline or anchored in a boat. One lucky angler went out to Bass Alley for less than 3 hours and returned with two 16 pounders, one 10 pounder and several 3 to 5 pounders using crawdads and minnows. The north end of the lake is improving also. The hotspots are the Nice/Lucerne shoreline and from the State Park to Rocky Point. Most of the action is with crawdads or shrimp under a bobber at 4 or 5 feet. Rodman Slough is still kicking out quite a few fish with clams and nightcrawlers. Good Fishin, I hope everyone enjoys the Derby, I know I will. .......Catfish Ed. As of 6:00PM this evening the lake level is at 6.10 feet above Rumsey.    Catfish Report-June 7 1999  The windy weekend slowed down the catfishing as well. Some of the better drifting spots were inaccessible due to the wind. Bob Higgins of Limit Out Bait and Tackle in Clearlake Oaks reports good fishing especially in the mouth of the Clearlake Oaks Keys. One lucky angler managed 6 channel cats including an 18 pounder fishing with live crawdads in the Keys. Al Frietas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake lists the mouth of Cache Creek and in the creek as the best spots. The hot drifting spots such as White Rock to Indian Island were inaccessible because of the wind. The top baits according to Al, are mackerel and jumbo minnows. The north end of the lake is still producing quite a few fish around the Nice/Lucerne shoreline. There were two channel cats over 20 pounds taken behind Pepper's Restaurant in Lucerne with nightcrawlers. The mouth of Rodman Slough is still kicking out a few channel cats with crawlers and clams. Another good bet is fishing with crawdads or shrimp under a slip-bobber in 5 or 6 feet of water around tules from the Lucerne shoreline all the way around the north end to State Park on the Lakeport side. The water temperature keeps dipping back to the mid 60s due to the continued cold winds. This is keeping a lid on the spawning cycle. As soon as the water stabilizes at over 70 degrees the catfish will start to spawn in full force, hopefully this will occur very soon. Good Fishin..........Catfish Ed. As of 10:00AM this morning the lake level is at 6.25 feet above Rumsey.    Catfish Report-June 4 1999 The cold and windy weather we had all week didn't seem to hurt the catfishing that much. Al Frietas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake reports very good fishing in Cache Creek and drift fishing from White Rock to Indian Island. The top baits are mackerel and jumbo minnows. Bob Higgins of Limit Out Bait and Tackle in Clearlake Oaks reports a lot of good sized channel cats coming out of the Keys. The top baits have been crawdads, crawlers and minnows in that order. Bob says most anglers are catching at least 3 or 4 cats per outing. Quite a few 13 to 15 pounders are being weighed in. There was very little catfishing activity on the north end of the lake this week. A few cats are still being caught at the mouth of Rodman Slough and along the Nice/Lucerne shoreline with crawdads, nightcrawlers and clams. The prediction is for warming weather this weekend so that should bring out more fishermen. GoodFishin....................Catfish Ed As of 9:00AM this morning the lake level is at 6.35 feet above Rumsey. Back to Old Reports