Northern CA Freshwater Fishing Report

Clear Lake’s post spawners on the chew Lake Mendocino at full pool and fishing well By Robin Wade/WON Staff WriterPublished: May 24, 2012

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KELSEYVILLE — The bass bite picked up at Clear Lake due to the fact that the post spawners were hungry and starting to feed up, but the fishing pressure was ridiculous, with many local club events as well as pro events. “The lake really took a beating this past week, with bass tournaments that began on Thursday and a number of them running through the weekend, combined with the annual catfish derby ending on Sunday,” Clear Lake Guide Service owner Ross England said. “Between catfish running amok in the shallows, bass spawning and the carp tearing up portions of the lake for their spawn, some form of spawning is going on at all times right now.” England said the carp activity and wind action has slowed down the sight fishing for spawning bass on the upper end of the lake due to lowered visibility. “Water clarity still varies by area and also day to day with some areas of the lake very clear to 10 feet and beyond and others like the upper end with about 2 to 4 feet of visibility,” he said. “But sight fishing for bedding bass is still the best way to go. Bass are not up all over the lake, they are a bit scattered and tend to be grouped up. The best way to be successful is to totally use up your trolling motor batteries during the day and look, look, look. All three arms of the lake have spawning bass waiting to be found.” “The bite for my customers seemed to pick up due to the fact that the post spawners are hungry and are starting to feed up,” Bassin’ with Bob (Myskey) reported. “The weeds are growing fast in many areas and are currently just under the surface. The topwater bite is minimal right now but will get better as the spawn winds down and the weeds start to mat up.” “The lake has been very busy, with numerous tournaments and many of them going on at the same time,” Myskey said. “By the weekend, it seemed there was a boat every 50 yards. Many people are still sight fishing and many fish are still on their spawning beds. But I personally did not sight fish with my customers this past week and we managed to catch fish by just by fishing for them.” Lake Mendocino at full pool and fishing well MENDOCINO — Lake Mendocino bass fisherman are enjoying great late spring/early summer fishing for both largemouth and smallmouth, and with the lake at full pool, this might be a good choice for a mid week getaway for bass or trout.   Scott Green of Monsterfishingtackle.com said with the majority of the bass having already spawned, early in the morning you will find good action on topwater baits. “LuckyCraft 128s in ghost minnow were working well for me, just plan on covering some water and hitting main lake points. Largemouth bass weighed up to 4 pounds and the smallmouth were from 1 to 2 pounds and provided plenty of action.   “As soon as the sun comes up, anglers are drop-shotting 4-inch Robo Worms in oxblood and warmouth colors in and around primary, secondary points as well as some of the island humps,” Green said.   “Trout are also on tap for shore anglers fishing floating baits on sliding sinker rigs in the upper arm of the lake,” Green said. “Rainbows were planted a few months ago and fish in the 12 to 16 inches size are being caught. You definitely want to plan a weekday trip to this lake in the summer because of the water traffic from skiers, wake boarders and jet skis though.”