The top bait to catch bass at Clear Lake during the cold winter months is, without question, live jumbo minnows. There is a reason most of the local fishing guides use minnows almost exclusively and that”s because their clients are just about guaranteed to catch fish.
One of the best minnow fishermen on Clear Lake is George Hill of Kelseyville. He doesn”t guide but fishes recreationally at least two or three times a week and live jumbo minnows are one of his favorite methods to load up his boat with bass.
I had the opportunity to fish with Hill on Thursday and I can see why jumbo minnows are so popular as bait. We fished the deeper water in Konocti Bay and caught and released at least a dozen bass, the largest weighing more than 5 pounds, during a span of three hours.
Hill rigs the minnow differently than most fishermen. Whereas the popular method of rigging a live minnow is to use a bobber, Hill rigs them split-shot style the same as you would with a plastic worm. The only difference is that he attaches a three-way swivel and a 12-inch piece of monofilament line off the swivel. This allows the minnow to swim freely. He uses a size 2 wide-gap hook and hooks the minnow through the lips.
Hill casts the minnow out into the deeper water and slowly retrieves it, allowing it to bump the bottom. Most of the time when a bass grabs the minnow all you will feel is slight resistance. Lower you rod tip to the surface and then make a long sweep with the rod to set the hook.
According to Hill, the trick to success when fishing minnows during the winter is to locate active fish. Often he will try several areas until he finds a school of bass and then he will work it thoroughly, often staying in the general area for more than an hour.
The only downside to using live minnows is the cost. A dozen of jumbos costs $12 and it”s $9 for the extra large. When the fishing is good, it”s not unusual to use three or even four dozen in a day.
The warm summer-like weather has improved the bass fishing on Clear Lake. That”s not to say the bite is wide open, but it has improved over previous weeks. I was fishing the lake on Monday with Mike Rothstein of Kelseyville and we caught and released 18 bass within a period of five hours. All but two were caught on Lucky Craft LV500 lipless crankbaits.
The top technique was the lift-and-fall method. That”s where you make a long cast and allow the lure to fall to the bottom. Lift the tip of your rod up, which causes the lure to lift off the bottom, and then allow it to fall back to bottom. Repeat this action all the way back to the boat.
All of our fish were caught in the north end of the lake in about 6 feet of water over scattered rocks. Most of the bass weighed between 2-4 pounds.
Most of the fishermen are concentrating their efforts in the deeper water in the south end of the lake, where they are casting jigs to the submerged rockpiles.
Despite the warm weather, the water temperatures remain in the mid-40s. In addition, the lake level is low compared to last year at this time. As of Thursday the lake level was holding at 1.12 on the Rumsey Gauge — more than 3 feet below last year. The result is that the lake is fishing small, meaning that it”s too shallow over much of the shoreline. For example, the depth at the outer edges of most the docks in the Lakeport area is less than 3 feet.
We haven”t heard much about Indian Valley Reservoir the past few weeks. One fisherman reported that he recently took a kayak and launched near the dam. He said he caught and released more than 20 bass within a space of four hours, many being smallmouths. He was the only fisherman at the lake. Launching a boat is risky because the ramp is out of the water and you have to back your vehicle down the old dirt road. Cautioned is advised because if you get stuck there is no one to help you.
Whereas the trout fishing at Upper Blue Lake is pretty much a bust, the bass fishing has been good and there has been very little pressure. The successful fishermen are drop-shotting plastic worms in 15 feet of water on the shoreline that borders Highway 20. Jigs also have been working.
