Flies on Clear Lake

[Ryan]

Recently I’ve been putting in some time on Clear Lake. I’ve had some real good days the last couple months. I apologize for not keeping the board updated. After this last trip, I’ve realized that this good fishing is officially not just a fluke, so I feel its time for a little update for the Warm-Water board.

I’ve been on this board for a long while now and this community has helped me progress as an angler very much. Because this board has given me so much valuable information throughout the years, I do feel a bit of a responsibility to give back and contribute tid bits of good information when I happen to stumble upon some. I am offering guided trips here, but I don’t want to come across like I’m doing this just to push trips on everyone. That’s really not the case. But if you would like to hire me for a trip, my website is www.flyfishcnv.com So with that being said, here is my little update on Clear Lake. Hope you enjoy, or better yet find this useful.

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I’m sure people have fly fished here before, but I could never find any info for fly rods on the lake, and I’ve been trying to find info online about this since 2006.

So incase anyone has ever wondered like myself, the main purpose of this post is to say… Yes, the fly works great here…

As far as Clear Lake being a quality fishery, I want to keep my hyping to a minimum, so if you don’t already know, maybe google or youtube Clear Lake bass fishing and see for yourself what kind of a fishery this is.

WATERCRAFT
Some type of watercraft is needed. A bass boat is best, john boats or prams can work, even jet boats. There are all kinds of jet skis out there even though the water is thick with algae in spots, and my jet boat got me into some great action. The lake is huge and can get very rough on windy days. However just about any boat will suffice on calm days. I’ve seen allot of conventional anglers utilizing anything from your typical 1 man pontoons to 250 horse bass boats, and everything in between. Even on windy days there are areas one can put in a pontoon or pram and stay sheltered from the wind. On calm days, I’ve seen pontoon boaters going across the lake. I wouldn’t recommend doing this however in case wind picks up. There are lots of docks out of the wind, marinas, etc. Clear Lake State Park has great camping and allot of fishable water off the main lake for the most part. Rodman slough is another area where you can get off the main lake. There are countless other areas like this though, I’d just recommend to check it out on a satellite map, and see where you can put in and be out of the wind.

GEAR & TACTICS
For myself, I’ve had most of my luck using a 6wt with an intermediate line. Stripping a small lightly weighted clouser very slowly. I have also used my float & fly/ indicator tactics when I was a bit more desperate to learn the lake. The indicator has got my boat’s 2 largest bass though. And probably 80-100 crappie! If you go and choose to use the indicators for crappie, this is allot of fun, but I suggest using a 5wt or higher incase you hook a big bass. This can be a great way to simply learn where the bass are holding and still have fun using a fly rod. Because the flies I’ve been using are all 2.5” or less I’ve been using 8-10lb test at the end of my leaders. Leader lengths are best kept around 5-6’ or less for accuracy.

As far as topwater goes, I’ve only been able to scrap one small fish here and there. I’ve seen massive blow ups though. So I really don’t have much advice for topwater out here unfortunately. I’ll get it dialed sooner or later, I know there’s great potential for this though.

FLIES
The fly pictured is the only one I’ve done great with out here. That little clouser with an intermediate line is really all you need. There’s a TON of shad (I think they’re shad) and that little clouser imitates them as good as anything it seems, and they’re easy to tie.

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/Fishing/mini%20clouser.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/Fishing/mini%20clouser.jpg.html)

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CONCLUSION
So the main purpose of this little writing is to let everyone who’s ever wondered know that yes… Clear Lake is fly-fishable… Posting pictures to prove what I’m saying, and it wouldn’t be right to just say… “yes it’s fly fishable here’s some pictures, and good luck finding information…” So that’s why I made this like a little write-up for everyone

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of the pics! Any further questions feel free to ask! Looking forward to seeing what people think about this.

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[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks Ryan

That is a 5 Start post with fantastic photos.......very inspiring and educational.

Clear Lake has been a famous fisheries for maybe 100 years? Well I know way over 50.....

Famous for LMB and Crappie and Carp......

I think it is one of the lakes that they have the big bass tournaments on annually.

All these lakes go through cycles and once I heard they had some small bait fish get so think the lake became very clear.

.

[Ryan]

Thanks Bill. I really appreciate the kind words!

[Darian]

Great lookin' Bass. Love that pic of the critter on the dock. I've always avoided Clear lake after mid-summer in the past because of the algae and unbearable smell (YUK!!!). Didn't like the idea of cleaning up the boat, lines, flies, etc. Maybe I should reconsider fishing over there....

Nice looking Clousers. What size hook are you tying on??

[Ryan]

Thanks Darian! I'm tying the clousers on a #2 hook.

And yes you do get a whiff of a pretty foul overgrown pond type smell at times. Usually more in the stagnant areas, but those don't seem to be great for fishing anyways so I avoid those spots. I guess I probably should clean my lines and more expensive flies after each time there. That is a good idea. And I forgot to clean my boat after this last trip haha. So good reminder actually, I'm gonna do that now!

A little bad smell here and there and some extra cleaning, in my mind is a small price to pay for this action.

[JR Martinez]

Digging the otter on the dock

[Darian]

Just out of curiosity, do you ever fish the Thermolito Afterbay??

[Ryan]

I do fish Thermalito a little here and there. Last few years I've put in a decent amount of time there. Successful days for me have been hit or miss for the most part. It's a pretty finicky fishery. I still try to get out there about once a month during the spring and summer. I'm not an expert here but here's a little info.

I try to hit it early morning or late evenings now. Topwater can be really good in low light conditions. Stripping streamers on a floating line during the spring can be really productive as well. It's a great bluegill fishery too. Panfish poppers can be fun on a 3wt out there. There are some real nice bass out there though.

Fished it last week and had two 4lb+ fish nibble and follow my fly. One grabbed my pole dancer on 5 different casts, and I had another one trailing on a streamer. Those bigger fish can be tough to get to commit for some reason. Lots of potential for everyone here though. If I spent more time there I know I'd see much better results.

[Spicytuna1]

Was wondering what happened to you man.

Great post and write up buddy, hope you really get to utilize that fishery for the best and get many trips under your belt.

Hope to fish together with ya soon. BTW Scott is doing great and all he can talk about is the float and fly. He whas been crushing the spots.

[Ryan]

I really appreciate that Dave! I hope this eventually gets me a bunch of warm-water trips under my belt too. I've still got allot of learning to do out there though. Let me know whenever you want to get out and we'll make it happen. And nope, I haven't gone anywhere haha... Just been real busy since I started getting side tracked on Clear Lake. Been getting things done and making progress though! But that's so cool Scott has been killing it on the float & fly! Really great stuff to hear. This is gonna be a fun winter for him knowing what he knows now!

[briansII]

Really good stuff. Looking forward to reading more info as you get Clear Lake figured out.

I've been there once in late summer/early fall, and the algae was pretty bad. The lake had a crazy amount of baitfish. I can see why it's one of the best LMB fisheries in the country.

briansII

[Ryan]

Thanks Brian! Im really looking forward to my future trips out here. I'll definitely keep everyone updated as I progress. And yeah the baitfish in the lake is really something else. I've never seen numbers like that anywhere else, definitely got me thinking the same... No wonder!

[mike borba]

Her Ryan. Thanks for the articles and Clear Lake info. I live in Hidden Valley Lake about a half hour towards Middletown. I don't fish Clear Lake often, but do fish small streamers on an intermittent line on Hidden Valley Lake. Glad you're doing well this time of year. Mike

[BruceB]

Regarding the top water bite. I used to live in Lakeport. In the summer I would fish the weed mats in the middle of the lake. Unless your fly is really weedless cast across the weed mat into open water and work it back towards the weeds. Or work the edges away from the mat. I did better working towards the mat.

On your clouser it looks like the bottom is white. What's the top color?

[Ryan]

Mike, glad you enjoyed the writing and thank you! And Thanks for the info Bruce! That's the type of sutff I'm looking for!

Do you know when the TW bite typically slows down? For the clouser, the top is grey with with a little olive flash, and yes bottom is white.