We launch out of Red Bud Park, at the south end of Clear Lake, at around 9 am. The water is much clearer compared to last week, with the algae bloom being a little less intense. We start off fishing jigs shallow on rocky banks in Jago Bay. By 10 am we each get a couple bass, but nothing larger than 2.5 pounds. We then fish some deeper rock (10-20) around Wheeler, Gooseneck, and Frasier Points. We caught a few more bass a drop shot and shaky head, but still smaller fish (1-2 lbs). Decided to put down the slower lures, and start fishing reaction baits. There was absolutely no wind, but the algae bloom was increasing, so we had about two feet of water clarity. Throwing a black/red Norman DD 22 crankbait, I catch one just over six pounds. We were fishing a ledge near Shag Rock that broke off from 10 to 20 feet. Charlie tied on a brown/orange Rapala DT 14 and he caught a few more bass in the three-pound range. Moving around to similar areas in the Horseshoe and Soda Bay area, we continue to catch a bass about every half an hour (2-4 lbs). There was quite a bit of baitfish in the area. Silversides were all over the surface, and the grebes were catching the hell out of the shad. Every time the bird would dive down, they would come back up with a healthy three-inch shad. Surprisingly the crawdad colored crankbaits seemed to be working the best. All the shad and chartreuse colored crankbaits we tried fishing, didn't seem to work. By 4:30 pm, the sun was already pretty low because of the time change the night before. We shifted gears and fished topwater lures. Charlie caught a five-pounder on a Reaction Innovations Vixen, and a four-pounder on a black buzzbait with black/red Zoom Brush Hog trailer. Both bass came from flats with grass in the Konocti Resort area.
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Rus Snyders Guide Service
