Tough fishing has challenged bass and crappie anglers this past week. The water temperature is running around the 41-degree mark. The weather has been cool, but pleasant this week. It should remain clear to partly cloudy through the weekend and right on into next week. Here are the details of the report …

The bass folks are striking out soundly on artificials. This is the “throw the tackle box at ‘em” type of fishing that we struggle with each year when the water temp drops to the low 40s.

Minnow anglers reporting in late Thursday indicate that the minnow bite may be on a definite upswing. Several sets of anglers reported catching fish from 10 to 20 feet deep, in rocky areas, on just about every minnow they put in the water. That’s a GIANT improvement over just two or three days ago. The next few days should get pretty interesting …

Crappie anglers are searching for a bite with little or no luck. None of the key spots that normally hold crappie are producing – right now. We expect this condition to change dramatically – hopefully we’ll see the bite turn back on soon. This may be an all of the sudden kind of thing … Stay tuned – if we get good word of a crappie bite we’ll kick out a special report to let you know. Shoot us an e-mail (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or call (707-994-FISH) for the latest, up to the minute reports.

Catfish anglers are quietly enjoying a decent bite. Cut bait and nightcrawlers are the top baits. Shore anglers have been having the best success – which tells us that the bite is in close to the shoreline. Look for stained water where a fresh food supply has washed into the lake.

Bob Rider owns Lakeshore Bait & Tackle in Clearlake. Visit his Web site at www.994fish.com or call him at 994-FISH (3474).

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