Clear Lake in the Fall

Okay, so may it sounds a bit like a sappy chick flick: “Clear Lake in the Fall,” but there is some seriously epic fishing to be had on this Northern California lake in the late autumn.

Everything — trophy largemouth, scads of big catfish and dinner plate sized crappie — are all putting on the feed bag before winter kicks in and the action can be non-stop. Great fishing, nice scenery…and hardly another soul on the water. What’s not to like?

As Clear Lake has been dubbed the “Bass Capital of the West,” it’s no surprise that buckemouths are the primarly target for the handful of anglers who fish in the fall. Here’s Ross England and Jim Dowdy, the dynamic duo of Clear Lake Guide Service into a nice trap bite.

Clear Lake has been, of course, right at the epicenter of the Western swimbait scene. To get a monster sack here, bust out the jumbo baits and take your time.

Here’s one of my better fish…

Okay, just kidding (not really) but our resident bass pro and big fish expert, Big Fred Contaoi shows us how to do it…

You get some epic sunrises and sunsets at Clear Lake this time of year…

Shad, of course, are the main forage this time of year and if you find the schools (not hard to do), you’ll find fish of all flavors nearby.

Don’t think for a minute that catfish don’t take advantage of the shad schools…

And the average size channel is a solid 8-10 pounds this time of year, as Big Boy demonstrates:

So, the bottom line here is: forget all you think you know about Clear Lake…the 100 degree weather, soupy green water and 8 million jetskis…that’s the summer scene. Fall is extremely quiet, the fishing’s great and the scenery is beautiful…

Tagged as: Bass, bass fishing, catfish, catfishing, clear lake