April/May 2022 Fishing Report

Lake Level: 0.00 ft rumsey and falling

Cache Creek Flow: 8 cu. ft/sec

Water Clarity: 2-6 ft in most areas

Water Color: Stained/green

Water Temps: 60 - 70 F

Precipitation: 1.36” (April), less than 1 inch (May)

Big Fish: 6.21 lbs

Advisories:

• Due to low water, boaters should exercise caution within a half mile of shorelines, especially on the north end. Rocks and sandbars are starting to get very shallow and may be just below the water line. Not all hazards are clearly marked.

• Clear Lake SP ramp is now closed due to low water (more on this below).

Report:

In April we saw a barrage of back-to-back BIG tournaments. I believe all of this tournament activity, coupled with the low water and some strange weather, made for an incredibly unusual and challenging April for fishing. Everyone I spoke with on the water was working extra hard just to clear limits, let alone bag a decent fish or two. I was no exception…April was brutal for me.

Sometime in early May I started seeing ambient temps start to touch the low 80s with stable, calmer air…finally! In addition, I started seeing fewer and fewer boats on the water - even on weekends. This trend has been continuing as of recently and has really helped the bite come back around.

I’m currently seeing a ton of bass on beds, most of them within a 2 to 4 pound range. With the low water, some beds are merely inches deep (especially on the north end). Others may be offshore in up to 6 feet of water. That said, I don’t typically lean on sight fishing unless I have to, or unless I see a really big fish locked on a bed…instead I stayed focused on getting reaction strikes and eventually succeeded - the key was dialing in the right baits for the areas we were fishing.

Unfortunately there still hasn’t been a consistent bite, which is what many anglers are looking for. You won’t go out and catch 30 fish on senkos, at least not based on what I was seeing. Most of the time I had 5+ rods on deck, and what we were throwing just depended on where we were fishing. As conditions settle in to “summer mode”, probably by mid to late June, I think the bite will become more predictable. But then again…this is Clear Lake (cue the “Stranger Things” theme…)

Weeds have really started to come up in many areas. This means the carp are becoming more active around shallow, grassy flats as they begin their spawn. You can tell where carp have been frolicking by looking out for fresh torn up grass floating around in muddy or silty water. I’ve been steering clear of these areas as they tend to drive the bass away.

The algae bloom is taking off already and will continue to do so over summer. With the low water level, I would expect to start seeing some thick algae patches towards the end of the season. These patches migrate around the lake with wind…where the algae is one day, it may not be there the next.

In early May, the Clear Lake State Park ramp closed due to low water. The channel leading back to the marina is still accessible for most bass boats. V hulls and larger boats will likely have issues. I went back there yesterday and had around 1.5 to 2 feet under the transom the entire way in.

Next report will be sometime in July. If you’re interested in seeing more timely updates from me, please follow me on Instagram.

Tight lines!

-Matt