Hot, hot, hot temperatures this week with the mercury hanging right around the 105 degree mark. Generally a tough bite for most on the lake. Here are the details …

Bass anglers are reporting that the bite has been slow for those fishing artificials. What is working? Minnows. A few of our local guides have switched clients to live minnows to pick up the pace a bit. The bass are crashing into schools of bait fish and feeding heavily. It just stands to reason that you’ll have better success fishing with live bait.

What else is working? Jerk baits in glass minnow, ghost minnow or hitch patterns. Again, present something that mimics what they’re feeding on and you’re odds increase. Look for 10 to 20 fish per day for a couple of anglers in a boat.

Shore anglers have been having a more difficult time putting fish on the stringer – at least from the public docks around the lake. Some folks fishing the private docks down along Windflower point have had better results.

There hasn’t been much happening on the crappie front. A few anglers have reported catching crappie on and around the docks at Konocti and we’ve had isolated reports of crappie caught at the Four Poles. Otherwise, we’d have to say that there aren’t any strong, consistent concentrations of crappie being found right now. Of course, they’ve surprised us a bit this summer with a better-than-usual hot weather bite. So, keep trying and keep letting us know how you’re doing … We’ll keep the minnows and jigs stocked up for when this bite gets back into gear.

The catfish bite also has slowed. We had a great time with our CatFest event last weekend, but there weren’t all that many catfish caught. A barbecue and raffle here at the shop beforehand set the tone for a good night on the water.

We fished from about 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. with close to one dozen fish caught for four boats of anglers. No single bait stood out as the first choice … We used mackerel on my boat while others used clams. We fished Pirates Cove and Monitor Island. The largest fish of the night tipped the scales at just a smidge over 9 pounds. Stay tuned to future week’s reports for September’s CatFest date.

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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