I use a simple test here in the shop … If I’m just flat out too busy with in-store customers to get back here in my office and write a report, the fishing must be good. On Friday afternoon I was struggling to find the time to get a few sentences in.

Bass and crappie are both picking up, catfish are still biting and the weather looks like it’ll hold for the weekend. The water temp is right at 50 degrees throughout much of the lake with daytime air temps rising slowly.

The bass report reads a lot like it did last week. Good fishing with minnows from 2 feet to 20 feet. Jigs, spinner baits, rip baits and drop shotting are all getting a fair amount of attention this week. Early signs of a swim bait bite are developing as well.

The north end of the lake is reported to be doing better than the south for shallow water anglers fishing tules. The overall bite is soft with many hookups being “skin” hookups rather than an engulfed full-mouth hookup. We’re hearing lots of reports of guys catching a lot of fish, but missing many more. I think that part of the key is paying close attention to what your lure is doing and slow down a bit.

We’ve seen some awesome fish this week so be sure to visit our Fish Braggin’ page at www.994Fish.com to see some great pics.

Now the word on crappie is rather interesting … We’re getting veiled reports of fish being caught in Jago Bay and in the Clearlake Oaks Keys. What do I mean by veiled? Nobody will be all that specific about exactly where. It could be that these guys have seen how mobbed the popular spots get and are just being cautious to protect a good hole. Or, well, we haven’t seen fish here in the store. Just a few guys with reports. I haven’t been able to corroborate them with live, slimy, finned specimens. So there’s the grain of salt theory, too.

What is different, is that we’re hearing reports from a few guys, not one or two guys, and that may lend some credibility to this scenario. So for now, I’ll rest on this: It looks like we may have an increase in crappie activity. What we need is for some folks to get out and check things out over the weekend and report back in.

Cats are still bending a few rods. Most folks going out specifically for cats are catching some. Bass Alley and Indian Island have been in the reports this week. Most guys seem to prefer mackerel as their main offering.

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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