A red sunrise Friday morning reinforces the fact that smoke from Northern California’s many wildfires continues to plague our air quality. The weather is warm and mostly calm. The fishing is a bit hit and miss. Here are the details.

Bass anglers are giving mixed reports. Some have said that fishing is tough. Others yet have done well. The best results are consistently being report on deep drop offs. If you find a shelf, located close to a shallow weed bed, you’ve got a winning combination. Soft plastics – Finesse worms, Senkos, Brush Hogs and others – all rigged on a drop shot have been successful. Hard baits like Rapala’s X-Rap have been productive for shallow water anglers fishing over weeds or along weed lines.

Minnows have likewise produced mixed results. Our minnow inventory situation that we’ve been dealing with (no big minnows available for delivery from the hatchery) is improving. This week we got a mixed batch of large and extra-large that we’re selling for the lesser price. It is nice to be seeing some larger minnows again, albeit in limited quantity.

Crappie anglers haven’t done all that well this past week. My usual reporters on this have struck out. Perhaps you’ve got a report for us? If so, drop me and email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or give us a call at 994-FISH (3474).

The catfish action continues to be doing really well. We had a great time fishing our CatFest last weekend. Nearly two dozen anglers on a total of seven boats and over 50 fish landed. Big fish honors went to my 15-year-old son with an 11# 4-ounce cat that he pulled up out of 35 feet of water while using shrimp as bait.

We fished the Jago Bay area as a group. Oh, and the barbecue and prize giveaway before we hit the water were a lot of fun, too. Visit our Braggin’ Page at www.994Fish.com for pics from the event.

Our next CatFest is slated for Aug. 23. Set some time aside to join us for a barbecue, raffle and evening of fun fishing. More details will follow in the coming weeks.

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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