The BEST time of year to visit Clear Lake?

[Das1]

Hello all. Am planning a week long vacation to Clear Lake this year (with wife who is all for it) and would like everyone's opinions on what time of year is the best.....

Fishing , Weather , Crowds (lack of).

Have been in Sep. and Oct. , both pretty good fishing , but this vacation is to have fun with wife , would like to avoid big championship tournament weeks (fall I assume?) if possible. Also don't want to travel as far as I have to then be blown off water most days.

Opinions?

[g-man]

Fish at night in the summer.

Not cold
No crowd
good bite
less wind

[FISH2WIN55]

If you want to go hog hunting it has to be spring.

[gt5bass]

Das,

You wanna have sum real Fun at Clear Lake??

Schedule your vacation to coincide wit da Western Rally and Summer Nutcase Classic on the last weekend in July, 07/25 - 07/27/2008. It is a hoot and a holla and the fishin' is usually off da hook

There will also be other "wives" thar fer ya wifey to hang out and do thangs wit if she dudn't like to do da fishin' thang

[Das1]

1.My wife loves to fish.

2.Western rally and nutcase classic? Care to expand?

3. Hog hunting is probably a hoot , but I can get all the hunting I want around here whenever I want.

Thanks for the replies. Anyone else?

[David Rogers]

Hey hows it going,

I fish there about once a month for 2 to 4 days at a time, I keep my boat at a friends house there and stay at his house for free that's why I can afford to do it:) If you don't want to worry about weather I would make it summer time and yes fish early and late or all night, I have fished there in the last 2 years at night in shorts, T-shirt and sandles, year before last it got to 105 deg but the fishing would get better and better the hotter it got during the middle of the day, I had never seen this before, they were eating the prop off my boat in 105 heat. As for tournaments, there is no getting away from them, there is one every week end at Clear Lake, you can get an Anglers guide and find out which one will be there and where they are launching at so you do not have a crowd at the launch ramp but the only tourney that really clogs up the lake is FLW's and B.A.S.S. but there are no B.A.S.S. touneys this year just 2 FLW's. My self, I will be fishing the week end before full moon in Feb and March but you can not count on the weather. Feb 25 2006 in one day I got 50 fish and my buddy 75 ripping stacee 90's, last year to the day I went again on 2/25/07 and got 6 13 inch fish, the dif? the weather, it was storming like crazy last Feb.
P.S. I did not match the 50 fish that day but I did get my PB, 11.2 lb on a DT 10:) I don't care what the weather is when fishing Clear Lake, you never know what's going to hit your line, that's why I keep my boat there and I live in SJ. Good luck and God bless.

[Auggie Dog]

Das,

I will second pretty much everything Mr. Rogers said (it is his "neighborhood" so to speak...sorry David...I couldn't resisit!) but if this is the wife's trip too, night fishing might not fit into the plan. Anytime after June 15 is good to avoid big tournaments due to DFG's 6 hour rule about holding bass in livewells will limit bigger tournaments. If you want to catch big fish, March, April into May would afford you the opportunity to go swimbait or bedfishing for the big uns' if you have a boat. As we saw last April when the BASS fellows came here....10+ lb bass can be had if you have the stamina to chuck swimbaits all day. But, if you just want to have a blast catching a ton of any sized fish and want vacation type weather, plan on June, July or even August. You have a great frog bite in the morning and once the sun comes up, you can catch 50-100 smaller fish a day on senkos and worms.

We had days this last July/Aug (it is HOT HOT HOT but it is worth it!) that we were tired of catching 1-3 lbers by Noon and went home....it can be THAT good! Even if you don't have a boat, you can get to many places on the bank and fish under docks with very good results.

I suggest once you plan your vacation and know the dates, come back on this site a week or two before you are to leave and post a question about the bite at Clearlake. The suggestions will come since most big tournaments are done so guys tend to open up a little more about the bite. You may also feel free to PM me at that time and I will share anything I know that will help you have a great trip on Clearlake. I get just as excited helping other catch fish as I do catching them myself if my advice works!

Auggie Dog

[ash]

I agree with da Hub Spinna do Clear Lake in style - bring the wifey down stay at Konocti Casino and join the Nutcases for the Western Bass.com Summer Rally.

I attended my first Summer Rally last year and what a blast two Rally Days of fishing (I took 4 days) met lots of new friends, put mugs to handles, good food, great big fun. The summer time is a great time for numbers and as mentioned the 6 hour tournament rule really gets the tournament crowds down.

My personal favorite time to be up there is February, April, June, and August\September. I have never been up there in the full fall bite, but I am sure it is great too.

[Bill kizer]

I third the Western Rally, great time, great fishing. But the best part is no fog if you fish the area around Long Tule Point.

[StockOption]

This question has been asked and answered numerous times here. I would suggest you do some searches through the archive. You will be happy you did.

Personally I think the only time to perhaps NOT fish Clear Lake is Jan/Feb....the rest of the year fishing can be great and at times simply spectacular.

[Das1]

Thanks for the responses.

I definately will be bringing my boat - probably should have mentioned that.

To clarify - I've been to Clear lake twice -(AC championships) - stayed at Konocti Casino (What a cool place - wake up , walk a hundred feet to the boat and go fishing). My wife was with me both times , so she knows what's going on.

I just always felt the time of year we were there wasn't "prime" - (even though I and my partner did well in the tournaments) know what I mean?

As far as search goes , I'm a big fan. But that wouldn't let me talk fishing with you nice people!

(Just snow and hard water where I'm at.