i am going to visit Clearlake Saturday.  get on the water at crack of dawn.  the docks are all choked with weeds.  i can pull up my pedal drive and slide over the weeds.  i assume there might be open water beneath them.  they are grown all the way to the surface and now going sideways.  

 

105 degrees is the high.   shade under docks if i can find open water, punch the weeds, fish deep???

 

i havent been to clearlake in a month.  my friend has, hence the weed-report.  i'll bring the punch rig for sure.  the rest is a big (?) question mark for me.  big insulated Camelback bladder stuffed full of ice and water.  maybe an ice chest with coconut waters...big floppy hat.

 

the things we do for fun..heheh

It was close to 100 when I was fishing yesterday evening. The smallmouth  liked the Fishlab craw thumping into rocks on a shakey head 

Down here I’d hit the edges of a hard reed line out to about 3-5 ft, starting with a frog, weightless stick bait and then a Speed Worm. 
 

If there is scattered grasses or pads, I’d still start at the edges working my way in as far as I can cast at obvious changes. Speed Worm first for just a little bit, then farther inside with the frog then the stick worm or creature plastic. 
 

All the while moving along until the first strike then hit it hard. 
 

As the day went on and the sun gets higher, everything gets put away and punch till I can’t punch any longer. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike

Go at sunup. Beat the heat.

Might be worth going at night time if its gonna be that hot out.  @T-Billy and @Catt have had success with night fishing.

 

There's no way I'd be fishing in 105 degree heat.  I'd rather be at home in my AC and just wait for more tolerable conditions.

I caught two 10+ bass in 100+ degree heat: one shallow and the other very deep.

105 I'm sitt'n in the AC watching Zona and MLF waitin on dark thirty. Sounds like you have a solid plan though D-B. Chase the shade and punch the thick stuff. That's what I'd be doing if I were to brave that heat.

on deep reservoirs, they'll stack up on the cool side of the thermocline, and watch the bait that are darting back and forth from the hot water to the cold water to get a breath. See the same thing where a cold spring creek confluence joins a hot river. 

On the deep reservoirs, all those creek arms you fish in the spring with be shallow and hot, and the fish will be on the slope between the shallower creek arm and the deeper main body. 

Good stuff everyone.  Not sure my FF sees the thermocline.  

23 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

Good stuff everyone.  Not sure my FF sees the thermocline.  

It's just a matter of fiddling with the sensitivity/gain.

4 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

It's just a matter of fiddling with the sensitivity/gain.

AHHH!!!!

 

i just googled it.  you are right!!  i cant wait to get home to muck with my FF.

I haven't been able to find any bigguns since July, but I've been catching decent numbers dragging a Trigged Senko or Zoom Mag II around the thermocline the last couple weeks. Going out tonight to take my new Ark Chatterbait rod for a spin, but I'll be draggin a worm in 14-18 after sunrise.

1 minute ago, T-Billy said:

I haven't been able to find any bigguns since July, but I've been catching decent numbers dragging a Trigged Senko or Zoom Mag II around the thermocline the last couple weeks. Going out tonight to take my new Ark Chatterbait rod for a spin, but I'll be draggin a worm in 14-18 after sunrise.

thanks.\

 

i've been Neko and Drop shot at the same depth.  still pulling up a few. 

Rattlesnake Island area is deeper steeper rocky banks.

Tom

Try finding spots where the different types of vegetation comes together.  Look for stuff like water willows growing in between lily pads.

I don't think the bass will have a problem with a day or two of hundred degree heat. I would though!

21 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

they are grown all the way to the surface and now going sideways.  

 

That's what we call matted. 

 

Definitely punching & frogging 

 

Do ya know what kind of grass?

16 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

It's just a matter of fiddling with the sensitivity/gain.

I have a 30 - 35 year old Eagle FishMark 320 , that I converted to a portable unit on top of a gutted out trolling motor bracket . . It shows the thermocline and perfect fish arches and I never have to tweak it , never .The only thing I do to it is set it to a split screen .

Just now, scaleface said:

I have a 30 - 35 year old Eagle FishMark 320 , that I converted to a portable unit on top of a gutted out trolling motor bracket . . It shows the thermocline and perfect fish arches and I never have to tweak it , never .The only thing I do to it is set it to a split screen .

Initial setup though...I had to tweak my Striker 7CV first time out to get the sensitivity set so I could see the thermocline. Once it's set...then it's done.

Just now, MN Fisher said:

Initial setup though...I had to tweak my Striker 7CV first time out to get the sensitivity set so I could see the thermocline. Once it's set...then it's done.

I might have done that to my unit to , I dont remember . 

Feed at night. I would try to punch the mats because I'm better at that type of approach.

It's been up around 100 for almost a full month here.  The air temperature doesn't matter.  It's the water temperature that counts.  

 

As the water reaches 85°, I tend to go deep.  Find the thermocline and fish structure and cover around that depth.  I tend to slow it down and downsize.  Think drop shot, Carolina rig, jigging spoon, etc.  Once the water hits 90°, you're best off fishing at night, I assume.  I never fish at night, and rarely get more than two or three bites once the water has hit 90° in the daytime.  But I've been told night the time to fish.  Still, the same rules apply, it's just you have to expect less, downsize, and slow down.  Basically, the same rules as winter fishing.

 

Also, we don't have much vegetation here, as most all of our lakes are man-made water reservoirs.  So when I visit the few that do, I'm not really experienced to know how to take full advantage of that.  Typically, they're so dense by this time of year that I tend to fish along the weed lines and in pockets.  I've never had much luck punching the thick stuff or even going over top of it when it's this thick.  And that makes sense.  It would drain a fish of energy to move through that stuff, and since the heat has them slowed down, they probably don't want to waste energy.  Plus the heat seems to be damaging the grass, so I believe don't produce as much oxygen as they take.  Even dragging a kayak across with a paddle is a slog.  Forget about trolling motors.  But every lake is different, so you just have to experiment.  

 

You can still catch some beating a bank in the shallows.  But your accuracy will have to be spot on, as they don't seem to travel more than a foot or two to chase a lure.  So I tend to really pick apart any lone pieces of cover near deep water.  I save this for the heat of the day.  My typical plan is to go topwater for two hours after sunrise, then go deep until noon, then beat the bank.  

Super curious what the water temp will be.  

Clear Lake is a very old natural lake with over 50 types of aquatic plants. Curly leaf pond weed is usually the predominate mat type growth.

Current water temps are 78 F.

100+ degree temps during the day are common at Clear Lake and cools at night. No big deal!

Tom

 

With the current water conditions up there at Clear Lake and with this weekend heat there’s probably gonna be quite the algae bloom @Darth-Baiter, like Andersen’s Split-Pea Soup kinda green. I’d try fishing the deeper rock piles, drop offs or punchin whatever mats are available to you. Good luck, look forward to hearing how you did…