Black bass fishing is picking up with the warming water and air temperatures at Clear Lake.
“So, who says Clear Lake is always cold in the winter – I have,” quipped Larry Hemphill, fishing guide. “Not yesterday though! What a beautiful afternoon. Buddy Mike and I started fishing about 4 pm, until about 9 pm. Just had to test it out after a month or so.
“The bite was OK, especially around dusk. We caught them from Jenson area to north of Henderson. The 9 we caught were from 10 inches to my 6.63 pounder. Mike had a 4 and a 6.36. We did have a little over 21 lbs for our 5 best, so the long trip home was good! “
“The first one I caught – at Jenson – was a grown up dink – 14 inches! Those 10 and 11 inchers should be keepers this summer,” he reported.
“We caught all of our early bass on Senkos. Robo Worms, and beavers. In spite of the warmth, all our bass, big and small, were over 20 feet deep. Mike’s and my 6’s were caught on D&M Piranha swimjigs with Yamamoto Heart Tail trailers,” said Hemphill.
“It was my turn to miss two more big bites – both being right under the boat – that are often very hard to hook well. As is normal for this time of year, the bite really slowed down after 8 pm,” he concluded.
The water temperature was 51-52 degrees and the water clarity was 2 to 4 foot visibility.