konocti bay x-mas

 off work at 0900 and there was sunshine. I had to have a few hours of sleep but was on the water around 1230. I lost the sunshine to overcast but still the conditions felt perfect. just a breeze that made for an easy drift across a point.
 I had some cannon fodder that had survived from sundays trip but NO agent survived today.
I was getting most of them pulled off the hook on the set or on the drift.
(sound familiar andy?) yep, their nabbing them short. I managed a few fish to the boat but nothing of size.
 The good news is that all of my agents were devoured early and I was forced to go back to work.
I started off with a BIG ghost ripbait and started working both sides of a rocky point, 25' off of the edges.  I used a slow rip/drift/wiggle pattern, trying to match what I thought the minners were doing. Hooked into a healthy one on first attempt and stayed with the suspending ripbait for a few more victims, but it was much slower than when I had the "real thing".  uhg
May head back in the morning to see if I can get more of the ripping action before the weather turns.
hope everyone had a great holiday

Healthy looking fish Terry... I hope they put on some weight before next spring. Looks like you going through soldiers left and right... You must have a great place to get some new recruits up there.

Freddie

Another quality report and photos, Terry.  Thanks for that.   

Hi Terry. I was wondering how bad the mercury pollution is in Clear Lake. I know the (blue) catfish are contaminated.

Howard

It is bad....but LMB are a C&R species so its no biggie...awesome fish Terry.

wordup for the pics Terry! I'm gonna have to start a different way of "recruiting" some "vets" from deeper water this year(likeIsaidLASTyear,Iknow!)
is that the ghost bait in the pic?........you can PM me the answer if you want to keep it a secret.   

 Freddie,  Im hoping fish like these will just stay out of the way once spring fever hits this place and the subs return to the shallows.  My local recruitment center is at the south end of lakeport, where 175 and 29 meet.HUGE minner sign in front. They also have a great selection of golf discs.

Howard, Seans right about the mercury and this place has alot of history that can explain why, other than it being the land of the lost.
The wildlife that feeds on the fish here seems to be thriving. Otters,minks,osprey, blue herons, pelicans, ect. are all common sightings and they eat alot of fish.
 Im the freshwater fisherman who only eats saltwater fish (with sakebomb), so if people stop eating the fish from my hunting waters?  hooray for me.

Adam, thats the ripbait and the flavor that has been consistant since ive started fishing here.  That bit of education was handed down to me from a C-lake icon but its not a secret.
Its crazy how dead the senko bite has been. Usually my comfort bait, but these days ive lost confidence in it.
Didnt go out this morning. too many domestics.

Thanks. I remembering reading a newspaper story years ago about Clear Lake flooding some nearby homes and the catfish being contaminated. Don't remember what was said to have done so. Other C.L. friends had told me that the lake fish was not for eating but couldn't explain why.

Thanks. I remembering reading a newspaper story years ago about Clear Lake flooding some nearby homes and the catfish being contaminated. Don't remember what was said to have done so. Other C.L. friends had told me that the lake fish was not for eating but couldn't explain why.

It's mercury contamination. The lake gets run off from an old mercury mine. But it's not as bad as the lakes in the South Bay.