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I will be fishing a small club tournament on Saturday at Clear Lake here in California. The weather will be sunny and in the 80's as it has been most of the week. Clear lake has some huge bass and lots of them. So I am looking for tips from the pro. What would you recommend?

Never been on Clear Lake, but based on what I know, the fish should be for the most part Post-Spawn. I would think big topwater baits, weight-less plastics (Senkos) and swimbaits would be your best bet. Look for trees, docks & other cover adjacent to spawning areas where big females can rest up after spawning. I would fish a topwater or soft plastic to get a limit in the boat and then try the swimbait for big bites.

Thanks for the tips. I LOVE top water!I will post next week to let everyone know how it went.

Rich, you sure do make it sound like you know what you're talking about!

Couple more things on clear lake....

The Hitch minnow is an important forage base for big bass in Clear Lake, keep that in mind. See pic @ bottom of post!

Also, I got a break down of the Elite Series here - http://bassinblog.richlindgren.com/2007 ... eries.aspx
With pictures of the popular baits & Top 12 patterns

Looks like I will have to stop and pick up some swim bait tonight. My good friend, co-worker and fellow club member volunteered to help at the elite tournament as a camera boat. He said it was fantastic. I wish I could have gone with him but had family stuff going on that weekend.

Sporting,

So how did it go? You cannot keep us in suspense much longer....

Rich

I should have told you earlier. I posted under "fishing reports" yesterday, but We came in eighth place with a limit of 16 pounds. I caught most of mine on spider jigs. The winning weight for the tournament was over 27 pounds with a nine pounder as the big fish. Mu biggest was just over five and came on a kuttail senko. I also caught several on a rip bait. I couldn't seem to get any top water action going but it was a great day.