Road trip to Clear lake. Crappie still in frenzy.

[Dores34]

Being from Northern/Central California, I used to fish alot in Clear lake, lake San Antonio and Nacimiento. I go to Clear Lake and Nacimiento (if I can) multiple times a year. Lake San Antonio is desert now. This year I took one trip (so far) on June 6th. The crappie have been biting there since late Feb. last year I caught a few hundred (mostly at night) so I know how it gets. It was like this 10 years ago too. NOT LAKE ISABELLA CRAPPIE MANIA, but close. Anyways, it was a family/church trip and we rented out about 6 or 7 cottages at Indian beach. We used to stay at Jewels in Lower lake or Konocti. This year the crappie were crazy and the catfish we're on the chew. Usually the catfish avg 9lb with a couple bigger fish caught. This year, many fish were 14-17lbs and one guy caught a 25lber. We had around 15 kids and they all killed the crappie. One of my nephews caught about 30 bluegills that he targeted. Crappie were everywhere. They mostly bit in a frenzy between 5pm and 8pm. Then gets ridiculous from about 3 am to 5:30am . Every cast. If a fish gets on then comes off, just leave it in the water, YOU WILL get bit again. We ONLY kept 146 crappie that I bagged up. It coulda been a couple hundred, but the last 2 days were C & R. I personally caught over 200. Fin-s-shad in crystal was killin em. Glimmer blue bass pro baby shad, bobby garland crystal baby shad, alewife fin-s-shad and a pearl white mini-jig were the other top choices. There were also a couple big bass caught from the dock. Two 4+ pounders and a 6. A friend of mine caught a 7.23 on the boat with me. There were bass anglers there that say they were killing the bass too. I couldn't catch a bass over 3lbs which hurt my feelings. Senkos, spinnerbaits, drop-shots mostly did the trick. If you got the time for a road trip. I recommend it.
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[Viejo]

Looks like a good time with unlimited limits. Locals are not so excited about it and should probably enjoy it while you can.

http://www.record-bee.com/article/NQ/20160426/SPORTS/160429895

[Dores34]

You can certainly catch unlimited limits. You cant keep unlimited limits. The wardens(or warden ) are up there and you will get checked out. We coulda kept over 500 LEGALLY, but WHY? It was fun watching the kids catch fish after fish(not so fun fixing tangle after tangle), so the fun factor was definitely there.. THEN the BORED factor kicks in. I remember when that article came out. The bite was REALLY, REALLY good back then. But this lake has similar bites in different years.

[shinbob]

Great report of a great time! Looks like a lot of fun was had by all!

Keeping 146 panfish is a completely reasonable, restrained amount, maybe even a bit low given that you had 15 kids and probably an equal number of adults. The locals just want to keep all the fish for themselves. (though I do agree that if some folks are indeed selling them commercially, then that needs to be dealt with harshly)

[BassinPLS]

Clearlake is Haven! I made my first trip last year with two buddies in my bass club. We spend a week, rented a cabin on the water and had a ball! It, once again, has been added to my bucket list... a "second trip to Clearlake"!