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Clear Lake Fishing Report, California

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Clear Lake: California's largest natural freshwater lake, in Lake County, fished for largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill and channel catfish.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Lake level
1322.59 ft
Air / High
59 / 70 F
Wind
NNW 3 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 11450000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Clear Lake offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. The gauge reads 1.85 ft, easing 0.11 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 3 mph, falling pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 70. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:51 AM-11:51 AM and 10:20 PM-12:20 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassExcellent

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Excellent

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

Yellow perchExcellent

Michigan DNR gives 66-70Β°F as the water perch prefer, so this band is the heart of the open-water season: drift or slowly work weed edges and flats with small baits near the bottom until a school turns up.

CrappieGood

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 77 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

California requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $64.54 for residents. What a California licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with CDFW before you keep anything. The season dates for California, read off the agency, are on the California seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from CLEAR LK A LAKEPORT CA.

Gauge height, last 30 days

USGS gauge 11450000.

1.922.192.461.85 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp59 F
High / Low70 / 48 F
WindNNW 3-9 mph
Pressure1018.2 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain10% cloud, 3%
Sunrise / Sunset07:29 / 18:21
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Clear Lake this week

The best day on Clear Lake this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 5 out of 5, against 4 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:51 AM-11:51 AM and 10:20 PM-12:20 AM
Minor period
4:15 AM-5:15 AM
Sun
07:29 to 18:21
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 9 mph
Rain chance
3%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Clear Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

Yellow perch illustration

Yellow perch

Caught all year, including under the ice through winter

Yellow perch are schooling panfish of the Great Lakes and northern lakes, and Michigan DNR calls them the game fish most often caught in that state. Michigan DNR gives 66-70Β°F as the water perch prefer, so this band is the heart of the open-water season: drift or slowly work weed edges and flats with small baits near the bottom until a school turns up.

When to come: the Clear Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
Yellow perch
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Clear Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 61 F, wind to 7 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 73 F, wind to 15 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 70 F, wind to 16 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

California requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

California fishing license. See the current CDFW Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations for bass and panfish limits on Clear Lake. Lake County law requires quagga-mussel screening and a sticker for registered vessels; screening does not apply to canoes, kayaks, car-top boats, float tubes, rafts and some other small non-motorized craft.

Access

Clear Lake State Park, 3.5 miles northeast of Kelseyville on Soda Bay Road, has a boat launch for day users and campers, a locked marina for registered campers, and four campgrounds. Vehicle day use was $8 when checked on Oct. 8, 2026.

About this water

Natural lake in Lake County, California. Lake level on this page comes from USGS gauge 11450000, Clear Lake at Lakeport.

Fishing Clear Lake: the full guide

The lake

California State Parks describes Clear Lake as the largest natural lake entirely within California, formed when a landslide blocked a valley's drainage and the water rose until it found an outlet through Cache Creek. Its water comes from runoff and from springs in Soda Bay.

The fishing

State Parks lists largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill and channel catfish for anglers, with blackfish, Sacramento perch and hitch also in the lake. It notes that bass fishing organizations including U.S. Bass, Cal Bass and Western Bass have named Clear Lake the nation's number one bass fishing lake.

Protected hitch

The Clear Lake hitch, a large minnow found only in Clear Lake and its tributaries, was listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act in 2014, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a federal threatened listing on Jan. 15, 2025. Do not keep hitch or use them as bait.

Common questions

Can I use hitch for bait at Clear Lake?

No. The Clear Lake hitch is a state-listed threatened species found only in Clear Lake and its tributaries, so it may not be kept or used as bait.

What fish does Clear Lake State Park list?

Largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill and channel catfish, plus blackfish, Sacramento perch and hitch.

Do I need a quagga sticker to launch?

Registered vessels need Lake County quagga-mussel screening and a sticker; State Parks lists canoes, kayaks, car-top boats, float tubes and rafts among the craft the screening does not apply to.

Is fishing good at Clear Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Lake Sonoma25 miLake Berryessa44 miRussian River44 miBodega Bay52 miPutah Creek55 miSacramento River67 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 11450000 β€” CLEAR LK A LAKEPORT CA
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 17:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.0408, -122.8007 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.