Fall 2026
E
very time Bassmaster names their number one
bass fishery in the United States, people in towns
near lakes like Guntersville, Chickamauga and Toledo Bend grumble. Their home fisheries are about to get
bombarded by anglers from all over the country.
It’s not quite a “first to worst” situation, but the writing is often on the wall: The glory days are fleeting.
So as an easterner I expected the same reaction from my friends in Northern California, especially this year, when it went back-to-back on that honor. But Elite Series pro Bryant Smith succinctly summarized the view of his fellow Californians when he summed up his feelings about the award: “Well deserved.”
Of course, those of us across the country were first alerted to Clear Lake’s greatness in 2007, when the Bassmaster Elite Series visited for the first time and Steve Kennedy set the circuit’s four-day weight record with over 122 pounds. That mark was shattered the next year, when Paul Elias weighed in over 134 pounds at Falcon on the Texas/Mexico border.
But while Falcon shone brightly for a brief while, the boom and bust water cycles of Texas reduced it’s glimmer. Clear Lake, meanwhile, remains every bit as good as 20 years ago, if not better. Thirty pound bags don’t raise eyebrows. Forty pound bags show up in early season tournaments.
“I expect at some point we could see 50,” said Ish Monroe. “Either at the end of January or beginning of February, either with a swimbait or the minnow.”
WHAT MAKES CLEAR LAKE SO GOOD?
Obviously there are other great fisheries in California. If Clear Lake didn’t exist, the Delta might get much of the props. If you want smallmouths, Monroe said, there’s Almanor. For spots, there’s Shasta. “Trinity was showing potential for a while to be another one but it kind of slacked off with the water level changes,” he said.
And while none of the following factors will necessarily be news to Clear Lake regulars, seeing them all next to one another might allow them to understand what a treasure it is.
“One thing is that it doesn’t gear near the fishing pressure the other famous lakes get,” said Kent Brown, who started fishing Clear Lake in the 1970s. “During the week you might be one of five or six boats on the entire lake. Unless you live up in Lake County, it’s still a two hour drive up through the mountains.”
On top of that, there’s a “six hour rule” from June 15 through September 15, limiting tournament duration, which in turn limits pressure and any resulting mortality.
Furthermore, Monroe added that unlike lakes in Texas or Louisiana, where a fair number of gamefish get taken for the table, “In California no one eats bass,”
Perhaps most important is the habitat and forage base.
“It’s an absolute crawdad factory,” Brown said. “They have all sorts of spawns and hatches where you’ll see them
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Ken Mah
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