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Clearwater Reports


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Fished the west basin all weekend, and the smaller bass (approx. 1-2 lbs) were hammering everything. Got a couple of Northern too. Does anyone have any success on the east basin? I see lots of boats over the holes, but is anyone catching fish? Also, everytime I drive through the narrows, I ask whoever is fishing if they are having any luck (jigging) and the answer is always "no." I hear the walleye bite continues to be pretty slow. Does anyone have any comments to the above questions. Thanks!

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  • LakeCenterRefugee

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My fishing league is hitting Clearwater Thursday evening. I have never been on the lake. Everything I read or hear is that it is a paradise for all types of fishing.
Bass, Pike, Panfish, etc....
We fish all species of gamefish. My game plan is to target the bass first and probably chase some sunnies or crappies after that. We can only score one sunnie and one crappie, so that should be a fairly easy task I hope.
What presentations are working best out there right now for bass? I see the west basin is going good, and thats where I will be fishing.
Thanks in advance.

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Fish the bullrushes on the windy side first. Cosest to the deepest water around. If that doesn't go, try the holes deep in the bull rushes. Plastic worms or sluggos, no sinkers both area, also try spinner baits. Especialy on the windy side bullrushes. Then the deep weed edge,again plastic worms but with sinkers. Then try for walleyes on that same deep weed edge. I've "heard" the crappies are on their beds in the bullrushes now, they should be easy to see. Sunnies too, and probably the male l.m. bass. Good luck and post how you do, and let the big ones go!

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Biglake: Fish the west basin. The bass and pike are active most times of the day, particularly on rubber baits Texas rigged. Last weekend we had excellent luck catching very large sunnies and b/gill at sunset, along the rushes, using a simple rig of slip bobber, small jig and piece of nightcrawler (they ate them up).

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Thanks FF5
I will post the success stories(I hope).

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League fishing on Clearwater last night.
Thanks FF5 and L C R.
We did good. We got second place for the evening, but managed to widen our margin on our overall first place lead.
West basin is where we fished.
We got our 6 bass just east of the Black Pool landing in the reeds/lily pads.
3 and 4 inch tubes texas rigged. As we trolled through the weeds, I spotted beds, and we got our sunfish with one cast(we can only score one). A beefy 8+ incher, and there were several more down there.
Finally, a 20 inch pike that barely made the minimum.
Several other fish over the night that didn't make the minimums.
Great night for never having been on the lake.

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Hey Biglakeba$$ does your last name start with S and end with le?

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Spent the Saturday on Clearwater. smile.gif

Largemouth Bass and Gills are strong on the edge of the rushes.

Crappies bit well in 6-12 feet of water, up to 13" long.

Also got some larger Gills in 20 feet of water, along with some Walleyes.

Fished both basins (east and west).

Good luck and good fishing!

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FF5
Nope, last name starts with C and ends with on.
That should narrow it down for you. smile.gif

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Thaught I might know ya. Biglake... (That's where I live) I think I know one of the guys in your leage though. Good luck out there this year. I fished in a leage a couple of years ago and had a blast. Keep us posted on how your doing and where you're fishing.

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Has anyone had any luck jigging or drop shotting in the cabbage (10-15') deep on along the dropoff from the north side of the west basin? Looks to be good weed cover, but has anyone had any luck. Any advice would be appreciated.

[This message has been edited by LakeCenterRefugee (edited 06-11-2003).]

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Thats where you'll find the Crappies

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Hey! How did everyone do on ClearH20 this weekend? The bass were hitting everything...worms, spinners, lots of fun today with Hula Popper topwaters. We even caught and saw some walleye on the 12' cabbage. Great Weekend!

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LakeCenterRefugee,
how big were the eyes? sounds like you guys had a great time...

Clearwater is a "can't miss" fish factory this time of year... Finding the bigger bass can be a challenge even for the best though on that lake... The competition factor from the 1-2 lb. bass seems to play a role in that... The 4+ lb. fish are there though, you'll need to work for them though... Anyone on this board hook into any hogs out there?

Perfect time for gill fishing if your so inclined... look in the shallows for honey-comb type spawning beds - normally in the 5-10' depths and anchor just off the beds.

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Hey Adict...Thanks. Yes, we had a great time. Caught nice bass (small and large-mouth both) all day on Monday. Saturday evening caught some small walleye in the steep dropoffs just in the West Basin past the narrows (about 12-20'), but I say they were about 1 lb...small. The bass were hitting rubber worms, spinnerbaits, surface poppers (had a big northern hit and miss once), even hitting bobber rigged leaches (my 6 year old wore out his arm). We had great luck fishing the 5-10' cabbage beds in the East Basin, closest to access to deeper water. It really was a blast. Regards. LCR

PS: We always catch and release! More to go around, and everyone can enjoy a great day with lots of action.

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LakeCenterRefugee -
sure those weren't rock bass? red eyes? I don't believe there are smallies in clearwater, but I could be wrong on that... I've never seen one at least.. If you get one that looks over 2 lbs., get it certified... I believe the next state record rock bass is in clearwater... we've caught some while LM fishing that are close to that size (2 lbs.)..

"(my 6 year old wore out his arm). We always catch and release! More to go around, and everyone can enjoy a great day with lots of action."

That is a blast I'm sure to see your youngster catch some of those fish... It is great to see your teaching him the importance of catch and release!

[This message has been edited by fishnAddict (edited 06-19-2003).]

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Adict: Yes, we caught some really nice (BIG) rock bass too. You are right, I have not seen rock bass this big in other local lakes, at least with such consistency. Pretty sure we caught one smallmouth. I checked the DNR site to be sure, but I will certainly allow the possibility that I am mistaken. Has anyone else caught smallmouth bass in Clearwater? I would be interested to know.

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Smallmouth, Eh??

I've fished this lake for over 30 years and never seen one. Also ran the Narrows Resort and saw many fish come through there and never saw one. That does not mean they are not there though. Clearwater is connected to the Mississippi by the Clearwater river, but it is obstructed by two dams. Another means of introduction could have been through bait discarded back into the lake.

Did the fish look like a largemouth but have vertical bars instead of the horizontal stripe? Most importantly, did the back of it's mouth not pass the center of the eye with the mouth closed? Those are the two identifying criteria for a smallmouth.

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Yea I was thinking possibly they could get up through the Mississippi river connection, I know at least the one dam is easily passable at times for fish. I've thought that may be how the rock bass are getting so thick in that lake, but those could be all natural fish.. I've never seen a smallie, but it is definitely possible that they are in there.

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Hydro & Adict: Released the fish, so I can't tell you for sure. Sorry. Given how long you guys have been on the lake, I will defer to you, as I must have been mistaken. If I encounter another that I have a question about, I will take a photo and post it. I have been fishing Clearwater about three days a week this summer, so you never know.....

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  • 2 weeks later...

Can I get any reports on where the Bass are at on clearwater? Depth, structure they look for on Clearwater, best presentation on clearwater for this time of year?

Happy Trails

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Pearleye,
I'd work the deeper reed edges this time of year. Plastics and jigs work best for me on this lake. Keep the baits smaller and the line and weight as light as you can get away with. Good luck!

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Can anyone give me some pointers on finding/catching Walleyes on Clearwater. I would like to take my daughter and son-in-law there next weekend but, I myself don't seem to be able to catch the wily 'eyes.
Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

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