Clearwater Lake

[rainbow]

Do any of you fish Clearwater on the Black? I'll be fishing it next week and any ideas would be helpful.

[Jerry Rapp]

I fish it a lot, but not since early June, and that was at night. Clearwater is like most every other lake around, stagnant and hot, with very little water moving through it. Even in a normal summer it gets very tough in the summer. If you bass fish, either try very, very early with topwater on the deeper banks, and mix in a shakey head. If you bass fish at night, fish the around the berms on the dam and in front of the Piedmont boat ramp with a black jig or plastic bait. If the crappie are biting, which I seriously doubt, there will be a bunch of boats in the middle of the lake fishing for them. It looks like the heat wave may break next week with at least some scattered rain, maybe that will help, but I wouldn't get too hopeful for much action. Wappapellos surface temp is reaching 93-95 in the afternoons, and Clearwater's temps will be right there with it.

[rainbow]

Wow, that will be some tough conditions. Really warm water. When they fish in the middle for crappie what kind of baits do they use?

[Jerry Rapp]

^{most of the time it appears they are strolling or drifting jigs/minnows. Last fall after the record high water went down, it was an armada of boats trolling little cranks. If they are biting you will know it, and you will know which side of the little lake is producing best.}