Winter is not considered the best time to fish for largemouth bass and crappie in California lakes, but Clear Lake can produce some of its most exciting fishing for both species this time of year.

When the cold weather arrives, the bass at Clear Lake, California's largest natural lake go on their annual minnow bite. For the past 10 years, Don Paganelli of Paganelli's Bass Fishing Experience has experienced topnotch minnow fishing for largemouths at the lake from December through February.

Until Cal Kellogg, Fish Sniffer Managing Editor, and I fished with Paganelli at Clear Lake on January 5, neither of us had ever targeted largemouths with minnows at the lake before.

We arrived at the Clear Lake Oaks Launch ramp at 7:30 a.m. and quickly sped across the lake in Paganelli's Ranger. Within five minutes, Paganelli took the boat off a plane and stopped off Shag Rock.

"We'll be fishing minnows with two methods today, bottom drifting with a single split shot shot and drifting under slip bobbers," said Paganelli.

"We'll start drifting on the bottom in 25 to 30 feet of water off Shag Rock first thing this morning. Then we'll move to another spot where the bobber fishing is more productive."

With a light action Loomis spinning rod, Paganelli showed us how to drift the bait. "You want to let the bait get down to the bottom and then reel it up a couple of turns," he tipped. "Leave the bail open and give the fish line when it takes the bait."

Paganelli pointed to his graph, which was nearly black in places with bait.

"These are all threadfin shad," he noted. "Look at all of the bass that are holding around them."

Cal had the first two bites of the day, hooking and losing two bass right in a row. Then Paganelli hooked a bass, handed it off to me and I landed the first fish of the day, a husky two pounder.

By 9 a.m., the bite had heated up. Each one of us had our hot spurts. Don started out with the hot rod, followed by Cal. After a slow start, I began hooking one bass after another. The fishing was so good that we lost exact count, but we caught at least 30 bass by 1 p.m.

My top fish, the day's big bass, weighed exactly 5 pounds, while Cal's went 4 pounds, 10 ounces. The rest of the fish ranged from 1-1/2 to 4 pounds. All were fat, chunky and healthy, since the bass at this lake have plenty of forage such as threadfin shad.

For a cold, rainy day at the beginning of January, bass fishing was as good as it gets. "I told you we'd catch fish," noted Paganelli. "But you have to go through a lot of average-size fish before you get the big ones."

However, we made a temporary change in plans. Several boats came into the general area we were fishing - and they began catching one big crappie after another.

I love crappie fishing, having spent hundreds of hours fishing with Claude Davis at Lake Berryessa nailing crappie from the docks at Markley Cove from 1986 to 1990. "Let's give crappie fishing a try," I pleaded with Paganelli.

I gave Paganelli a crappie jig I had and he put it on a drop-shotting rod. He soon caught 3 crappie. "The crappie are holding right on the bottom along this shelf," he tipped. "Just hold the jig above the bottom and wait for them to load up."

I reeled in one more bass and switched to crappie fishing. Both Cal and I began to catch big crappie on the smallest live minnows we had in the well.

When the minnows ran out, we switched to dead minnows. When the dead minnows ran out, Cal got the great idea of using strips of jumbo minnows and they worked also. We kept 14 crappie, mostly in the 3/4 to 1 pound class, and released six others

"This is like rockcod fishing without getting seasick," observed Cal. After having a fun half hour targeting crappie, we got ready to fish with bobbers. Paganelli drove the boat through the choppy water of the narrows to the area off Henderson Point.

Paganelli showed us how to set up the slip bobbers and we began casting along the shoreline between two piers. Although we hooked a half dozen fish, we only landed several largemouths. After fishing for a couple of hours, we called it a day and sped across the lake to the ramp.

Why is bass fishing so good at Clear lake during the winter? Paganelli believes it is because the lake is so shallow, the fish don't have many deep areas to hold in during the winter, so the bass are relatively easy to target.

"Bass feed year round at other lakes, too," said Paganelli, who works part time at Fishermen's Warehouse in Sacramento and the DFG's "Fishing in the City" program. "However, the fish in deep canyon reservoirs move into 50 to 100 feet of water in the winter. Most anglers aren't used to fishing this deep and don't target them with live minnows."

He recommended fishing at Konocti Harbor, Wheeler Point, Henderson Point and other deep-water spots. "There are just a few deep spots at Clear Lake, while there is lots of deep water at the large foothill impoundments," he said. "The bass's metabolism slows down, but they are in shallower water, 20 to 30 feet, rather than 40 to 100 feet at canyon reservoirs. If you put a minnow in front of a bass, it will take it."

Dennis Lee, DFG senior fishery biologist, also noted that Clear Lake generally has warmer water conditions during the winter, since it is shallow and rain fed, in contrast to the larger snow-fed reservoirs.

Clear Lake bass fishing has gone through a series of booms and busts over the past two decades. "In the mid-eighties, the threadfin shad population exploded and the fish got fat feeding on them," said Lee. "There were incredible numbers of 2-1/2 to 3 pound fish, with an occasional 8 to 10 pounder."

However, the shad ended up competing with the bass, so there was declining recruitment of juvenile bass in the 1986 to 89 year bass classes. Then during the big freeze in the winter of 1990-91, the shad population suddenly perished.

"There was really bad fishing for a few years, although the average fish was bigger because of the lost year classes," he said. "In the late 1990's, the fishery began to come back, even though shad appeared in the lake again. With the growth in aquatic vegetation, the bass got the competitive edge with the shad."

Crappie have also gone through similar boom and bust cycles, with a rebound in the black crappie population in recent years. Besides bass and black crappie, the lake also has good populations of channel catfish, white catfish and bluegill.

Regardless of the species, the lake is a remarkable, constantly changing ecosystem. "The only thing that you can count on at a big natural lake like Clear Lake is change," summed up Lee.

For guided bass fishing trips, call Don Paganelli of Paganelli of Paganelli's Bass Fishing Experience, 916-427-0374, or Larry Hemphill of Larry Hemphill's Instruction and Guide Service, (530) 674-0276.

Clear Lake Facts:

• Location: The largest natural freshwater lake completely within California, Clear Lake is located in the Coast Range in Lake County. The lake has more than 43,000 surface acres. Check the Fish Sniffer Map.
• Boat ramps: There are 11 public boat launch ramps along the shore of Clear Lake, including the public launch ramp at Clear Lake Oaks. Fishing boats are available to rent, and local retailers sell a variety of fishing equipment. Several businesses around the lake rent water ski boats and equipment, jet skis, wave runners, pontoons, kayaks, pedal boats, and paddle and row boats. Two businesses offer parasail rides, one near Library Park in Lakeport, and the other at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa near Kelseyville. Additionally, sailboat rides and paddlewheel boat rides are available from local businesses.
• Lodging and camping: Motels and campgrounds are available in the communities of Lucerne, Glenhaven, Clearlake Oaks, Clearlake, Konocti Harbor, Soda Bay, Kelseyville and Lakeport. For more information on lodging, camping and other facilities, go to: www.lakecounty.com or www.clearlakechamber.com.
• Clear Lake State Park: The park offers family campsites, group campsites, hiking trails, nature trails, swimming, boat mooring, boat ramps, picnic areas, showers, restrooms, RV dump stations and a Visitor Center. For more information, call 707-279-4923 or go to www.parks.ca.gov.
• Other activities: Clear Lake is home to the NorCal Boat & Ski races each summer, and it draws a contingent of seaplane owners and flyers for the annual "Splash In" event. Model seaplane enthusiasts often converge in Lake County for a meet.
• Fishing information and guided trips: Limit Out Bait and Tackle, (707) 998-1006; Outdoor Pro Shop in Rohnert Park, (707) 588-8033; Don Paganelli of Paganelli of Paganelli's Bass Fishing Experience, (916) 427-0374, www.guidebass.com; and Larry Hemphill of Larry Hemphill's Instruction and Guide Service, (530) 674-0276, www.thefishsniffer.com/hemphill.