Fishing at Stafford got a shot in the arm last week because of the rain. The lake level rose slightly for the first time in 6 months adding some color to the water and positioning fish on runoff points where worms and bugs were flushed into the lake creating a feeding situation. Look for the cold weather to stabilize, because even if it’s only 52-55 degrees, as long as it is stable the fish should feed at least twice a day. Best bets are speed traps, rattle traps, squarebill shallow cranks and (if  the water is muddy) 3/8 oz double willow spinnerbaits backed by wacky rigged Senkos and Texas rigged Beavers to cover the shallowest of the runoff points. As for the deeper runoff points (6 ft or deeper) football head jigs, rip baits, dropshot worms and shaky head worms and (if the water is muddy) ½ oz spinnerbaits and Rapala DT10 cranks in mustard shad or white w/ blue back shad should produce fish.

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According to Bob Higgins at Limit-Out Tackle in Clearlake bass fishing is great right now and anglers can expect to do very well on the South end up the rattlesnake arm and the redbud arm. However its more of a numbers bite as the majority of fish are under 4 lbs. Best baits have been deep diving crankbaits in either Red/Black crawdad colors or shad colors like White w/Lavender, Chrome with a Blue back, and natural shad patterns with degrees of translucency and reflectivity or matte finished and opacity, such as the Norman DD22’s and the Rapala DT-16’s, Staysee 90’s and LV-Max 500’s in Chartreuse shad are also taking their fair share. As far as non reaction baits or saturation baits are concerned, Basstrix 6” paddle tails in bait fish colors like Ayu, Pearl, or Blue herring. River 2 Sea 4” swimbaits and Hudleston shad baits are dynamite as well as football head jigs, Carolina rigs, drop shot rigs and shakey head rigs.

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