Clinton Res. NWCDC

[tonyr]

Fished Clinton this AM from first light till noon. Marked lots of fish up high, nothing under the boat at all. Trolled about 1/2 of the water on the side where the road is located. Several boats out and several bank fishermen. Fished from the launch to the spillway mostly working the shoreline out to 15 fow. Not a trout hit the whole day. The water started at 41 and moved up to 43 by noon. Lake has a little stain to it from all the rain. Missed 1 good hit and cpr'ed 2 smallmouth. One was about 3.5/4 the other was just over 2. All hit's came from the shoreline trolling metal. It will be getting better as the water warms.

[Scientist]

Fished Clinton 6am until 1PM, it drizzled until 10. Extremely windy on the half of the lake by the spill way. Had a difficult time controlling the boat on that side of the lake. Went for huge stretches without marking a fish but when they were located they were almost on top of each other. The surface water temps were between 53 to 55. Managed to land and release a 3lb smallmouth. It was caught on a small fathead and not one strike on a shiner, go figure. Considerable less wind by the boat launch and managed to locate a school of perch but not one bite. They would follow the bait but no strikes. Even when it was suspended under a slip float. Tried everything, jigging, crawlers, fatheads, and shiners. No takers. Next time.

[tonyr]

Welcome to the NWCDC. Sounds like you did better than me. Took the wife and the 16 foot Lund to Swartzwood at mid day. As I was loading the boat at the bottom of the of the hill, I notice 4 things in the following order:

1) my hat blew off and into the boat.
2) I was the only car/boat at the launch area.
3) there was a steady 25 mph wind coming from across the lake
4) the guy that was over behind the island in a 12-14 footer who moved in the direction of the hotel 
    looked like one of the old WW2 destroyers cresting the chop trying to fish.

Threw everything back in the car and decided to fight again a different day.

Hitting Clinton on Friday and Saturday. Has anyone gotten a trout out of there yet? Even lost one at the side of the boat. I was under the impression the stocked them there the last few years. Do they holdover? Is it just a bass fishery with panfish on the side?

[Scientist]

It is a hold over lake however what determines the trout’s survivability is the water level and temperature. The largest trout that I have caught there was a 5 ½ pound brown in 99.  I don’t think that there are any large trout there anymore. A few years back the lake was drained more than half in volume because of draught and water consumption. The areas that I fish now that are 20 feet deep were exposed meaning that the deepest parts were only approximately 20 feet deep in August and September. I think the oxygen levels were not sufficient for trout but OK for bass, pickerel, perch, and catfish. The lake used to have a large forage base of herring which made the trout grow fast, but their numbers diminished that year as well. The past two years the water level only was reduced by 5-10 feet so some should have “held over.”  After the weather gets warmer and a thermo cline settles in it may be easier to target the trout. Or you can wait until Friday May 4th because they will be stocked at the boat launch.

[projoe]

has anyone been fishing clinton latly

[tonyr]

Did not fish Clinton today, but drove through the lot. What a mob scene. Every possible (some I would never have tried) inch was occupied with a car-truck/trailer. I was moving through at about 11:30 or 12:00. The guy going out at that time said he caught several bass. Even the road outside the parking area was loaded with trailers. The lake did not look busy, but my guess was that there were 17 boats out. Some guys even parked in the 2 slots that are for launching.

Left Clinton and went to Areoflex. Two or three bumps on the lead-core and gold phoebe. Released the one bow that I hooked up at the side of the boat that was lightly hooked in the lip. Ran 2-3 colors with an 8-9 foot leader. One bump in the first hole, caught the bow in the big hole. Marked very few fish on the finder, most were tight to the bottom even at 90-100 feet. My guess is that the bow I caught was at 18-24 feet, trolled at different speeds from 2.2 down to 1.4 mph. Not sure how fast I was moving at the hookup. Need to go at first light and not at 12-1 in the afternoon. There  were at least a dozen boats on Areo, from canoes to bass boats.

[bigfish]

Going out on clinton  Saturday AM. Anyone going or have been out there in the last week or so. I will be drifting shiners in deep water for small mouth.also live line herring  on top for trout  plan on being on the water at 5:00AM.

[tonyr]

Smart move on the early start. As stated in the above posts, the place was jammed last weekend. Rock the smallies at the dam, also when facing the dam, the right hand side from where it starts back along the shoreline for 200-300 feet has always been good for me. Jigging 3 inch twister tails along the dam face is always a fall back if you run out of bait.

[projoe]

i tend to hookup with alot of decent size smallies on the back side wear it theres into a stream like area a little weedy but have had great success there with both smallies and largemouth anywere from 2-5 pounds

[bigfish]

Thank's  guys for your imput. been fishing this lake for 13 years always caught
fish with live bait  and the twister tail grub's. i never fished out by the dam . I will
on saturday . If you fish for big trout i do well on the right side out from the ramp
look for the 3 big rocks on the shore line fish out about 100 ft from the shore live
line large herring with a small split shot with 4 lb test line with open bail or loose
drag .DON'T FORGET TO LOCK DOWN THE DRAG BEFORE YOU SET THE HOOK.

[projoe]

a few years back before the draut in 01 i caught a pair of beutiful rainbows the were around 21 inches each around the spot u are talking about its only like 30 feet of water tho

[tonyr]

Twenty odd years ago I caught my first 5+ pound bass in the same area. It's hanging on the wall. I do mostly trolling with down lines for trout, bait has its allure, I only rarely use it. I guess I need to return to some old spots that were good in the past.

[projoe]

if it aint broke dont fix it the old saying is

[bigfish]

I got on the water at 5:20  worked the left shore line past the small island with
sinkos caught 3 lm bass 2 sm bass all around a lb  each. marked some big fish
in 19' of water fished with shiners caught 2 large pickerel, they were stuffed with small trout  picked up some more small mouth and lost 1 large brown at the boat
on herring. wind picked up . never made it to the dam. be back in the am. i have photos don't know how to post.

[projoe]

how big where the peckeral that ate the trout and how big were there trout