Clear Lake is no longer a mystery to the legions of bass fishing fans around the country. It's the big pond that produced Steve Kennedy's record-setting catch. It's the home lake of current Bassmaster Angler of the Year Skeet Reese. And it's no longer northern California's neglected stepchild, ignored in favor of the Delta.

But while the big spring swimbait bite has been a national story and there's been some coverage of Clear throughout the summer, now we move into autumn. Even those on the left coast will be stymied in any attempt to fit spring patterns into a September template.

So we talked to Plumas Lake, Calif. professional angler Jim Davis, who has a long history on Clear Lake and knows its ins and outs. Here's how he'd fish this weekend's Anglers Choice event.

Start Shallow

"With the weather being as hot as it's been, you only have an hour when they're up shallow and feeding and you've got to take advantage of that," he said. "You'll see them busting shad early, and you can go after them with frogs, buzzbaits and Spooks, or even shallow-running crankbaits."

The frog is his best overall big-fish producer, especially early morning, but sometimes on a gut feeling he'll start with an Optimum AC Plug: "It doesn't produce as many bites, but they're usually all big."

When he throws a frog, it's almost always white, but he noted that a yellow-headed blackbird pattern is also quite popular and effective locally.

No matter which topwater he starts with, he's certain to throw it as close to shore as possible. "A lot of times they'll be right on the bank in 6 inches of water. Many people make the mistake of not throwing it up so tight to the bank."

Deeper Later

"As the day goes on, you have to go down for them," he said. As the fish move deeper, he turns primarily to known rockpiles, where he drags a football jig or dangles a dropshot. "You can also use a deep-running crankbait like a DD22 or a swimbait if you're patient enough to let it get to the bottom," he noted.

He usually prefers the south end to pursue the deeper bite. " The south has more rockpiles so it's easier to target the bigger fish. And if you can get one or two good bites, that puts you in the mid-20s right there."

He added that "the weeds have really grown up a lot in the last year in the north end, which is the shallower end. This year, there's so much weeds that it's hard to target the best areas."

Back to the south end: Most of the rockpiles are in the 10- to 30-foot range, although he noted that community hole Shag Rock is in 40 feet of water.

While he will turn to the dropshot if necessary, he believes that the big jig is his best chance to dredge up a big limit of rockpile bass. He favors either a brown/purple or brown/orange jig, with a chunk or craw trailer, usually in blue or purple. On occasion he'll use a twin-tail grub instead.