Lake McClure Fishing Report

The trout action at McClure has been very good over the last month or so. Three 1,000+ pound stocks have gone in since late February, and holdovers are getting more aggressive higher in the water column. Trollers are running spoons around the upper part of the lake, hooking into some nice 3 to 4 pound fish along with the occasional salmon. Shore casters are working the shoreline early in the morning on the outer edges of McClure Point, either throwing spoons or soaking Powerbait, hooking mostly stockers.

The bass bite is picking up as water temps push into the low 60s. Spotted bass are moving shallow near steep rocky shorelines and points. Largemouth are pushing shallow on the south end of the lake, easing into the back of warm coves to begin their spawning patterns. Soft plastics and small jigs have been best.

Lake McClure has been fishing well, with the most consistent action coming from the main lake rather than the arms. Bass have been grouped on rock piles, points, ledges, and defined drop-offs, showing a strong preference for areas with moderate stain around 3–4 feet of visibility. Ultra-clear water has been noticeably tougher, both up the arms and in clearer main-lake sections. Bass schools are still there feeding on bait, but scatter quickly once one or two fish are caught from the school.

Trout anglers are finding success trolling blade-and-crawler combos within the top 15 feet, especially during the first-light window.

McClure received around 4,000 4–6 inch rainbows from the CDFW at the end of October. Obviously, this doesn’t do much to boost the trout fishing right now, but it’s a positive step toward supporting an elite trout population long term. But for the right now, McClure just received 1,000 pounds of Calaveras trout last week (north ramp), although not a lot of reports yet as fish settle in.

Spotted bass are still the name of the game, though. They’re primarily focused on chasing shad schools all around the lake and into the backs of coves. Mornings are seeing boils in these coves, where walking baits and jerkbaits are working best. Otherwise, swim jigs and spoons have been good for anglers targeting fish around those mid-column bait balls. Water temps are still in an ideal 65 degree range.