Finding groups will be key at Clear Lake

The MLF Toyota Series visits Lakeport, California for the 2024 Western Division season opener at Clear Lake. Competition days are Wednesday through Friday.

“I am super excited for this event – after seeing how well the local team tournaments have been doing the last month, I expect that we are going to see some giant weights,” said Rancho Santa Margarita, California angler Kyle Grover, who has four career Top-10 finishes and a 2019 win on Clear Lake in Toyota Series competition. “I think it’s going to take 85 to 100 pounds over the three days to win this one.”

Grover said the water levels on Clear Lake are extremely high and he expects anglers are going to have to slow down and work hard to locate the biggest schools.

“Clear Lake is a pretty simple fishery and they usually always bite the same stuff,” Grover said. “The key is finding them – we call it the biomass. The fish there like to group up, and when you find those big schools you can usually get on that one spot and smash them. Most of the time it’s a one-boat, one-cast type deal.

“You’ll be able to tell who found the schools pretty quickly,” Grover continued. “There will be a handful of guys at the top of the leaderboard that weigh in some massive limits, and then you’ll see the weights taper off pretty quickly.”

With schools of fish being the key, Grover said that he expects forward-facing sonar to play a big role in this tournament, although not with the minnow-type soft plastics that are winning events across the South.

“The fish here like the bigger baits, so I think we’ll see a lot of swimbaits, umbrella rigs, (Lucky Craft) LV 500s – I think the tournament will likely be won on one of those three baits,” Grover went on to say. “But there will be guys catching them on the south end of the lake, too, throwing crankbaits and big jigs.”

Anglers will launch at 6:30 a.m. PT each day from the Konocti Vista Casino Resort & Marina, located at 2755 Mission Rancheria Road in Lakeport. Weigh-ins will also be held at the marina and will begin at 2:30 p.m.

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