Clear Lake is known for its trophy-sized bass, but does it hold a world record? For years many fishermen have been convinced that Clear Lake could have a world record largemouth bass swimming in its waters. The current world record is 22 pounds, 4 ounces and was caught in 1932 in Georgia.
The Clear Lake record is 17.52 pounds and was caught by Jerry Basgal of Lakeport in 1990. In the 16 years since the bass was caught there hasn”t been another bass caught in Clear Lake that would even come to close to this one in size. In fact, there have been only two bass in the 15-pound range caught and none in the 16-pound class. Actually there have been only a couple that have weighed more than 14 pounds caught in the lake. This points out to just how rare a 15-pound or larger bass is.
The Department of Fish and Game maintains a list of the top 25 largemouth bass caught in California. The largest bass ever caught in the state weighed 22.01 pounds and was caught back in 1991. The bass currently in 25th place weighed 18.7 pounds and was caught in 2002 in San Pablo Reservoir. The list covers a span of 33 years and all but one fish was caught in Southern California. There was an 18-pound bass caught in Hidden Valley Lake in Lake County.
Why does Southern California produce most of the megaweight bass and will Clear Lake ever grow a 20 pounder? Over the years, a lot of fishermen have predicted that Clear Lake will produce a new world record bass. The reason being that few lakes in the West have as many 8-10 pounders as Clear Lake. But, despite extremely heavy fishing pressure, which includes at least 25 major bass tournaments per year and thousands of recreational fishermen, the lake just hasn” been able to produce those megaweight bass. A few years ago when most of the local fishing guides switched to using live jumbo minnows, many people said that it would be only a matter of time before a 20-pound bass would be caught in the lake. But, that didn”t happen.
One reason that Southern California has more double digit weight bass is because of the warmer weather, which means a longer growing period. Clear Lake sits at a 1,350 foot elevation. The winters are cool, which means that bass grow very little for at least four months out of the year. Being a cold blooded creature, a fish becomes dormant during the winter months and grows very little.
Florida-strain bass were first planted in the lake in 1969. In the following 20 years nearly a 100,00 Florida bass fingerlings were stocked in the lake. The result is that just about all the bass in the lake are now either pure Floridas or a Florida-northern largemouth mix. Florida bass live longer and are harder to catch than northern largemouth. The live span of a Florida bass is about 17 years. Compare that to a northern largemouth”s life span of 12 years. Of course less than five percent of the fish will live that long.
Basgal”s bass was a Florida-northern mix and was 12-years-old when it was caught. That”s about 70 years in human terms, which means it was nearing the end of its life.
Actually very few bass fishermen, and that includes tournament pros, have caught even an 8-pound bass. We all hear of the 10-pound-plus bass that are reportedly caught but very few of these fish are actually weighed. Most of these claims are what I call “guessed weight.”
Don”t get me wrong, Clear Lake could very well have a 20 pounder swimming around, but I would have to see it weighed on a scale to believe it. In the meantime I still believe the lake is the number one bass fishery in the West and it will stay that way for a long time to come.
Terry Knight can be reached at tknight3021@sbcglobal.net or by calling (707) 263-1699. Letters intended for publication that respond to Mr. Knight”s column can be sent to news@clearlakeobserver.com.
