Clear Lake is being called the “Red Sea” by many fishermen, the reason being that much of the lake water has turned a rusty red color.
The bad news is that in the red areas the bass aren”t biting. As one fisherman put it last week, “find green water and you”ll catch bass.” That theory tends to be true.
The reason the water is either red or a dark brown is because of algae blooms. Normally the lake turns green when the algae blooms, but there are years when the lake turns brown, red or even black in a few areas. This has been one of those years. In some areas the water is so stained that you can only see down a couple of inches.
The water color also changes throughout the day in most of the areas. This is normally caused by the wind blowing the algae around and by the currents in the lake.
A lot of people don”t believe it but there are definite currents at Clear Lake. A good example was last week when the north end of the lake had the stained water, however, this week it”s been the south end. The north winds pushed the algae to the south.
Another reason for the late algae blooms is because of the warm weather and a dropping lake level. With daytime temperatures reaching into the 80s, there are algae blooms. The lake level also continues to drop and will continue to do so until the winter rains provide runoff. In past years, cool weather by this time of year brought the algae blooms to a halt.
A number of fishermen are saying the brown or red water color is being caused by commercial pesticide companies or the state spraying for weeds. In truth, very little spraying has been done this year and most of that took place in July and August.
Actually, algae is a positive condition and the lifeblood of the lake. Algae are simple chlorophyll one-celled or multicelluar plants without stems, roots or leaves. Algae takes nutrients (nitrogen and phosphates) from the water and provides valuable food for small fish and small aquatic animals.
Plankton feed on the algae and in turn small baitfish such as the threadfin shad and hitch feed on the plankton. This provides forage for the larger fish such as bass. Algae also produces oxygen during daylight hours through photosynthesis. However, it uses up oxygen at night.
Even when the algae turns brown or red, fish still swim through it. The problem is bass don”t actively feed in the brown or red water.
This has been a strange year on Clear Lake in that there has been green algae throughout the summer. The result is that there has been minimal weed growth. Algae clouds the water and prevents the sun from penetrating to the bottom, which activates the weeds.
The dirty water also doesn”t mean the lake is polluted. In fact, the water in Clear Lake is exceptionally clean. Algae also has been part of Clear Lake for thousands of years (long before humans lived here).
Bass can be caught in the reddish algae, it just takes patience. Most of the successful fishermen use either jigs or plastic worms retrieved super slow. Actually, most bass fishermen prefer stained or dirty water to clear water. Unlike trout, bass are ambushers and stained water allows them to hide from their prey. Stained water also allows the fishermen to get closer to the fish without spooking them.
The good news is that within a few weeks the red or brown algae will begin to disappear and the lake will take on its normal green color. The bass also will resume biting, which should make the fishermen happy.
