Cold, wet and windy weather has slowed the fishing at Clear Lake. A good illustration of just how cold it has been was on Wednesday morning when the water temperature was a bitter-cold 43 degrees at Lakeside County Park.
There also have been a lack of fishermen on the lake. However, despite the kess than favorable conditions, bass are being caught. Both the north and south ends of the lake are producing fair numbers of fish, with most fishermen catching from 10-15 bass per day and a few even bringing in 20 or more fish.
Jumbo minnows remain the top bait for the bass. Some of the guides report going through two to three dozen minnows in a day”s fishing. For those who use artificials, it;s been a 6-inch plastic worm rigged on a shaky head jig. The advantage of the shaky head is that the tail of the plastic worm floats up, which attracts the bass.
The special shaky head jig can be purchased at the local tackle shops. Other fishermen have been finding success either shaking a plastic worm or slowly moving it along the bottom on a split shot. With the water this cold, the bass are very lethargic and it takes patience to be successful. In fact, one fisherman reported doing well by what is called “dead sticking.” This is a technique whereby the fisherman moves the worm a few inches and then lets it sit motionless on the bottom for 10 to 15 seconds.
A few fishermen have been successful using jerk baits along the edges of the tules. One of the better areas has been from Lakeside County Park to the state park.
The next bass tournament scheduled on the lake is Jan. 14 and is an American Bass (ABA) team tournament. ABA will have an all-Clear Lake circuit in 2007 and it will operate out of the Skylark Shores Motel in Lakeport. Ed Clarke, owner of Tackle It in Lakeport, is the tournament director. Fishermen can sign up for the tournaments at the Tackle It store. For more information call 262-1233.
There have been rumors going around that the annual North-lake Ford/Lakeport Chamber of Com-merce Team Bass Tournament (formerly the Record-Bee/Bruno”s tournament) was being canceled because John Brossard sold Northlake Ford.
Not true. According to Chamber Executive Director Melissa Fulton, the two-day tournament will go off as scheduled on March 17 and will be called the Holder Ford-Mercury/Lakeport Chamber of Commerce Team Tournament.
According to Fulton, entry forms will be out within two weeks. This will be the 20th anniversary of the popular tournament. The last tournament drew 141 teams making, it one of the largest bass tournaments held on the lake in 2006.
Crappie action on the lake has slowed considerably. At the two most popular areas (Kono Tayee and Shag Rock), most of the fishermen are struggling to put 10 fish per day in the boat.
Whereas the crappie may not be biting, it”s just the opposite for the bluegill. Ken Taddie of Indian Beach Resort in Glenhaven says these tasty little fish are everywhere and eating everything. In fact, many of the crappie fishermen are complaining that there are so many bluegill they can”t get their crappie jigs down to where the crappie are holding because the bluegill are attacking the jigs.
Upper Blue Lake was scheduled to be stocked with trout this week. This is an ideal lake to take the youngsters fishing during their Christmas vacation.
Both Pine Acres Resort and the Narrows Resort offer excellent facilities for fishing from their docks for a small fee and you”re just about guaranteed to catch trout. The lake will be stocked again during the week of Jan. 1-5.
There”s no word coming out of Indian Valley Reservoir. The lake was stocked with adult Eagle Lake-strain trout and the fishing should be good.
