The results from the past two bass tournaments on Clear Lake show just how awesome this lake”s bash fishery is.
During the recent Vanity Cup tournament, the winning weight for 10 fish was 74.2 pounds. That not only set a lake record for a bass tournament, but it easily could have set a national record for 10 fish caught in a bass tournament. To top that off, the average weight per fish caught in the tournament was an incredible 4.3 pounds. I checked with several national tournament organizations and was told they hadn”t heard of a greater weight in a sanctioned tournament.
That tournament was followed up by the Holder Ford-Mercury tournament this past weekend. The winning team had more than 70 pounds and the average weight per fish was 4 pounds. It took nearly 44 pounds just to get a check.
Can you imagine competing in a bass tournament and having a 5-pound average per fish and just winning back your entry fee? In most tournaments around the country that kind of weight would win the event.
What is really amazing are the number of big fish being caught. During the Vanity Cup, there were 15 bass that weighed more than 8 pounds. However, in the Holder Ford-Mercury tournament, there were seven bass that weighed more than 10 pounds.
I know of no other lake that produces bass of that quality.
It”s just not the number of big bass being caught but the total number of fish being caught that is astounding. The Holder Ford-Mercury tournament produced a grand total of 1,110 bass and that”s only for the fish that were actually weighed in. Most of the fishermen reported catching 30 to 50 fish per day. What this indicates is that the bass fishery in Clear Lake continues to thrive and actually increase.
The good news is that you don”t have to be a tournament pro to catch fish. Many of the recreational fishermen are also cashing in on the excellent fishing. In fact, fishermen are now coming from throughout the West and the entire nation to fish at Clear Lake. A good example was Shawn Blanton, who came all the way from Nashville, Tenn., to compete in the Holder Ford-Mercury tourney.
The upcoming Bassmasters Elite Series, which gets under way next week, should provide some interesting statistics. Even though most of 105 pros in the tournament have never been to Clear Lake, they are full-time professionals who make their living fishing in tournaments. A number of the pros have career winnings of more than $1,000,000.
If the warm weather holds up, many of the bass will be on their spawning beds and a number of huge bass will be caught.
The big question many fishermen are asking is how long the excellent fishing can last? Fish populations, like all wildlife, experience ups and downs. As long as they have abundant food and habitat, the population will rise fast. But once the population exceeds the available food supply, nature will take its course and the fishery will basically crash.
Clear Lake has a record of bass populations peaking and crashing. In fact, that happened in 1992 the fishery crashed after many years of tremendous fishing. When the population crashed, you were lucky to catch four or five bass a day. Most of the fishery biologists predict it will happen again.
The reason bass are so abundant in Clear Lake is because of the massive threadfin shad population. These bait fish are supplying the food for the bass. Of course, bass also eat crayfish and other minnows, but it”s the shad that most of the bass are feeding on. If the shad population declines for any reason, it”s likely the bass population will soon follow.
But for the meantime, go out and enjoy some of the best fishing this lake has ever offered. And you don”t have to be a tournament professional to cash in on the action.
