“Bass Madness” hits Clear Lake starting on Monday. The Bassmasters Elite Series fishermen will begin to arrive on Sunday and will be prefishing Monday.
The first day of the tournament is Thursday and it winds up on April 1.
The tournament features 105 of the top bass professionals in world and they will be matched with an equal number of amateurs. The winning pro pockets $100,000, making it the richest bass tournament in the history of the lake.
The festivities get under way Wednesday afternoon from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. when Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino in Nice host Angler”s Alley all the brightly decorated bass boats will be on display in the parking lot at the casino. The fishermen will be available to answer questions and sign autographs.
Noted fishermen such as Kevin VanDam, Mike Iaconelli, Gerald Swindle, Danny Brauer, Ish Monroe and Skeet Reese, just to name a few, will be in attendance.
The bass pros should find some of the best bass action in the country. In fact, there are so many bass being caught that one fisherman told me after the Holder Ford-Mercury tournament last weekend that his arms were so sore that he couldn”t lift them above his shoulders.
Just about every type of lure is catching fish, but the most productive are the swimbaits and shaky head jigs with 6-inch plastic worms. Jerkbaits are also catching a lot of fish.
The north end of the lake is where most of the fishermen are concentrated. Among the better areas are the tules from the Lakeside County Park to the State Park. The Nice-Lucerne shoreline is also giving up a lot of bass.
Most of the larger bass are staging in preparation for the start of spawning. The smaller males are in the shallow water and the larger females are holding just outside the tules.
Other action
American Bass (ABA) will hold a team tournament on Saturday. The tournament operates out of the Skylark Shores Motel in Lakeport and the weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. Fishermen can sign up for the tournament either Friday evening or Saturday morning at Tackle It tackle shop, located at 1050 North Main St. in Lakeport. The tackle shop will be open late on Friday evening and at 5 a.m. on Saturday morning. Call 262-1233 for more information.
Tackle It also has a Web cam that features live pictures of Clear Lake on its web site at www.tackleit.biz.
Crappie action is still rated slow although a few fishermen are doing well.
The crappie are beginning to stage for spawning, so the action should improve as the water warms.
There”s still very little catfish action. Actually, very few people are fishing for catfish, so it”s hard to get a report. That should change in the coming weeks.
Other locations
Upper Blue Lake and Lake Pillsbury are scheduled to be stocked with trout the week of April 2-6. At Upper Blue Lake, the trout action is rated from fair to good. Bass action is improving as the fish move into the shallows to spawn.
Indian Valley Reservoir continues to provide very good trout action. Kokanee (a salmon that”s a member of sockeye family) are also starting to bite. The trout are holding at a depth of 20 feet and the best action has been from the middle to the north end of the lake. Kokanee are being caught near the dam.
Ocean salmon action off Fort Bragg is starting to improve. The party boats averaged just under a fish per rod last weekend. The best action has been straight out from the harbor entrance.
Lake County lost a true fisherman when Al Freitas of Clearlake passed away on Saturday. Freitas was known as one of the best bass fisherman in the county and won a number of tournaments. He previously owned Don”s Bait and Tackle in Clearlake and was always available to offer a tip or two on where and what the bass were biting on. He will be missed by the angling community.
