The bass fishing at Clear Lake has slacked off a bit but is still considered very good. There has been a decent topwater bite just at daylight and the last hour before dark.
The best action during the day has been fishing the rockpiles in the south end of the lake and the docks in the Lakeport area.
One factor is the clear water. With the exception of some of the areas in the south end where there has been an algae bloom, much of the lake is extremely clear, especially from the state park to the county park.
The recent hot weather also has caused many of the bass to already spawn. When the water temperatures reach 70 or more degrees, the bass will spawn within 24 hours. On Thursday, the water temperatures around the lake were as high as 77 degrees in some areas.
Without question, the hot lure the past two weeks has been the Senko in the root beer color. The Senko is a plastic worm and is rigged on either a 3/0 or 4/0 wide-gap hook, weedless style and cast either beneath the docks or back in the tules. No weight is used. Allow the Senko to sink slowly to the bottom and then just raise the tip of your rod and shake it a bit, and then allow the worm to sink again.
The best part of using the Senko is that when a bass grabs the worm, it usually hooks itself.
WON BASS will hold a team tournament Saturday and the weigh-in starts at 3 p.m at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa.
The lake gets a rest from the tournament fishermen starting on June 15. That”s the date the Department of Fish and Game regulations say all tournaments scheduled between June 15 and Sept. 15 must hold a weigh-in every six hours. Since most of the tournament organizations don”t want to fish a short day, they normally don”t schedule tournaments during those summer months.
Catfishermen should see an improvement in their action as the catfish are now starting to spawn. One fisherman reported seeing dozens of catfish spawning in the sunken tires along the Nice-Lucerne shoreline.
A dynamite method of catching these huge fish is to lower a live jumbo minnow or a nightcrawler right down into the tires. This is just too tempting a bait for the catfish to refuse. If you can find live crawdads it”s even better.
Slowly cruise the shoreline with your trolling motor and look for the sunken tires. When you spot a tire, just lower the bait down into the center of the tire and wait a few seconds. If a catfish is in the tire, then you can bet it will grab the bait. Hang on for the fight of your life as many of the catfish weight in excess of 15 pounds.
The kokanee and trout action at Indian Valley Reservoir has been extremely slow. Most of the fishermen are happy to catch one or two fish. The bass fishing has been very good, with the best action being in the north end of the lake. The lake level is dropping fast as water is being drawn out by Yolo County for irrigation.
At Lake Pillsbury, the trout action is only rated fair whereas the bass fishing has been excellent. The trout are holding near the surface and trollers using Cripplures or Kastmasters have been taking a few fish. Bass action has been excellent, with a few of the bass weighing up to 8 pounds. Senkos and drop-shotting a plastic worm have been the ticket. The best bass action has been in the north end of the lake near the Oak Flat Campground.
At Upper Blue Lake, the trout fishermen continue to struggle. One reason for this is that the lake hasn”t been stocked for several weeks. The good news is the bass fishing has been rated good for fishermen working the shoreline along Highway 20.
At Lake Mendocino, striped bass as well as largemouth and smallmouth bass have been providing decent action. In fact, this lake can provide excellent smallmouth action at times.
A hunter safety class begins June 18 at the Lakeport Firehouse at 445 N. Main St. in Lakeport. The course dates are June 18, June 21, June 25, June 28 and June 30. The hours are 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on June 18 and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on June 21, June 25 and June 28, and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 30. Registration will be June 18 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Firehouse.
The course is required by the Department of Fish and Game for new hunters who have never previously held a California hunting license.
For more information, call Phil Phillips at 263-1585 or Frank DiMauro at 263-5747.
