Ocean Salmon fishermen have been targeting some huge salmon off Fort Bragg. Whereas it isn”t yet red hot, the fishing has been rated very good.
Local fishing guide Terry Manthey of Lakeport and his wife Sally decided to take a holiday and fished on the six-pac party boat Bragg-N on Wednesday and they loaded up on huge salmon. Their three largest fish weighed an incredible 96 pounds with the largest tipping the scales at 37 pounds.
Manthey said the Bragg-N is a 34-foot twin diesel boat and takes only a maximum of six fishermen. The fee is $100 per person and all the fishing gear is furnished.
When the winds die down the salmon fishing has been rated good right off the Noyo Harbor. Actually the month of July is when the ocean salmon kicks into high gear.
On the local scene, the bass fishing on Clear Lake continues to be excellent. What is surprising is the outstanding topwater bite. Typically topwater action is reserved for mornings and evenings, but not this summer. Even during the middle of the day there has been excellent topwater action.
The best lures for the topwater action has been either the Skitter Pop or the Zara Spook. Both are consider “noisy” lures in that they make a splash when retrieved and that incites the bass to strike.
The top areas for topwater action continues to be from the state park to the Lakeside County Park. The bass are holding tight to the tules. Lone Tule Point is another good area.
The south end of the lake is also producing good numbers of bass with catches of 30-40 fish per day being common.
Some of the better areas have been the rockpiles at Rattlesnake Island, Jago Bay and Konocti Bay.
Bank fishermen have also been cashing in on the action. One of the better areas has been Lakeside County Park, located just off Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville.
On Tuesday evening I counted 18 anglers fishing from the docks at the park and they were catching fish. The best technique has been drop-shotting a plastic worm.
Bass are also being caught off the docks at Redbud Park in Clearlake as well as Library Park in Lakeport. The bottom line is that you don”t need a boat to catch bass at Clear Lake.
According to local crappie expert Franz Bingel of Clearlake, crappie are starting show up in good numbers in the south end of the lake. Bingel says the docks at Jago Bay, Jones Bay, Luebow Point and Four Poles are all producing crappie. The Big Green Dock near Lakeview Point has also been productive.
Large bluegill are being caught at just about every location. All that is needed is a rod and reel plus a can of either red worms or meal worms. Some of the bluegill have been huge.
Trout action continues to be slow at Upper Blue Lake. The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has scaled back the number of trout plants in the lake and there hasn”t been a stocking in a number of weeks.
The same applies to Lake Pillsbury. The DFG won”t be stocking the lake for the rest of the summer. About the only action has been the bass fishing.
At Indian Valley Reservoir the trout and kokanee action has been dead. The good news is that the bass fishing continues to be very good. The lake level is falling rapidly and is now down about 50 feet. Boats can still be launched at the dam but at the north ramp it”s iffy and care should be taken.
