Soaring temperatures may have put the damper on fishermen”s spirits, but it hasn”t stopped the bass from biting at Clear Lake. Most fishermen are having little trouble catching 15 to 40 fish per day and the good news is that just about every location is producing fish.
The rockpiles in the south end of the lake have been seeing some incredible fishing pressure. The fishing has slowed a little on the weekends, but by midweek the action had resumed. The best news is that fishermen have been doing very well in the north end along the outer edges of the tules. The entire shoreline from the state park to Lakeport is literally loaded with bass.
The only downside is that many of the fish only weigh 1-3 pounds, but unless you”re a tournament fisherman it”s a great time to spend a day on the lake.
The top technique continues to be drop-shotting a plastic worm and that goes for most of the areas. One of the more popular plastic worms has been the oxblood-blue or watermelon colors. Actually, just about any color of worm will work. Senkos, rigged wacky style, also have been effective.
The topwater action has also been very good and should even improve with arrival of the hot weather. There are a few mats starting to form, which means it”s time to use plastic frogs. The bass seek the shade of the mats in the afternoons and a frog cast to the mat can produce a heart-stopping blowup.
American Bass (ABA) will hold a team tournament on Sunday. The tournament operates out of the Skylark Shores Motel in Lakeport. Fishermen can sign up for the tournament at the Tackle It tackle shop, which is located next to the Skylark Motel, on Sunday morning prior to blast-off. The weigh-in starts at noon. This will be the final ABA team tournament until next fall.
Crappie action has been fair in the Jago Bay area and a few crappie are being caught near Redbud Park in Clearlake. The crappie action in the Lakeport area has been very slow.
Catfish action remains very slow. A few fishermen are finding success by drifting cut bait offshore. The catfish are ranging in size from 5-20 pounds.
Upper Blue Lake is scheduled to be stocked with trout this week, the first stocking in more than a month. The East Branch of the Russian River won”t be stocked until later this month and it will depend on the water flows.
Indian Valley Reservoir is kicking out a few kokanee but overall the action has been very slow. While trout action has been dead, bass fishing has been good. The lake level is down more than 60 feet and continues to drop. The release at the dam has been running about 500 cfs.
Letts Lake in the Mendocino National Forest is scheduled to be stocked with trout this week. This is a great camping area. When the temperatures are hitting the century mark in Lake County, it”s a cool 70 degrees at the lake.
n More info on Rumsey
In my column last week about the Rumsey Gauge, which measures the level of Clear Lake, a number of people wanted to know the background of Capt. Rumsey, who is the person who established the Rumsey Gauge. His name was Capt. Dewitt C. Rumsey and he was from Yolo County. In fact, the town of Rumsey, located on Highway 16 in Yolo County, was founded by him. He also bought property in Lakeport and Rumsey Bay on Clear Lake is named after him. He started the Rumsey Gauge in 1872. The actual location of the Rumsey Gauge is on Esplanade Avenue in Lakeport.
In 1852 he was the trail boss on cattle drives in the West. From what I have researched that”s where he received the title of “Captain.” In those days it was common to call the trail boss captain. Capt. Rumsey was an important part of the history of Lake County.
