A different type of bass tournament takes place at Clear Lake this week. It”s called the “Western Rally@Clear Lake” and will draw more than 120 fishermen from throughout California as well as other states. In fact, fishermen will be coming from as far away as Texas.
The rally is part of the popular bass fishing Internet Web site, WesternBass.Com. Thousands of bass fishermen visit the Web site daily to express their views on bass fishing as well as to receive and give fishing advice. Every year the Web site brings fishermen together for a bass fishing adventure. Clear Lake has been selected as the site of the Western Rally for the past few years. It starts today and runs through Sunday and will be centered at the Konocti Vista Casino, Resort and Marina in Lakeport.
According to the Western Bass Web site, the primary objective of the rally is to create an atmosphere of fellowship and camaraderie among anglers from around the nation. Many of the participants have conversed with other anglers via the Internet, Bass Fishing Home Page and WesternBass.Com. This event will allow everyone to match faces to names and create many longtime, cross country contacts and friendships. A low-key fishing competition is planned to allow maximum opportunity for all participants to meet new friends and enjoy some great fishing.
The winners of this tournament receive no cash prizes, only bragging rights, but that doesn”t mean they won”t be competitive. To win this tournament is just as important to the competing fishermen as winning the big events.
The tournament will be divided into three sessions (two on Saturday and one on Sunday), with each session lasting approximately five hours. Each fisherman can bring only two bass per session to the scales (a total of six fish for the tournament). The fisherman with the heaviest weight for the three sessions will be declared the winner. There also will be other awards in various categories.
The fishermen competing in the rally should find excellent fishing although the pattern is changing daily as the weeds continue to extend out into the lake. The heavy weed growth has scattered the bass and in some areas fishermen are finding concentrations of bass as far as 300 to 500 yards offshore. This is especially true in the north end of the lake. For example, I found bass holding off the Lakeside County Park at least 400 yards offshore earlier this week.
The good news is the topwater action has been nothing short of explosive. Just about all the popular topwater lures have been effective. The trick is to keep moving and casting. Work the areas between weed patches.
Senko and jigs and drop-shotting a plastic worm also has been very effective.
In the south end of the lake, the rockpiles are holding a tremendous amount of bass. One fishermen reported catching 25 bass off one rockpile on Monday.
For those who want to fish for crappie, the bite has improved in the south end of the lake. According to crappie expert Franz Bingel of Clearlake, good numbers of crappie are being caught at Four Poles (located at the old Boat Works in the Redbud Arm). The docks at Luebow Point and Lakeview Point are also producing crappie.
The East Branch of the Russian River is scheduled to be stocked with trout this week. Upper Blue Lake won”t be stocked until next month. About the only action at Indian Valley Reservoir is for bass and catfish. The lake level continues to drop and is now down at least 75 feet from full.
Jeremy Jernigan of Lakeport bagged a nice buck with a bow last week. The deer was taken from a ranch in Long Valley. Overall the deer hunting has been rated fair. A couple of bucks have been taken from the Cache Creek Wildlife Area and the Mendocino National Forest.
