Everyone says the bass fishing at Clear Lake has tightened up, but you couldn”t prove it by looking at the results of a pair of tournaments held over the weekend.
Of course, it should be taken into consideration that these are tournament fishermen and they often are more skilled than the everyday angler. The WON BASS Tournament of Champions (TOC) held Friday and Saturday saw the winning team weigh in a total of 50.17 pounds. They won a new Ranger bass boat. It took 37 pounds to get a check.
The tournament drew 113 boats and there were seven fish weighing more than 8 pounds brought to the scales, the big fish weighing 10.48 pounds. In addition, 98 teams weighed in a limit both days. Even so, fishermen complained the fishing was slow.
On Sunday, Angler”s Choice held a one-day team tournament and the winning weight was 22.86 pounds. It took 16.48 pounds to get a check. The overall average weight per fish was 2.74 pounds. The tournament drew 41 boats, of which 37 weighed in limits.
The south end of the lake has been the hot spot and some of the better areas have been Rattlesnake Island, Konocti Bay, Jago Bay and Monitor Island. Jigs and swimbaits have been the hot lures.
There are bass being caught in the north end of the lake but it takes a lot of moving to locate the fish. There are also heavy algae blooms in the north end and they have turned the water a pea green color.
The lake gets a brief rest as there are no tournaments scheduled for this weekend. Instead of bass boats, the lake will be full of wakeboard boats that are competing in BoardStock XII, which gets under way today at the Konocti Vista Casino, Resort and Marina.
The bass tournaments return to the lake next week with the Triton Boats team tournament, which will be followed by the ABA Tournament of Champions (TOC) scheduled for Oct. 13. The FLW-Outdoors pro/am is also scheduled for October and 200 boats are expected.
No local waters were scheduled to be stocked with trout this week or next. The next stocking for Upper Blue Lake is scheduled for next week.
At Indian Valley Reservoir, the lake level is down about 105 feet from full. Yolo County is drawing out about 160 cfs. Bass and catfish are the only fish
worth going after. There has been a good smallmouth bass bite for fishermen casting jigs up on the rocks. The best part for the few fishermen visiting the lake is lack of fishing presssure. It”s been rare for more than two or three boats to be out on the water, even on the weekends.
B-zone deer hunters are finding mixed results. A good number of bucks are being seen in some areas but in other areas sightings have been rare. All the hunters agree that bad weather is needed to get the deer moving out of the high country.
It”s still more than a month away but the Department of Fish and Game has announced the dates for the annual Lake County Junior Pheasant Hunt. The hunt is scheduled for Nov. 17 at Highland Springs, located just outside of Lakeport. Once again there will be morning and afternoon hunts. Applicants should send a Standard Postal Service card to GBH Highland Springs Jr. Pheasant Hunt, 1701 Nimbus Rd Suite A, Rancho Cordova, Ca 95670. Do not send more than one application.
Application must include the junior”s hunter”s name, address, telephone number, junior hunting license number, hunt period (morning or afternoon) and name of chaperone. Successful applicants will be notified by mail with information on the hunt. If all the spaces do not fill, junior hunters may be added on a first-come, first-served basis.
The deadline for applications to be received is Thursday, Nov. 1. Applicants are asked to note on the application if they will be bringing their own dog. Junior hunters with priority stamps will be given priority in the drawings. For more information call 916-358-2882.
