Despite the series of weather fronts that have passed through the area, the bass fishing at Clear Lake remains good as most fishermen are having little trouble catching 10-15 fish per outing. The only problem has been catching the larger fish ? most of the bass are weighing from 1-3 pounds.
A good example of this came over the weekend during the Triton Owners tournament. Most of the teams brought in limits both days and it took nearly 46 pounds to win the tourney and 31 pounds to finish in the money.
Both the north and south ends of the lake continue to produce decent numbers of fish. A few of the better areas have been the docks at Nice-Lucerne, Rocky Point, Konocti Bay, Jago Bay and the rockpiles at Rattlesnake Island. Some of the more successful fishermen are finding the bass in shallow water near the state and county parks, where they are using jigs or drop-shotting plastic worms. One problem has been the intense fishing pressure because of the many recently held tournaments. As one fisherman put it, “In the past month the bass have seen more lures than most tackle shops carry.”
American Bass (ABA) will hold two separate team tournaments this weekend. One is Saturday and the other Sunday. Both operate out of the Skylark Shores Motel in Lakeport, with the weigh-ins starting at 3 p.m. Fishermen can sign up for the tournaments on Saturday and Sunday mornings beginning at 5 a.m. at the Tackle It tackle shop, located next to the Skylark Motel.
According to tournament director Ed Clarke, the tournaments aren”t part of the regular ABA schedule but points will be awarded for eligibility in the circuit”s Tournament of Champions (TOC).
Crappie action has been just about non-existent. A few crappie are being caught in the south end of the lake but it”s hardly worth the effort.
The cool weather has improved the catfish action. Most of the successful anglers are drifting using either nightcrawlers or cut bait.
Trout action has been fair at Upper Blue Lake. A few anglers have been catching rainbows to 14 inches by trolling various hardware at a depth of 20 feet in the middle of the lake. The lake was stocked last week. Bass fishing has been fair, with most of the fish being caught in the deeper water by drop-shotting.
The lake level at Indian Valley Reservoir is down a little more than 100 feet from the full mark. The only action continues to be either bass or catfish. Smallmouth bass are being caught in decent numbers at the face of the dam.
Deer hunters in Zone B head into the final week of their season, which closes Oct. 21. The hunters have seen very few deer to date. In fact, the hunting has been downright terrible.
A good example is the Snow Mountain Wilderness Area. This area always produced excellent hunting the final week in past years, but there have been very few bucks taken this year. I hunted there Tuesday and Wednesday and spoke with one group of more than 20 hunters who had been camped at Bear Creek for a week. They said they had bagged one buck and seen one other buck and very few does.
Despite rain and perfect hunting weather, I did not see a single deer during the two days that I hunted. Similar reports are coming out of the Covelo area. In fact, even the X zones have been poor this year. Wildlife biologists estimate the state”s deer herd has shrunk by more than 50 percent in the past 10 years and continues to decline.
