Only but the bravest have been out on Clear Lake this past week. It”s the bitter cold winter weather that has kept the fishermen ashore. The good news is the few hardy souls who have been on the lake continue to catch bass and even some crappie with an occasional catfish.
The water temperature in the mornings have been as low as 43 degrees and it”s only warming up to about 52 degrees by mid-afternoon.
Winter is the traditional time of year when big bass bite and this past weekend was no exception. The Angler”s Choice team tournament Saturday produced some real heavyweights, including a 14.38-pound bass caught by Duane Rhodes of Redwood Valley. This may be one of the largest bass ever caught in an Angler”s Choice tournament.
Rhodes said he caught his big fish on a swimbait. Rhodes was teamed with Kelseyville angler John Reese and they weighed in a total of 31.05 pounds. But even with that huge bass his team ended up only in second place. The winning team was Greg McCosker of Lakeport and Randy Marshall of Woodland. Their weight was an incredible 33.72 pounds for five fish. Their big fish weighed 8.72 pounds. They collected $2,535 in prize money.
The tournament produced six bass weighing more than 8 pounds and the overall average for all the fish caught in the tournament was an impressive 3.97 pounds.
For catching large bass in the winter it”s hard to beat swimbaits. The only problem is casting a swimbait for more than an hour can result in a very tired and sore arm. Most of the experienced swimbait fishermen use a long, stiff-action casting rod and make what are called “lob” casts. The lure is then retrieved in a slow, steady style. When a bass grabs the lure, you will feel a hard tug.
The good news for recreational fishermen at Clear Lake is that you don”t have to be on the water at daylight. The best action starts at about noon and peaks at about 2 p.m., the reason being the water is coldest at daylight and the fish normally won”t bite. By noon the water temp warms up a few degrees and usually that”s all that”s needed to start the bass feeding.
There have been a number of fishermen wanting to know if the popular Holder Ford Bass Tournament will take place next year. The tournament is scheduled for March 15-16 and will be based out of the Skylark Shores Motel in Lakeport. Entry forms will be available soon. This tournament was originally called the “Record-Bee/Bruno”s Team Bass Tournament back in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Crappie action is still a hit-or-miss affair. The action is concentrated around the Kono Tayee docks and Shag Rock. Most of the fishermen are working hard to put 25 fish in the boat and there have been times when the fishing has been tough. One reason could be that the heavy fishing pressure has moved the fish.
No local waters were stocked with trout this week. A few fishermen have been successful trolling in the middle of the lake at Upper Blue Lake, but overall the action has been slow. Bass fishing improved slightly this past week for fishermen drop-shotting a plastic worm in 30 feet of the water. The lake is exceptionally clear.
Duck hunters are finally seeing an improvement in their sport. The cold weather up north has pushed thousands of ducks and geese down to the Sacramento Valley. Last weekend most of the refuges averaged nearly three birds per hunter.
I hunted on some Wilderness Unlimited property in the Sacramento Valley on Wednesday and there were a good number of ducks flying. The most common bird has been pintails and wigeons.
