With only a few days until Christmas, shoppers are scrambling to buy that last-minute gift. If the person on your list is a fisherman, then a visit to one of the local tackle shops should solve your problem.
There are five tackle shops in the county ? Tackle It in Lakeport, Limit Out Bait and Tackle in Clearlake Oaks, Lakeshore Bait and Tackle in Clearlake, Clear Lake Outdoors on Soda Bay Road in Lakeport, and Clear Lake Outdoors South in Clearlake. The managers of these shops are experienced fishermen and they can offer expert advice on fishing gifts. They also sell gift certificates. Better yet, ask them to put together a tackle pack of the latest lures and plastic worms.
For those who want to spend a little extra for a unique gift, then a guided fishing trip on Clear Lake is the ideal gift. The average cost is about $400 for a full day or $200 for a half day. The names of the local bass guides can be obtained from the county”s tackle shops.
A neat gift is a 2008 fishing license. Everyone 16 and older is required to have one and it only costs $38.85. All the local tackle shops as well as Wal-Mart, Kmart and Longs Drugs sell them. You can buy a blank license and fill in the person”s name and address.
On the fishing scene, the unsettled weather kept most of the fishermen off the water this week, but the few brave souls who did venture out reported catching good numbers of bass, crappie and even the occasional catfish.
Bass fishing remains solid and the top lure this past week was a lipless crankbait in the shad color. The more successful fishermen have been casting the lure to the docks or onto the rockpiles and retrieving the lure yo-yo style. This means to give the lure a hard, short jerk and then pause. The lure will flutter down to the bottom during the pauses, resembling a dying shad.
The best lure for this style of fishing has been a Lucky Craft LV100 or a LV500. The old standard Rattle Trap also works.
Jigs and plastic worms also have been productive. According to most of the experts, the trick to success is to work the jig or plastic worm slowly. Another technique that is successful is to shake a plastic worm.
A 6-inch worm is rigged on a 1/0 wide gap hook and a 1/8-ounce worm weight is pegged tight to the hook with a toothpick. The worm is cast back into the tules or beneath a dock and allowed to sink to the bottom. The tip of the rod is then twitched. This allows the worm to dance on the bottom. When a fish grabs the worm all you feel is a slight pressure.
Of course, if you want a guarantee to catch bass, then use live jumbo minnows. Most of the fishermen are rigging the minnow either on a slip bobber or allowing it to swim free without a bobber.
In addition to live minnows, nightcrawlers also are effective on bass and they”re a lot cheaper to buy. A few fishermen have been rigging the nightcrawlers on a drop-shot rig and it has been deadly.
Most of the action is taking place in the south end of the lake in both the Clearlake Oaks Arm and the Redbud Arm. Henderson Point is also producing good numbers of fish as well as the shoreline along the state park.
Bank fishermen are also catching bass by working the docks at Library Park in Lakeport and at Lakeside County Park. Jumbo minnows have been taking most of the fish.
Crappie action is still a little slow and most of the fishermen are struggling to put a dozen fish in the boat. Shag Rock and Kono Tayee continue to be the more popular areas. At Kono Tayee, the crappie have been spread out along the shoreline. The trick is to keep moving from dock to dock until you locate a school of fish. The crappie are holding near the bottom, so allow your jig to sink all the way.
No local lakes were stocked with trout this week. A few fishermen are finding success at Upper Blue Lake by trolling near the middle of the lake. It”s been slow for bank fishermen.
