Local fishermen dominated two bass tournaments held at Clear Lake last weekend. Mark Crutcher and Greg McCosker of Lakeport won the 100 Percent Bass team tournament with 30.47 pounds on Saturday, pocketing $3,100.
Crutcher said they caught their bass on swimbaits in the north end of the lake. The tournament drew 33 boats.
On Sunday, Lakeport anglers Tom Jolin and Wally Smith took top honors in the American Bass team tournament with 23.94 pounds. They also caught the big fish of the tournament, a 9.55-pounder. They won $2,534. The tournament drew 42 boats.
An interesting sidenote to the American Bass tournament on Sunday was that Bill Timmer of Sonoma was recreational fishing in the Lakeport Lagoons when he observed an injured loon thrashing about in the water. Timmer said the loon was tangled in fishing line. He called out to tournament fishermen Dave Church of Sonoma and John Kidder of Petaluma to help him catch the loon. Kidder scooped up the loon in his landing net and then removed the huge coil of fishing line from the bird. Kidder then released the bird and it flew off. Obviously the bird would have probably died without the assistance of the fishermen.
Overall the bass fishing is only so-so on Clear Lake. The cool weather still has the bass confused and very few have moved onto their spawning beds. With water temperatures in the mid 50-degree range, the bass still think its winter.
The best action has been on Senkos or jigs cast beneath the docks and retrieved super slow. The tournament fishermen are casting swimbaits and catching the larger fish. Typically a fisherman can expect to catch from three to seven fish per day. However, that should improve this weekend as warm weather is forecast to hit the area.
American Bass will hold a team event Sunday. The weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. at Konocti Vista Casino and Resort.
A few catfish are starting to show up for fishermen soaking cut bait or frozen shad in the Cache Creek area. Horseshoe Bend is also producing a few channel catfish. The popular Clearlake Oaks/Glenhaven annual catfish derby gets under way May 16 and is expected to draw more than 400 fishermen.
Crappie action is still slow although a few fishermen report catching five or six per outing. Most of the anglers are waiting for the water to warm up, which should improve the fishing.
The trout opener on Saturday saw fishermen shoulder to shoulder along the East Branch of the Russian River. I checked out the area Saturday afternoon and most of the fishermen said the heavy fishing pressure slowed the action. The river won”t be stocked again for two weeks.
The Upper Blue Lakes trout derby, held Saturday and Sunday, was a huge success. The tournament drew 214 fishermen of which 56 were children. A total of 179 trout were caught Saturday and another 162 on Sunday. Proceeds from the tournament go to local community projects.
Trout and bass are still being caught at Lake Pillsbury. There are reports that an 8-pound bass was caught on Sunday. The lake level is dropping slowly but overall the lake is still good shape.
The Lake level at Indian Valley reservoir has dropped another 10 feet in the past three weeks. The lake level is now down more than 100 feet from normal and it will drop even more as water continues to be drawn out for irrigation. The bass fishing is still rated very good but the trout and kokanee action has been slow.
Turkey hunters wrap up their season Sunday. There is an extended two-week archery and junior hunting season that last until May 18. Overall the hunting has slowed. This is typical for the end of the season. The toms are done breeding for the most part and won”t respond to a call.
