Bass fishing on Clear Lake is about as tough as it can get. Even the local fishing guides are working extra hard to locate fish for their clients. The big question is why has it turned so bad? Some of the fishermen are blaming the low lake level, but it was this low about the same time last year and the fishing was fantastic.
All the ingredients, which include bait fish, crawdads and perfect water temperatures, are there for excellent fishing, but it”s not happening. I was on the lake Wednesday and saw thousands of small bass, bluegill and silverside minnows, yet I only caught two fish. Several fishermen I spoke with said they hadn”t caught a fish. Others had caught only three or four for their efforts.
Local guide Richard Pounds says the best action has been the first three hours after daylight. He said he has been concentrating his efforts in the south end of the lake. Other fishermen agree with Pounds that the best action has been in the south end over the rockpiles. The top technique has been drop-shotting a plastic worm. A few fish are also being caught on jigs.
Pounds said that while fishing Wednesday near Lakeside County Park he came across two individuals in a rowboat who were setting out trot lines.
According to Pounds, he confronted the two individuals but they said they couldn”t understand him. They beached their small boat and drove off in a truck. Pounds then went and cut the trot lines, which were several hundred yards long and being held in place by plastic drink bottles. He also released three catfish that were caught in the hooks. He also notified game wardens.
The good news for the fishermen is that Yolo County has stopped taking water from the lake. The lake level was at 1.43 feet on the Rumsey Gauge and holding steady as of Wednesday.
A good indicator of how good, or bad, the fishing is will be the results of the WON BASS Tournament of Champions that gets under way today. The tournament is a two-day event and will take place out of Konocti Vista Casino, Resort and Marina. The weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. today and Saturday.
The tournament should draw approximately 100 boats and the winning team receives a new, fully rigged Nitro bass boat.
Clear Lake will be a busy place in the coming weeks as the bass tournament organizations hold their Tournament of Champions (TOC) tournaments. Most of the TOCs draw at least a 100 boats and there is a TOC scheduled for every weekend through October.
Catfish action is improving. According to Tony Benevento of Indian Beach Resort in Glenhaven, good numbers of catfish are being caught of the docks at the resort. The catfish are ranging in size from 5-10 pounds.
Several people have commented on the large number of dead carp they have been seeing on the lake. There is a virus that carp get that”s called “Spring Viremia of Carp Virus” (SVCV), which is common throughout the world. The virus only strikes carp and not other game fish. Department of Fish and Game fishery biologist Jay Rowan said he doubts the carp have the virus and thinks it”s probably a natural phenomenal that could be linked to the changing water temperature or other factors. The die-off is nothing in comparison to 15 years ago when thousands of carp died and littered the beaches of Nice and Lucerne.
No local waters were stocked with trout this week. The fishing at Upper Blue Lake has been slow and only a few fishermen have been successful.
The good news at Indian Valley Reservoir is that Yolo County has stopped taking water out of the lake. The lake level is still down more than 135 feet.
Deer hunters in the B zones had mixed results for their opener. Overall the hunting was rated slow as only a few hunters bagged their bucks. Warmer than normal weather and dry conditions are blamed for the poor results. The hunting pressure also was down in comparison to previous years.
