The fishing report for Clear Lake is starting to sound like a broken record “use jumbo minnows if you want to be successful.”
The bass have just about everyone fooled. A good example was when I was out on the lake Tuesday. I fished for two hours using crankbaits and plastic worms and didn”t get a single bite. However, I met two fishermen who were using jumbo minnows and fishing the same area that I was and they caught and released 10 bass, the largest weighing 7 pounds. This proves that minnows are the bait of choice if you want to catch bass.
To say this has been a strange year is an understatement. Even the highly skilled tournament fishermen are struggling to catch five fish a day. There have been a number of theories going around as to why the bass aren”t biting and they range from a suspicion that the overall bass population is down, to there being too much bait in the water.
There is no question the lake is literally alive with baitfish and they consist of silverside minnows, threadfin shad, baby bluegills and baby crappie. One reason for the poor fishing could be that the bass are gorging themselves on the available baitfish.
The few bass being caught on artificial lures have been taking lipless crankbaits and swimbaits. The best action has been in the south end of the lake. The docks at Library Park in Lakeport are giving up a few bass but it”s been nothing to brag about.
WON BASS opens its 2008-09 tournament season with a pair of tournaments this weekend. There is a Rookie Team tournament on Saturday and a regular team event on Sunday. Both tournaments operate out of the Skylark Shores Motel in Lakeport and the weigh-ins start at 3 p.m.
Crappie action has been fair at Kono Tayee and Shag Rock. The good news is that some of the crappie are weighing more than 2 pounds.
No local waters were stocked with trout this week. The trout action at Upper Blue Lake has been very slow.
According to a press release from the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), a Gilroy man was recently convicted of waterfowl poaching of staggering proportions. Peter Ignatius Ciraulo, 42, entered a plea of no contest to three violations — exceeding the waterfowl possession limit, failure to declare a migratory game bird (a swan), and failure to show game upon demand of a Fish and Game warden. Ciraulo was found to unlawfully possess 253 ducks and 58 geese. The legal possession limits is 14 ducks and eight geese. He also possessed seven live but wounded snow geese, which is also illegal.
“Not since the market poaching days of the early 1900s have we seen waterfowl poaching of this scope,” said Nancy Foley, Chief of DFG”s Law Enforcement Division.
Through routine waterfowl hunting patrol techniques, DFG game wardens Kyle Kroll and Greg Grinton began an investigation on Ciraulo a few weeks before the close of last year”s waterfowl hunting season, which ended in January 2008. As they amassed evidence, they realized the extent of Ciraulo”s poaching. On the last day of the hunting season, Kroll and Grinton made contact with Ciraulo and discovered evidence of poaching beyond anything they had ever seen. Initial contact with Ciraulo revealed he had killed a swan, which is protected in California, and eight geese. He also possessed several additional concealed goose breasts hidden in his jacket.
The wardens also found hundreds of birds, mostly waterfowl species, in freezers at his home. The dead birds included specimens of almost every waterfowl species that migrates into California, but also included many non-game protected species including a Sandhill Crane. A total of 335 birds were discovered during the investigation. Most of them were frozen whole, without having been processed for consumption. Seven live and crippled snow geese were also found at the residence.
As a result of the conviction, Ciraulo was placed on two years probation, ordered to pay a fine totaling $7,105 and he must serve 100 hours of community service work at Ducks Unlimited and/or California Waterfowl Association projects. As a further condition of probation, Ciraulo is banned from all hunting in California for one season until Feb. 1, 2009.
