Bitterly cold weather continues to hamper fishermen at Clear Lake. The water temperature has been hovering around 45 degrees and few fish are biting.
A good example was Sunday”s American Bass (ABA) team tournament. The event drew 33 boats and only 13 teams weighed in five-fish limits. The winning team was Tom Jolin of Lakeport and Wally Smith of Novato with 24.56 pounds. They also caught the big fish of the tourney, a 9.58-pounder. Jolin said he caught the big fish on his last cast of the day. Their total winnings came to $2,400.
George and Kevin Cockriell of Kelseyville took second place with 20.25 pounds. Third place went to the team of Brody and Dennis Bramlett of Kelseyville with 20.25 pounds.
The overall average weight per fish caught in the tournament was 3.43 pounds and the average team caught only 3.12 fish.
The air temperature was a chilly 20 degrees as the teams blasted off on Sunday morning at Lakeport and it warmed up to only 40 degrees during the day. Most of the fisherman said the wind chill factor was excruciating as their boats roared across the lake at 60 mph.
Jumbo minnows are still the No. 1 bait for the recreational fishermen, but even the minnows aren”t a sure thing. It takes a lot of moving to locate a school of bass. Most of the guides say their clients are averaging about 10 fish per day using the minnows.
The 22nd annual Holder Ford-Mercury Clear Lake Team Bass Tournament is scheduled for March 14-15. The tournament was originally called the Record-Bee/Bruno”s Tournament. It remains one of the more popular bass tournaments to be held on the lake. Last year”s tournament drew 135 teams and it”s expected to be even larger this year.
The tournament features a 100-percent payback of the entry fees. The entry fee is $100 per team with a $50 big-fish option and a $50 big-bag option.
According to Holder Ford-Mercury spokesman Richard Hoover, entry forms will be mailed out to last year”s participants on Monday. Forms also will be available at the local tackle shops.
Fishermen can sign up starting at 9 a.m. on Jan. 17. The blast-off order for the first day of the tournament will be in the order of the sign-ups. Call Hoover at 263-5603 or 1-800-635-8331 for more information.
Crappie continue to be a no-show at Clear Lake. Only a few crappie are being caught and it”s not worth battling the cold for the very few fish out there.
A number of local fishermen are hoping the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) completes their Environmental Impact Report (EIR) soon on Upper Blue Lake so that it can be placed back on the DFG”s trout stocking list. The DFG itself can”t put the lake back on the schedule. The two environmental groups that sued the DFG to protect the red-legged frog and the hard-head minnow must first agree that Upper Lake is free of the frogs.
If the two groups agree, the case must go back before a Superior Court judge in Sacramento. The DFG hopes all this can be completed by March or April, but there is no guarantee.
DFG biologists must first survey the lake and surrounding area to make sure there are no red-legged frogs or even red-legged frog habitat at the lake.
They must also do electro-shocking to make sure there are no hard-head minnows in the lake. Hard-head minnows are considered a “species of special concern” by the DFG and if they find any of the minnows it could put all trout stocking in Upper Blue Lake on an indefinite hold.
As for Lake Pillsbury and Indian Valley Reservoir, both lakes are back on the trout-stocking list. However, Lake Pillsbury isn”t normally stocked with trout until April. Indian Valley Reservoir is normally stocked with trout only once a year (in September).
