The special youth wild turkey season opens Saturday. Only youngsters age 16 and under who possess a current California hunting license are eligible to hunt and a non-hunting adult can accompany them.
The special hunt is only good for Saturday and Sunday. The regular spring turkey season opens March 28.
The Lake County Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) is hosting its first Conservation Banquet at Robinson Rancheria in Nice on April 25. The banquet starts at 5:30 p.m. and tickets are $65 for adults, $17 for youngsters 17 and under, and $300 for a sponsor membership. The fees include a membership in the NWTF.
The organization is a non-profit conservation group, so donations are tax deductible. Call 994-5891 or 994-0635 to purchase tickets.
The NWTF was done a lot of wild turkey restoration work in Lake County. They have planted wild turkeys in the Mendocino National Forest, at the Cache Creek Wildlife Area, and in the Knoxville State Wildlife Area. And they”re always doing research on wild turkeys.
As the results of last weekend”s Holder Ford-Mercury bass tournament show, the bass fishing has definitely improved on Clear Lake. Some fishermen are catching up to 40 fish per day, with 20 a day being common. Both the north and south ends of the lake are producing good numbers of bass.
The top lure during the tournament was a swimbait, but few fishermen have the stamina to cast one of those heavy lures all day. Of course, you can use a lighter swimbait and still be very effective.
Most of the experts just cast the lure and allow it to sink to the bottom. Their retrieve is slow so that the lure actually bumps the bottom. When a fish grabs the lure all you will feel is slight resistance, much as if you had snagged a tule. Just keep reeling in slow and if it”s a fish you will feel the tug, and that”s when you set the hook.
Typically when fishing with a swimbait you”ll only get eight to 10 bites per day, but they will be quality fish.
Drop-shotting a plastic worm tight to the tules also has been very effective. Crankbaits have also been catching fish as have jigs.
In fact, even the shore anglers are starting to catch bass. One of the better areas has been the docks at Library Park in Lakeport where fishermen using live jumbo minnows have been doing very well.
American Bass (ABA) will hold a team tournament Sunday. The tournament operates out of the Tackle It tackle shop in Lakeport and the weigh-in begins at 3 p.m. at the Skylark Shores Motel. Call 262-1233 for more information.
The popular Wednesday night shootouts start on March 25 at Redbud Park in Clearlake. The rules are the same as last year. Only one bass per angler can be weighed in. That means if there are two people in a boat they can each weigh in one fish. The shootout starts at 5 p.m. and runs until 9 p.m. The cost to enter the tournament is $20 per fisherman. Call (415) 596-5380 or (707) 413-8249 for more information.
Crappie are still pretty much a no-show. There have been a number of fishermen looking for them but only a few fish are being caught. On the other hand, the catfish action is definitely improving. A number of fishermen report catching catfish to 15 pounds near Cache Creek and in Horseshoe Bend.
Lake Pillsbury is scheduled to be stocked with trout next week. The lake was recently removed from the DFG”s no-stocking ban and it”s not part of the lawsuit that has stopped trout stocking in Upper Blue Lake.
While the trout fishing at Upper Blue Lake has pretty much come to a halt, the bass fishing has been very good. The more successful anglers are drop-shotting a plastic worm along the Highway 20 shoreline. Jigs also have been effective on the bass, which are averaging about 3 pounds.
