The cooler weather has temporarily slowed the bass fishing at Clear Lake. Last week the water temperature was 74 degrees, but it had dipped to 66 degrees by Wednesday morning. That sudden drop slowed the fishing to a crawl. Most of the fishermen are struggling to catch three to five fish for a full day”s effort.
The good news is there are thousands of young bass. I fished one area near Lakeport earlier this week and on just about every cast, while using a topwater lure, I would hook a 5-inch bass. If only a small portion of these bass survive the winter the bass population will soar in the coming years. The reason small bass die during the cold winter months is because they have little body fat and if they don”t eat daily they will die. Adult bass survive the winters because they normally have a good fat reserve.
The successful fishermen are constantly on the move until they locate a school of bass and then they stay in the area. The most successful lure this past week has been a lipless crankbait such a Lucky Craft LV500 or a Rat-L Trap. The lure is retrieved yo-yo style, which makes it resemble a dying baitfish. The next best technique has been drop-shotting a plastic worm. There also has been fair topwater action early in the mornings. Jerkbaits also have been effective as have swimbaits and crankbaits.
100 Percent Bass will hold a Tournament of Champions (TOC) tournament on Saturday and Sunday. The tournament goes out of Redbud Park in Clearlake and the weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. both days. The tournament is expected to draw about 100 boats.
Catfish action remains good for the few anglers after them. The docks at Nice and Lucerne have been given up decent numbers of catfish for fishermen using cut bait. Ken Taddie of Indian Beach Resort in Glenhaven reports that catfish action has been good off the resort”s docks. Horseshoe Bend has been another good area. Very few crappie are being caught.
As of Thursday the lake level was .83 feet on the Rumsey Gauge and is dropping at a rate of about two inches per week. That means by mid-November the lake level will be near zero on the Rumsey Gauge. The last time the lake level was this low was more than 20 years ago. Even if we receive a lot of rain in the next two months the lake level won”t start to rise until well into January or February.
No local waters were stocked with trout this week. Upper Blue Lake is scheduled to be stocked next week. The trout fishing has been slow. The good news is that bass fishermen are doing very well, with the best area being the shoreline along Highway 20.
The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has announced the dates and major changes for the annual Lake County Junior Pheasant Hunt. The hunt is scheduled for Nov. 14 at Highland Springs, located just south of Lakeport. This year there will be only one hunt and the limit is 25 junior hunters. All hunters must pre-register as there will be no sign-ups allowed on the day of the hunt. Hunters are required to download an entry form off the DFG”s Web site at /www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/uplandgame/gamebird/2009SpecialHunts/index.html. For more information call (916) 358-2839.
The cool weather should help the B-zone deer hunters. Hunters are seeing more deer this year at the higher elevations in the Mendocino National Forest. Bear are also being seen in good numbers. One local hunter reported seeing six bears near Hull Mountain and one even charged him. He said that he was walking down a trail and met a large bear walking toward him. He yelled at the bear and waved his arms. The bear responded by growling and started to run toward him. The hunter fired a shot into the air, which scared off the bear.
Quail hunters also had a good opening weekend. Several hunters reported seeing and bagging a limit of quail.
