Ocean salmon season opens off the North Coast on Saturday and fishermen are hoping for decent weather and fair fishing. The Fish and Game Commission has authorized a very limited season, which runs from Saturday through April 30.
The season will be open from Horse Mountain, located near Shelter Cove, to the Mexican border. The daily limit is two salmon (coho salmon are protected) with a minimum size of 20 inches.
Typically the water off Fort Bragg offers poor-to-fair salmon fishing until mid-April although there have been years when the fishing has been good early in the season.
The wintry weather at Clear Lake has slowed the bass action. The water temperature took a dip last week as it snowed in the surrounding hills. Most of the fishermen report working hard for four or five bass per day. The best action continues to be in the north end of the lake and jigs and plastic worms worked very slowly along the bottom have been the top fish-catchers. The swimbait action dropped off but should improve as the weather warms back up.
Guide Bob Myskey said his clients have been doing very well using jumbo minnows. He guided six straight days last week and caught at least 27 bass each day, including 43 in one day alone. The bass ranged from 2-7 pounds in size.
Anglers Choice will hold a team tournament on Saturday. The tournament operates out of the Konocti Vista Casino, Resort and Marina and the weigh-in starts at 3 p.m.
Upper Blue Lake continues to provide decent trout action. The lake hasn”t been stocked in at least two weeks and the fishing pressure is very low. Trollers continue to catch most of the fish, however, a few bank fishermen have been doing well.
This is the time of the year when Lake Pillsbury normally receives a trout plant but it has been delayed because of a lawsuit filed against the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) by an environmental group. Lake Pillsbury is just one of many lakes throughout the state that is being reviewed.
A recent column by Record-Bee Publisher Gary Dickson on wild pigs has resulted in several people asking me if wild pigs are common in Lake County. Actually there have been wild hogs in the county for a number of years and, in fact, several people hunt them. Ron Sneed of Lakeport has hunted wild pigs in the county with a bow and arrow and been very successful down through the years.
There is also a licensed guide who guides hunters for wild pigs out of Upper Lake. Scotts Valley has a fair population of wild pigs as does the Cow Mountain Recreation Area.
Last year a reader called me and said he had seen at least a dozen wild pigs rooting in a walnut orchard just off Highway 29 near 11th Street in Lakeport. I have seen wild pigs at Highland Springs. One hunter told me he bagged a wild pig last year on Scotts Creek Road, just outside of Lakeport. Pigs are also commonly hunted at the Cache Creek Wildlife Area in eastern Lake County.
No one really knows how the pigs got into the county but it”s likely they migrated from neighboring Mendocino County, which is home to thousands of wild pigs. Wild pigs often move up to 50 miles to locate new feeding areas and they are very prolific, having two or more litters a year. Besides humans, their natural enemies are bears and mountain lions. Even golden eagles prey on the young piglets. A wild boar can attain a weight of more than 300 pounds and have three-inch tusks. He has few enemies and can be very dangerous when cornered. Pigs can be very good eating but the older boars and sows can be tough. Most of the hunters prefer a pig that weighs about 150 pounds.
There is no season or bag limit on wild pigs although the DFG requires that a hunter must have a current California hunting license and a pig tag.
