Trout fishermen take center stage this weekend as Upper Blue Lake has finally been stocked with trout. According to Narrows Lodge Resort owner Art Cerini, the lake was stocked earlier this week and fishermen have been doing well fishing off his docks. Some of the trout are as large as 2 pounds. According to Cerini, the lake will be stocked on a monthly schedule by the Department of Fish and Game (DFG). Prior to this week”s stocking the lake hadn”t been stocked since June.
Upper Blue Lake is an ideal lake for trout. Its deep and clear water remains cool even during the hot days of summer. Most of the fishermen troll for trout using lures such as the red-gold Kastmaster rigged behind a set of flashers. Others fish from the shore or one of the docks at several of the resorts. Boats can be launched at either the Narrows Resort or Pine Acres. As a bonus, the lake offers excellent bass fishing and is popular with float tubers.
Bass fishing on Clear Lake is still a tough sell unless you”re using live jumbo minnows. The fishermen in the 182-boat field of the American Bass Tournament of Champions held last weekend experienced very slow fishing as most of the fishermen were unable to weigh in a five-fish limit. The two-day winning weight was 44 pounds and the winning team was Bob Siemantel and Troy Lindner. They said they caught all their fish in the deeper water in the south end of the lake.
Cold weather signals the start of using jumbo minnows for bass at Clear Lake. If there is one surefire method of catching double-digit size bass it”s with a live jumbo minnow. In fact, live minnows are the favorite method of fishing by the local fishing guides. The minnows aren”t cheap, costing $12 a dozen, but when you consider that a standard crankbait will cost upward of $20, a dozen minnows becomes more attractive.
Most of the experienced minnow fishermen rig the minnow one of two ways. One method is to use a slip bobber with a stopper attached to the line. Circle hooks are popular because they don”t hurt the fish and they can be safely released. A small splitshot is attached just above the minnow. The hook is run upward through the lips of the minnow. The bobber should be set so that the minnow swims about two feet off the bottom. The minnow is cast to the rockpiles or the docks and allowed to swim freely. Most of the time when a bass grabs the minnow it first mouths it and the bobber will dip beneath the water. Give a little slack in the line and when the bobber goes under again set the hook with a long, sweeping motion.
The other method is called “fly lining.” This is where no bobber is used and the minnow is allowed to swim beneath the docks or down to the submerged rocks. A small splitshot is attached just above the hook, which forces the minnow to swim down.
Live jumbo minnows can very effectively be fished off the docks at Library Park in Lakeport and at the Lakeside County Park. This is ideal opportunity for those who don”t have access to a boat. Jumbo minnows are also deadly on catfish. In fact, the docks at the Indian Beach Resort in Glenhaven have been one of the hot spots for catfishermen using jumbo minnows.
Catfish action continues to be very good and that includes just about all the locations around the lake. Live minnows or cut bait have been equally good, with some of the catfish weighing as much as 20 pounds. Crappie action has been very slow.
Duck hunters had mixed results for their opener. The refuges in the Sacramento Valley had an overall average of about 3.3 birds per hunter on Saturday and only a 1.8-bird average on Sunday. Most of the take was made up of gadwalls and spoonies with a few mallards.
