To say the bass fishing at Clear Lake leaves a lot to be desired is an understatement. The fishing is the poorest it”s been in nearly 20 years.
How bad is it?
The results of the Clear Lake Bassmasters Club tournament held on Saturday are a pretty good example. A total of only four fish were caught, which is incredible in that the club has some excellent fishermen. Bass tournaments are an excellent method of judging a fishery. Not only are there an abundance of fishermen out on the lake at one time, but most of the fishermen are very experienced compared to the average recreational fisherman. The other factor is that each fish caught is brought to scales and weighed on a certified scale. It”s a great indication of the state of the fishery.
So far this year most of the tournament anglers are struggling as much as the recreational fishermen. Even with the winning weights being 25 pounds or greater, the winners say they are just catching a limit or a few more. A few years ago most of the tournament fishermen reported catching anywhere from 10-20 fish during the day.
Even the local fishing guides who are on the lake three or four times a week are struggling. Whereas last year the guides were catching from 10-15 fish per day at this time of year, this year they consider themselves fortunate to put five fish in the boat for their clients even though they are fishing with live minnows, which normally catch three or four fish to every one caught on artificial lures.
The other factor is the lack of extra large bass weighing more than 8 pounds and smaller fish between 1-2 pounds. Most of the fish being caught have been between 3-5 pounds. In fact, an 8-pound bass is an extremely rare creature and very few fishermen are reporting catching any 1-pounders.
There are a number of theories on why the bass fishing has been so poor. They range from a decrease in the overall bass population to an excess of forage fish. Both theories could have merit. I”m convinced the adult bass population in the lake is down considerably. Several guides have told me they think the population could be down by as much as 40 percent, the reason being the three-year drought that hit the lake from 2007-09. Apparently the spawn was down and many of the juvenile bass didn”t survive the winters. Studies have shown that young bass require a certain amount of body fat to survive the winter months and if there isn”t sufficient food they will literally starve to death.
As for the theory that there are just too many baitfish and the bass aren”t hungry, that could also have merit. There are billions of silverside minnows in the lake ands a large population of juvenile hitch, Sacramento sucker minnows as well as other small baitfish. Adult bass will feed on the tiny silverside minnows, but mostly they will wait and ambush other small bass that are feeding on the minnows.
The silverside (also called inland or Mississippi silversides) is an interesting baitfish. First introduced into Clear Lake in the early 1980s to control the Clear Lake gnat, they aren”t a hardy fish and have a short life, with most living only nine to 10 months. During the daytime they often move offshore and then return to the shallow water in the evenings. They eat plankton and insect larva. Along with the silversides there has is an excellent population of young hitch, Sacramento suckers as well as juvenile crappie and even threadfin shad. The other good news is that it appears there was an excellent spawn of bass this past spring. Fishermen report seeing hundreds of the juvenile bass. Many of these bass will survive because they have been able to hide in the massive weed beds this past summer. These fish will be 10-12 inches long by next summer. In fact, a good number should be the legal 12 inches.
The poor fishing could also be the reason there so few fishermen on the lake. Of course, the economy is also a factor. With any luck the fishing and the economy will improve by next summer.
