Despite a wide-open Holder Ford/Mercury tournament last weekend on Clear Lake, the fishing conditions have changed dramatically during the past few days.
For example, the water pouring out of Rodman Slough is muddy and the mud line extends all the way down the shoreline to Nice. This was one of the hot spots during the tournament as more than 50 boats worked the small area.
Another popular area, Clear Lake State Park, also was muddy this week. The area near Konocti Vista Casino was clearer and was producing a few bass early in the week.
The lake will be under another siege of fishermen this weekend. Angler”s Choice is holding a pro/am tournament today and Saturday and the tournament is expected to draw approximately 80 boats. The tournament operates out of Redbud Park in Clearlake and the weigh-ins begin at 3 p.m. both days.
On Sunday, American Bass holds a team tournament out of Konocti Vista Casino in Lakeport. The weigh-in also starts at 3 p.m. Fishermen can sign up for the American Bass tournament at the Tackle It tackle shop in Lakeport on the morning of the tournament prior to the blast-off.
The bad news is that stormy weather is forecast for the weekend, with snow possibly falling in the nearby hills. The bad weather should make the fishing even tougher.
Swimbaits continue to be one of the top lures and the most popular one for the Holder Ford/Merucry tournament was the All American Trash Fish in the hitch pattern. Clear Lake Outdoors in Lakeport sells the swimbait. Three of the top 10 finishers in the Holder Ford tournament used that particular swimbait.
The other popular lures were deep-running jerkbaits and the LV500 lipless crankbait. Bass also were caught on jigs, shaky heads and by dropshotting a plastic worm. Chatterbaits were also very successful.
There have been reports of fishermen seeing hitch moving into the shallows and in some of the creeks flowing into the lake. They are about to start their spawning runs, which should provide ideal conditions for using a jerkbait that resembles a hitch on the larger bass.
Water temperatures have been ranging from 48 degrees in the morning to only 51 degrees by afternoon. The trick to success is to keep on the move until you locate fish and then work the area over slowly. This applies to both minnow fishermen and those who are using lures. Earlier this week the south end started to produce decent action but most of the fishermen are still concentrating on the north end.
There has been some action for those fishermen who are tough enough to go out at night. Guide Larry Hemphill reports he and his client caught a five-fish limit Tuesday night that weighed more than 30 pounds. The big haul was topped by a 10-pounder. Hemphill fished from the Narrows to the State Park and caught his fish on Brush Hogs.
No reports on catfish action. Despite ideal conditions there have been very few catfishermen out this spring. The same applies to crappie fishermen. Hopefully as the water warms up the catfish and crappie will become more active.
No local waters were stocked with trout this week. A few fishermen continue to catch a few trout at Upper Blue Lake by trolling the middle of the lake. Bank fishermen have been pretty much absent from the lake.
Junior hunters get a chance to open the spring turkey season Saturday. The Department of Fish and Game has authorized a youth hunt only for Saturday and Sunday. Any holder of a junior hunting license can hunt but adults who accompany them can”t. The general spring turkey season opens March 26. The junior hunters should find very good hunting throughout Lake County as there are wild turkeys everywhere. The limit is one bearded bird per day and a total of three for the season.
