By Terry Knight
Bass fishermen on Clear Lake are hoping that this will be the weekend when the weather warms up and the bass move onto the spawning beds.
To date this has been one of the coldest springs on record and the fish are very late spawning.
In fact the bass are completely confused. One day it will be warm and the bass will move into the shallows in preparation for spawning and the next day the water temperature will drop and the bass move back out.
A good example was the Konocti Vista Casino Team Bass Classic held over the weekend. On Saturday many fishermen reported catching their fish in the shallow water and they saw a number of bass on the beds but on Sunday the weather cooled and the bass backed off.
The winning team of Wayne Breazeale and Craig Nelson said they caught most of their fish on Saturday by “sight” fishing but on Sunday they had to switch to casting jerkbaits to catch their fish. They ended up with a two-day weight of 54.42 pounds and collected $2,300 in prize money. Winning bass tournaments is nothing new for Breazeale. He is considered one of the best tournament fishermen on Clear Lake and just about always finishes near the top of the leaderboard.
Several lakeside residents report seeing bass on beds under their docks and staging in the shallows. This is the time when the fishermen will spot a bass on spawning beds and cast a plastic worm to the fish. Sight fishing for bass during the spring months is probably the most popular and productive method of fishing, especially for the tournament fishermen. However, many recreational fishermen aren”t familiar with this type of fishing.
Clear Lake is a sight fisherman”s dream because it”s so shallow that you can normally see the bass on the spawning beds. Most fishermen use polarized sun glasses, which allows them to see the fish. The fisherman will slowly cruise the shoreline with his electric trolling motor and look for small pockets in the tules. Bass spawning beds can be identified by a small opening about the size of a dinner plate. When a fisherman spots the bed he will look closely to see if a bass is on it. Normally it”s the male that”s guarding the nest.
The favorite lure for bed fishing is either a white or chartreuse tube bait or curly-tailed grub rigged on a darthead hook. The reason for the colors is that you can see the lure even if the water is slightly cloudy. The fisherman will then cast the lure right on the bed and allow it to sit there. The male bass will usually approach the lure, stare at it for a few moments and then pick it up to remove it from the nest. When the fisherman sees the lure disappear from view he will set the hook.
Another technique is to tease the fish into striking the lure. The fisherman will make cast after cast and drag the lure past the nose of the bass. Sometimes it may take 15 minutes to an hour to anger the bass enough for it to strike the lure.
Usually the larger bass are the females and they will often stage near the nest. The technique used to catch these larger bass is to stay back and cast a lure to the suspended fish. Often it will take repeated casts to entice the fish into biting.
There are a few crappie starting to show up. At the Indian Beach Resort in Glenhaven, fishermen have been catching some large crappie off the docks. Most of the action has been occurring in the evenings. Another area that has been producing some crappie is Shag Rock.
Indian Valley Reservoir is full and starting to clear and produce some excellent bass action. One fisherman visited the lake last week and said that he caught a dozen bass using plastic worms and spinnerbaits.
Turkey hunters go in into their final week of the spring season. The season ends on May 1 and hunters are looking for some warm weather to improve the hunting. So far this year the hunting has been rated only fair. Not because of a lack of birds but because the cold weather has shut down the gobblers. There are some hens already sitting on nests. Cold, wet weather takes a toll on the young chicks. Their feathers get wet and they die of exposure.
