Clear Lake is often called the “Bass Capitol of the West”, but just how good is the lake in comparison to other lakes in California?
One good judge of the bass fishing in a given lake are the results of the bass tournaments. Most of the tournament fishermen are excellent fishermen and spend hours on the lake. The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) recently released a summary of the 2010 results of all the lakes in the state where tournaments are held. The summary included both event bass tournaments and club tournaments.
The DFG requires all tournament organizations and bass clubs to obtain a permit before operating a bass tournament. An event permit is required if the tournament has more than 50 contestants or awards $1,000 in prize money. An annual-type permit is required for 50 or fewer participants and less than $1,000 in prizes. Bass clubs normally fall in this category. The DFG also requires the organizations to submit a report after each tournament. The report lists the number of fishermen, the length of the tournament, the number of fish caught, weight of all the fish and mortality rate. The purpose of the report is to give fishery biologists data on the state of the fishery at any given lake.
In 2010 the DFG issued 48 event tournament permits and 100 annual club permits for Clear Lake. In the event category 3,653 fishermen competed. They caught a grand total of 9,781 bass with a combined weight of 29,549 pounds. That comes out to an average weight of 3.02 pounds per fish, which is the second best weight per fish of any lake in the state (Diamond Valley Lake in Southern California had an average weight of 3.36 pounds per fish). Clear Lake even beat out the Delta in regard to larger fish. Statewide the average weight per fish was 2.19 pounds.
Another statistic of note is the number of bass that die in a tournament. These are fish brought dead to the scales. Of the 9,781 bass that were weighed in at Clear Lake only 60 were dead. The report also lists that number of fish caught per hour. Clear Lake anglers averaged .24 fish per hour. That figure can be misleading because many of the tournament fishermen caught and culled fish. The figure doesn”t actually list the total number of fish caught in a day, only what was weighed in.
What was surprising about the report were the number of fishermen entered in the tournaments at Clear Lake. Of the 48 event tournaments the total number of fishermen competing was 3,653 for an average of 76 fishermen per tournament. Of course, that is for the year 2010. I believe the number will be much lower for 2011. For example, the popular Bob”s Marine tournament held last weekend drew 77 boats. Two years ago that tournament drew more than 100 boats and last year”s tournament had 89 boats.
According to the DFG, the number of participants competing in event tournaments statewide has declined by 14 percent in the past four years. The figures also show just how important bass tournaments are to the local economy. If each fisherman spent $200 a day on motels, food, gasoline and other expenses and each fisherman fished for four days, it adds up to nearly $3 million spent on the local economy.
Without question the data confirms that Clear Lake is a bass fisherman”s dream. At any given tournament the average size per fish caught has been more than 3 pounds and it normally takes better than 5-pound average to win it. The Bob”s Marine tournament winning team had 52 pounds for 10 fish and it took 41 pounds to finish in 15th place. That”s a 4-pound average to just get a check. The tournament produced a total of 610 bass and they had an overall average weight of 3.71 pounds. That kind of weight is unheard of even in the prime bass states such as Florida. Many recreational bass fishermen have never caught a 4-pound fish in their lives. From all indications, Clear Lake will continue to have a world class bass fishery for years to come. It”s good for the fishermen as well as the local economy.
