Lake County will be a busy place this weekend as there is a major bass tournament scheduled for Clear Lake, the Zone B deer season opens and the Zone A deer season heads into its final week.
As last weekend”s Bob”s Marine tournament illustrated, the bass fishing has broken wide open at Clear Lake. In fact, the fishing is just about as good as it can get. Of the 77 teams in the tournament, 45 weighed in limits on both days and many of the fishermen reported catching from 10-25 fish per day. The winning team had 52 pounds and it took 41 pounds to finish in the money. The overall average weight per fish was a healthy 3.7 pounds.
Without question the hot lure in the tournament was the swimbait. Of the top five finishers, four said they caught most of their fish on swimbaits. For those who aren”t familiar with a swimbait, it is a soft plastic lure resembling a live minnow. The swimbait is an easy lure to fish. It is cast and allowed to sink to the bottom and then retrieved with a slow and steady retrieve. When a bass strikes the lure it normally slams it and swims off. The Trash Fish continues to be the top swimbait on the lake. The Trash Fish comes in both the four- and six-inch sizes and is rigged weedless, which allows the fisherman to cast and retrieve the lure through the weed beds. The best part is the lure is locally made and sold here in Lake County.
In addition to swimbaits, fishermen are having success casting a Skitter Pop topwater lure and drop-shotting a plastic worm. The best time for the topwater action is from 9 a.m. until noon. The more successful fishermen are constantly on the move until they locate a school of fish and they then work the area thoroughly.
WON BASS is holding a two-day pro/am tournament this weekend. The tournament will operate out of Konocti Vista Casino and the weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. There also will be a belly boat tournament out of Lakeside County Park. Other fishermen will be prefishing for the upcoming FLW tournament scheduled for next week.
In addition to the excellent bass fishing, the catfish action continues to be nothing short of outstanding. Many of the catfishermen say they haven”t seen the action this good in a number of years. Just about any type of bait has been working, from nightcrawlers, cut bait to even chunks of hot dogs. The best news is that some of the best fishing has been off the docks located around the lake. In other words, you don”t need a boat to get in on the action.
Deer hunters will be out in force this weekend as the B and D zones open and the A zone heads into its final week of the season. Most of Northern Lake County is in the B zone and the Mendocino National Forest above Lake Pillsbury should draw most of the hunters. Another popular area is Snow Mountain. The outlook for the B zone is rated fair and the deer are in excellent condition. Bow hunters reported seeing a fair number of deer near Hull Mountain and on Etsel Ridge. As the A zone season winds down (it closes on Sept. 25), hunters are looking for cool weather to put the bucks on the move. To date the hunting has been very slow and the bucks still haven”t gone into rut.
The incident where a truck rolled down the Fifth Street boat ramp and into the lake on Wednesday is a warning on what can happen if you”re not careful. As the lake level drops and a bigger portion of the of the ramps are exposed, boaters have to use caution when launching. The ramps are slick from algae and a truck, even with the emergency brake on, can slide into the lake. You should also never leave a child in the vehicle when launching because it could end in a tragedy.
