Recreational fishermen should expect a lot of complany on Clear Lake this weekend. The Angler”s Choice World Rookie League (WRL) is holding a Tournament of Champions event expected to draw from 160-175 boats. The tournament operates out of Redbud Park in Clearlake. There also will be dozens of fishermen out prefishing for next week”s Triton Boat Owners Tournament, which is expected to draw at least 100 boats. If that”s not enough, there are several club tournaments scheduled. All this means the lake will be wall-to-wall fishermen.
Overall the bass fishing is rated very good, but not excellent. Most of the fishermen report catching five to 10 fish per outing and a lot of those fish weigh only a pound or so. The hot lure continues to be the swimbait called the “Trash Fish” in both the 4- and 6-inch sizes. That is what last week”s winner of the FLW Outdoors tournament said he caught most of his fish on. Mike Tuck of Concord won the event with a three-day weight of more than 73 pounds. He said that during the course of the tournament he caught at least 75 bass using the Trash Fish and all were caught near Rodman Slough. Other fishermen in the tournament said they caught their fish on topwater lures and by drop-shotting a plastic worm. Jigs and Senkos also proved effective. Both the north and south ends of the lake are producing decent numbers of bass. The trick to success is to keep on the move until you locate active fish.
Threadfin shad are also starting to show up. I saw a huge school of shad north of Lakeport on Monday. I even accidentally snagged a couple on a jerkbait and they were identified as threadfins. They had the typical black dot on their gills. Other fishermen have reported seeing schools of both threadfin shad and young hitch. These bait fish will cause the bass to gain weight fast. In fact, that is already happening. One fisherman said he caught a 15-inch bass that weighed nearly 4 pounds.
The water is also starting to clear up. In some areas in the north end you can see down to a depth of 6 feet,which means the algae is disappearing. This is normal for this time of the year because as the nights get cooler the algae sinks to the bottom.
The catfish action continues to be wide open and the good news is the catfish are in excellent condition with very smooth skin and no sores. The catfish are ranging in size from 2-15 pounds and nightcrawlers or cut bait have been the top attractants for the catfish. Some of the better areas have been the docks at Redbud Park in Clearlake, Lakeside County Park and even the docks at Library Park in Lakeport.
Trout fishermen finally received some good news as Upper Blue Lake was stocked earlier this week. The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) stocked the lake with 1,000 adult trout and, from all indications, more will be stocked in the coming weeks. Both trollers and bank fishermen have been scoring. There are several locations where you can fish from shore. The Narrows Lodge Resort and the Pine Acres Resort allow fishing from their docks for a small fee. Boats also can be launched from both these resorts. There is also shore access along Highway 20. As a bonus the bass fishing has been excellent for those casting a Senko, jigs or drop-shotting a plastic worm.
B-zone deer hunters are still waiting for a change in the weather to get the bucks moving. The good news is rain is forecast for early next week, which should improve the hunting. To date, the success rate has been near zero. A group of 11 hunters from Lakeport hunted Hull Mountain last week for four days and only bagged one small forked-horn and that was the only buck they saw.
Goose hunters will be out on Clear Lake this weekend for a special five-day Canada goose season. The lake is home to about 150 geese and hunters will be allowed to take two Canada geese daily. The special early season runs through Oct. 5.
