Clear Lake will be loaded with boats starting today and continuing through Saturday. American Bass (ABA) leads the parade with its Tournament of Champions beginning today. The tournament winds up Saturday and will operate out of the Konocti Vista Casino, Resort and Marina.
The TOC is expected to draw at least 150 boats and the weigh-in for both days starts at 2:30 p.m. To top it all off, the waterfowl season opens Saturday and there will be duck hunters out on the lake. Of course, there are also several bass clubs tournaments scheduled as well.
The tournament anglers should find good action as the warm weather has spurred the bass into their feeding mode. That, and the abundance of bait fish, should result in some heavy weights being brought to the scales. In fact, a few fishermen have been complaining there are too many bait fish and the silverside minnows, juvenile crappie and threadfin shad are so thick that the bass are reluctant to take a lure.
The American Bass TOC is the final major bass tournament scheduled on the lake this year. There are a couple of smaller team events but they are expected to field fewer than 30 boats. Most of the tournament circuits don”t start their new season until January. Konocti Vista Casino will host its Fall Bass Classic at Clear Lake on Nov. 12. The team tournament entry fee is $160 and includes big fish. The tournament is limited to 100 teams. Entry forms are available at all the local tackle shops. Call 823-3252 for information
For those who just want to catch a bass or two, then jumbo minnows are the way to go. The guides have switched almost exclusively to minnows and their clients are averaging between eight and 12 fish per day.
The good news is the catfish action is still wide open and most fishermen are having little trouble catching five to 10 catfish per day. Cut mackerel or jumbo minnows have been the top bait. Bank fishermen have been doing very well off the pier at Redbud Park in Clearlake. The docks at Library Park in Lakeport are also producing catfish.
Upper Blue Lake is scheduled to be stocked with trout next week and some holdover trout remain, so the lake is worth a try this weekend. The bass fishing has been rated very good at the lake.
Duck hunters open their season Saturday and from all reports the hunting should be excellent in the Sacramento Valley although the waterfowl refuges will be closed until Oct. 29 because of a late rice harvest. There will be a good number of duck hunters on Clear Lake. Clear Lake always draws hunters from Fort Bragg and Ukiah along with local residents.
The rules for hunting on the lake are that you must stay at least two miles offshore when hunting within the city limits of Lakeport and Clearlake. The rest of the lake is pretty much open to hunting, however, you can”t shoot a firearm within 150 yards of any building and there is no hunting within the confines of the Clear Lake State Park and Anderson Marsh.
The daily limit this year is seven ducks, of which two can be hen mallards. This year two pintails and one canvasback are also allowed as part of the daily bag limit. Regardless of the species, the daily limit of all ducks combined can”t exceed seven. Hunters are reminded that in addition to their hunting license they also must have both the federal and state duck stamps.
The Zone B deer season ends Sunday and the hunting to date has been slow. Reports coming out of the Hull Mountain-Lake Pillsbury area show that hunters are seeing very few deer. It”s even worse at Snow Mountain. The warmer than normal weather has resulted in a very limited migration from the high country and the bucks still haven”t gone into rut.
The question most of the hunters are asking this year is where are the deer? The answer is that no one knows. One answer could be that because of a lack of control burning and practically no logging there is very little deer habitat being created. Because of budget cuts the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is doing very little deer research and that includes fall population counts and habitat work.
