Fishermen will have a wide variety of choices this weekend. The bass fishing at Clear Lake is still rated fair and trout fishermen will have the option of fishing Upper Blue Lake, Lake Mendocino or Indian Valley Reservoir.
The weather forecast for the weekend looks good, which should improve the bass fishing at Clear Lake. The storm that passed through the area earlier this week did slow the action although a few fishermen did well. Local fishing guide Richard Pounds had two clients out Tuesday and they battled wind and waves but still managed to catch 11 bass, the largest weighing more than 7 pounds. Pounds said all the fish were caught in one small sheltered area on jumbo minnows.
On Wednesday, despite excellent conditions, the fishing turned off and very few bass were caught. The water color in much of the north end of the lake is slightly stained although it”s clear in the Nice-Lucerne area and from Lakeside County Park to the State Park. The south end of the lake is also clear and that is where the better action has been occurring.
Live jumbo minnows have replaced the Alabama Rig as the top fish-catcher this week. The fishermen are rigging the minnows several ways. Some are using a slip bobber and others are either rigging them drop-shot style or allowing them to free swim with only a small split-shot weight to keep them down. Some of the better areas have been Shag Rock, Horseshoe Bend and Henderson Point. The deeper water at Monitor Point is also producing fish.
There are no bass tournaments scheduled for Clear Lake this weekend with the exception of the Clear Lake Bassmasters club tournament Saturday out of Lakeside County Park. The weigh-in starts at approximately 3 p.m.
The sign-ups for the Lake County Chamber bass tournament (formally the Holder-Ford), which is scheduled for March 17-18, currently stands at 27 boats. That”s fewer boats than had signed up last year at this time. Fishermen can sign up at the Chamber office located on Lakeport Boulevard in Lakeport. Call 263-5092 for more information. Entry forms can also be sent by FAX to 263-5104. Those who have already signed up will be sent their tournament packet next week.
Trout fishermen have several opportunities this weekend. Most of the fishermen will be concentrated at Lake Mendocino, which was stocked for the first time on Thursday. The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) stocked the lake with 4,500 rainbow trout. The water is slightly off-color but that shouldn”t deter the fishermen. The lake will be loaded with fishermen starting today and most of them will be trolling near the dam.
Upper Blue Lake also has plenty of trout and should be an active place this weekend. The other lake scheduled to be stocked this week was Indian Valley Reservoir. This is the second time the lake has been stocked in the past three weeks and there have been practically no fishermen. One person said earlier this week he made a drive to the lake to check out the road and there was only one other angler there. That fisherman said he had been catching some good-sized crappie as well as bass.
What makes Clear Lake so special is not only its excellent fishing but its other wildlife as well. I had the opportunity on Wednesday to fish the lake with a retired wildlife biologist and we got the view of a lifetime. We were fishing near Rocky Point in Lakeport where we spotted the two resident mute swans. A few moments later a Canada goose flew over and landed near the swans. The swans immediately attacked the goose and chased it out to the middle of the lake. The swans returned to their area and within a few minutes the goose came back. The swans once again attacked the goose and drove it off. The biologists explained to me that mute swans are very aggressive and won”t tolerate other birds in their area. It was quite a sight.
