Bass fishing on Clear Lake will move into high gear this weekend as fishermen start to prefish for the upcoming Clear Lake Team Bass Tournament (formally Holder Ford). The tournament is scheduled for March 17-18 and is expected to draw 100 or more teams. It drew 142 teams last year.
Sponsored by the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and Konocti Vista Resort and Casino, the tournament is being run by directors Shaun and Karen McCorkle of American Bass. Fishermen can sign up in person beginning Monday at the Clear Lake Outdoors Tackle Shop, located at 96 Soda Bay Road in Lakeport.
The tournament goes out of Konocti Vista Casino. The entry fee is $150 with a $50 big-fish option. As in past years the tournament offers a 100-percent payback of the paid entry fees. For more information call 262-5852 or 263-5092.
From all indications the tournament could set some records for the winning weight and for the average size per fish. Recently the lake has some been kicking out some unbelievable catches. A number of fishermen have been reporting catching anywhere from 15-35 fish per day. Most of the fishermen are casting the Alabama Rig as expected. This setup continues to dominate the bass fishing scene and is so popular that many of the tackle shops are having a hard time keeping them in stock.
Another problem has been that the popular swimbait used on the rig is made by Keitech and is nearly impossible to obtain. It is made in Japan and, according to the distributor for the company, the swimbait is back-ordered and won”t be available to the tackle shops until the first part of April.
One lure that could replace the Keitech, especially as a teaser lure, is the Weed Wog, which is locally manufactured by Ed Clarke of Tackle It in Lakeport. It is about 4 inches long and resembles a giant pollywog and it comes in several colors. I have used it on the Alabama Rig and it has great action. The best part is that it is very inexpensive, costing only $5 for a pack of five.
The good news is that bass are finally starting to move into the shallow water. Several fishermen have reported catching bass at the edges of the tules in 3 feet or less of water by drop-shotting a plastic worm. March is when the bass start to stage and even though the lake level is two feet lower than normal there is still enough water to attract the bass. By the middle of March the bass will move into the shallows in large numbers in preparation to spawn.
A few catfish are being caught in the south end of the lake but overall the action has been slow, due more to a lack of fishermen than fish. Shag Rock also continues to give up a few catfish.
There are still no crappie, something that has many fishermen worried. There were good numbers of juvenile crappie seen during the Department of Fish and Game electro-shocking project in September. Some of those fish should be reaching catchable size but they haven”t shown up.
Upper Blue Lake isn”t scheduled to be stocked with trout this week. Several fishermen report catching limits this past weekend. A few trout are being caught at Lake Mendocino but the action has slacked off. The lake is scheduled to be stocked again later this month. No reports coming out of Lake Pillsbury. In fact, the lake level is so low that launching a boat is a challenge. The lake was scheduled to be stocked with trout two weeks ago, but a spokesman at the Soda Creek Store said that the boat ramps are out of the water and didn”t know if they actually did stock the lake. Fishermen have been scarce at Indian Valley Reservoir. One fisherman said he trolled for trout and came up empty last week. He said shad were busting the water all around him. The bass fishing has been excellent, especially for smallmouths.
