Bass fishermen at Clear Lake are hoping for warm weather to turn on the bite. This has been one of the coldest and windy springs in a number of years. The unsettled weather has the fish, and fishermen, completely confused. One day the bass are on their spawning beds and the next day they are in the deeper water.
Normally you will see young bass fry everywhere at this time of year, but few fry have been seen swimming in the shallows this spring. Fishermen also report seeing very few bass on the spawning beds. The spawn at Clear Lake can run into late June and early July.
Of course, that doesn”t mean bass aren”t being caught. The fishermen who have the patience and the luck have been scoring on decent numbers of fish. Most of the local guides say their clients are averaging from 10-15 fish for a full day on the water.
Guide Tony Giorgi is a good example. He took two clients out Wednesday and they caught approximately 25 bass, most of them taken on live crawdads.
While crawdads are a great summer bait, the problem is finding them. None of the local tackle shops carry them and the only way to get live crawdads is to trap them. Crawdad traps can be purchased at all the tackle shops. Most of the fishermen bait the trap with canned dog food. Just punch several holes in the top and bottom of the can and place the entire can in the trap. The trap is then lowered back in the tules and allowed to soak for at least eight hours. The best-size crawdads for bass are the ones about the size of your little finger. If they”re too large the bass won”t take them, and if they”re too small they come off the hook.
Use a small wide-gap hook and run it upward through the mantle that rests between the eyes of the crawdad. Attached a small split shot sinker and cast it beneath the docks. The crawdad should be able to swim. I guarantee you that if a bass is beneath a dock it will grab the bait. Giorgi said his clients caught nine bass beneath one dock in the north end of the lake Wednesday using crawdads.
For those using artificial lures, the top one this past week was a Senko rigged wacky style. The successful fishermen are casting the Senko around the docks and back in the holes in the tules. A few fishermen are also having excellent success drop-shotting a 4-inch Kitech swimbait. The only problem is finding a local tackle shop that carries the lure. If the air temperature rises to the mid-90s the topwater bite should take off. There have been reports of a few fishermen having success casting plastic frogs back in the tules, but overall the topwater action has been very slow. Both the north and south ends of the lake are producing fair numbers of bass.
WONBASS held a two-day pro/am bass tournament last weekend and the pro winner was Chad Hulbert of Gilroy with a weight of 51.14 pounds. John Pearl of Lakeport took second place with 50.86 pounds. Jackson Juarez of Kelseyville ended up in fifth place with 44.62 pounds, and Mark Crutcher of Lakeport took sixth place with 44.52 pounds.
American Bass will hold a team tournament Sunday. The weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. at the Konocti Vista Casino.
Catfish action on the lake has been very good and the best action has been in Cache Creek and at Shag Rock. Cut mackerel has been the top bait. There”s no crappie action to speak of.
The Lakeport Yacht Club will be holding its annual catfish derby Aug. 24-26. Derby director Mike Cubbage is looking for sponsors. Call Cubbage at 279-1974 for more information.
Upper Blue Lake is scheduled to be stocked with trout this week. The East Branch of the Russian River is also scheduled to be stocked this week. Crappie, bass and trout are all being caught at Indian Valley Reservoir. Bass fishing has been good and a few trout are also being caught at Lake Pillsbury.
In my Wednesday column I mentioned certain areas around the lake are being spayed with herbicides to kill the aquatic weeds. The firm doing the spraying is Dennis Yows of Pestmaster, a local firm. The Lake County Water Resources Department can put interested dock owners in touch with Pestmaster.
