Bass fishing on Clear Lake has tightened up. Most of the fishermen competing in last weekend”s American Bass Tournament of Champions said they struggled to put a few fish in the boat. Of the 116 teams entered, a total of 623 bass were weighed in for the two-day event, which is an average of 5.3 fish per team for the entire tournament. Twenty-two teams didn”t weigh in a single fish. While that”s good for some lakes, it”s one of the lowest averages for a major tournament held this year at Clear Lake. It took 42.24 pounds to win the event.
The ABA staff did a fantastic job during the weigh-ins. It took only about a minute for each fisherman to weigh in and the whole process went so fast there was only a few fishermen in line at a time.
Several reasons have been given for the poor fishing and the dropping lake level is a major one, and this is especially true in the north end of the lake. The lake level as of Thursday was minus-.78 feet on the Rumsey Gauge. That”s about two inches below the minus-1 foot predicted for Nov. 1.
Most of the action is still taking place in the deeper water in the south end of the lake where the successful fishermen have been casting deep-running crankbaits. A few bass are being caught near Rocky Point in the north end while the weed mats near Lakeside County Park are also giving up a few bass for those casting jigs at the isolated mats. Drop-shotting a plastic worm also has been effective.
The trick to success is to keep moving until you locate active fish. Some of the local fishing guides have been successful using live minnows. Normally the month of November is when live minnows become popular. The local tackle shops have live minnows in stock. The Clear Lake Bass Masters will hold a club tournament Saturday. The weigh-in takes place at approximately 3 p.m. at Library Park in Lakeport. There are also several other club tournaments being held this coming weekend. There are no major bass tournaments scheduled until next year.
Catfish action remains very good and should improve in the coming weeks. The problem is more a lack of fishermen rather than a lack of fish. More catfish are being caught from docks than boats. One of the better areas for the bank fishermen is Lakeside County Park.
Whereas there are plenty of juvenile crappie being seen, there have been very few adult crappie caught. In fact, most of the fishermen have given up on crappie this year.
Trout action continues to be fair at Upper Blue Lake. Trollers continue to catch most of the fish. The East Branch of the Russian River is also providing good fishing. Neither body of water was stocked this week. The trout season on the East Branch of the Russian River closes on Nov. 15, so it”s unlikely the stream will be stocked again this year.
The East Branch of the Russian River in Potter Valley is a popular fishing location for local anglers. The stream is stocked throughout the summer and fall with trout and it”s nearly a guaranteed limit. Unfortunately a few fishermen have been catching more than their daily limit and even wasting the trout.
Gary Hill of Kelseyville was fishing the river Wednesday when he found 52 dead trout littering the stream. The trout had been cleaned and apparently someone dumped them in haste. He called the local game warden and was told this was the second report of trout being wasted on the stream. Last week the wardens found an ice chest containing 48 trout at the same location.
Despite a lack of water, the opening weekend of the waterfowl season got off the a good start at the public shooting areas in the Sacramento Valley. The Colusa Refuge had a five-bird average per hunter Saturday although it dropped to a two-bird average by Sunday. Delevan had a four average Saturday and a two Sunday.
The refuges are open for hunting Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday. The duck hunting at Clear Lake was rated poor for the opener. The low water level prevented the hunters from getting into Rodman Slough and other duck hunting areas.
B-zone deer hunters close out their season Sunday. Overall the hunting was rated from fair to good and the more successful hunters found good numbers of deer in the high country. Quail hunting has been excellent in the Mendocino National Forest.
