Cold, blustery weather has kept just about all the fishermen off Clear Lake this past week. In fact, the lake has been downright dangerous as illustrated by the two people who had to be rescued when their canoe capsized. On Tuesday, the lake looked like an ocean with its 3- and 4-foot waves. What this means is that extreme care must be used when fishing in the wintertime. Typically the water temperature can dip down to as low as 46 degrees during January, which means you will survive only about 20 minutes in the water. It can even be dangerous for the larger bass boats. This is the time of the year when you must keep your life vests on at all times.
As for the fishing, prior to the storm on Dec. 11 the bass fishing was rated as slow although a few anglers did manage to boat a fish or two. Many of the fishermen say they are waiting for the water temperature to drop down into the high-40s so they can use swimbaits and the Alabama Rig. When using the “rig” most of the fishermen are rigging three swimbaits with hooks and two as teasers (the law states only three lures can have up to three hooks per lure and only three lures can have any kind of hooks on them).
The entire rig is cast and allowed to settle on the bottom. The rig is retrieved slowly. The best cast to use is a lob cast and when a fish strikes make a sweeping hook set. The rigs cost from $15 to $25. Swimbaits are also popular during the winter months. The trick is to retrieve them super slow. Deep-running crankbaits are also effective.
The areas producing most of the bass are in deeper water in the south end of the lake. Monitor Island and Jago and Konocti bays have been productive as has Shag Rock. In the north end, bass are starting to bite at the docks in Nice and Lucerne. Rocky Point has been a consistent producer. All the fishermen say the bass are in excellent condition, which means they have plenty of food.
The next scheduled tournament on the lake is Jan. 11 when American Bass holds a team event. To date, the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) has issued only 19 event tournament permits on Clear Lake for 2015. That”s the fewest number of bass tournaments issued in the past 20 years.
Catfish action remains steady but is far from exciting. Most of the catfishermen are catching three to five fish per outing. The top bait has been cut mackerel or nightcrawlers. No one has been out after crappie this past week although two weeks ago fishermen were catching a fair number of crappie at Kono Tayee and at the Boat Works.
A few trout are being caught at Upper Blue Lake but it”s hardly worth braving the cold. The DFW announced it will be cutting the trout stocking program by nearly 50 percent in 2015 and the trout being stocked will be smaller. That means Upper Blue Lake probably won”t be stocked more than once a month and the East Branch of the Russian River will also see fewer trout being stocked. The same applies to Lake Pillsbury.
Boaters are reminded they must have a 2015 quagga mussel sticker on their boats. There is no grace period. Residents are only required to purchase an annual sticker for $10. To be eligible for a resident sticker the boat must be stored in Lake County and it must state that on the registration.
Duck hunters are seeing a slight improvement in the hunting in the Sacramento Valley. Most of the refuges are averaging abut two birds per hunter. Just about all the ducks are now wintering in the valley. The hunting on Clear Lake has been very slow.
In my Wednesday column I wrote that a disabled veteran could receive a free fishing license. That is incorrect. The fee for a disabled veteran is $6.95 from a DFW office or $7.30 if purchased from a license agent.
