Just as the bass fishing literally exploded at Clear Lake, here come the storms. The good news is we desperately need the rain and if the storm drops as much water as predicted the lake level could come up more than a foot.
As for the pre-storm fishing, the bass action this past week was about as good as it can get. Guide Bob Myskey fished with George Hill of Kelseyville earlier this week and they boated 21 bass, the largest weighing nearly 6 pounds. They caught their fish on shaky head jigs and jerk baits in the north end of the lake.
I fished the lake Wednesday with Dan Stahlman of Lakeport and we caught 18 bass within three hours. Shaky head jigs rigged with either a Sneed oxblood/blue 6-inch worm or a trick worm were the top lures. We also caught all the fish in the north end of the lake. Other fishermen reported similar success. One fisherman reported catching a five-fish limit weighing a total of 41 pounds. That’s an 8-pound average per fish
The bass have started to move into the shallow water and the best action has been in 6-8 feet of water above rocks. A shaky head jig rigged with a plastic worm or even a Senko can be a deadly combination. The shaky head jig is designed so that when it’s on the bottom its hooks sticks straight up. There is a small coiled spring on the head of the jig and the head of the worm is screwed on the spring. The hook is embedded into the body of the worm.
When the jig is resting on the bottom, the tail of the worm sticks up into the water and the water action will make the worm move back and forth. The jig is cast and then allowed to settle on the bottom. There are several ways to retrieve the lure. One is to barely move it along the bottom and the other is to give it a slight hop and allow it to settle back to the bottom. The jig comes in several weights and all the tackle shops carry them.
A few fishermen are having success with LV500 lipless crankbaits as well as small jerk baits. Most of the fishermen say bass have moved into the shallow water and they have been catching them at depths ranging from 5-10 feet.
Of course, fishing conditions could change depending on the amount of rainfall we receive during the next few days. The streams will probably pour muddy water into the lake, however, the good news is that by the middle of next week temperatures are forecast to climb back into the 70s.
The Clear Lake Bassmasters will hold a club tournament Saturday. The tournament goes out of the Lakeside County Park and the weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. American Bass will hold its first tournament of the season at Clear Lake on Feb. 14. The Clear Lake Bass Team Tournament is scheduled for Feb. 28-March 1 and 24 teams had signed up for the tournament as of Thursday.
The storms should make the catfish action even better, if that is possible. The catfish were stacked from Shag Rock to Monitor Point this past week and the fishermen were catching and releasing up to 20 catfish per day. The size of these fish were unbelievable, several topping 20 pounds. The catfish have been feeding on threadfin shad and silverside minnows. A few crappie are being caught at Kono Tayee and Shag Rock, but few fishermen have been out after them.
Despite not being stocked in more than a month, Upper Blue Lake is still providing decent action for the trout fishermen. The successful fishermen are trolling in the middle of the lake with a red-gold Kastmaster being the top lure. A few bass are being caught on plastic worms.
Smallmouth bass are being caught at Lake Mendocino. The lake is in good shape and has an excellent smallmouth fishery.
