Windy and cool weather has slowed the bass action on Clear Lake and the weather forecast doesn’t look promising for the weekend. Rain is forecast for the next several days.
The California Tournament Trail (CTT) pro/am bass tournament held last weekend showed that Clear Lake still produces some huge bass. Fishermen weighed in 22 bass weighing more than 8 pounds each. Of those, four weighed more than 10 pounds and three more than 9 pounds. No other lake in the West consistently produces bass that size.
One reason for the massive growth in the bass is the abundance of feed. Threadfin shad, silverside minnows, baby crappie and bluegill are everywhere and there are thousands of crawdads as well. All a bass has to do is open its mouth and have dinner.
The massive amount of baitfish is having an impact on the fishing. When there is that much to eat in the lake the bass can be very choosy on what they bite on. Most of the successful fishermen say they are moving around a lot until they can locate feeding fish and then staying in that one spot for several hours.
During the CTT tournament a number of fisherman said they caught their bass off the spawning beds by sight fishing and most of them reported seeing a lot of bass in the shallow water. Of course, the strong winds and dropping temperatures changed all that by midweek. The wave action caused the water to cloud up and the water temperature dropped, which caused the bass to move off the beds and retreat to deeper water.
The most productive lures have been plastic worms rigged on a drop-shot, shaky heads jigs with a Trick Worm, LV500 crankbaits and swimbaits. A few fishermen are having success using the “A” but most are sticking to the standard lures.
There is no one hot spot on the lake. The bass are widely scattered and both the north and south ends have a few bass that are willing to bite.
The good news is most of the fishermen report catching loads of small bass between 8-10 inches. If only a small portion of these fish survive, the bass population should literally explode in the next two years.
There are no major bass tournament scheduled for the weekend. Starting on Thursday the California Bass Federation is holding a three-day tournament featuring college and high school students from around the West. That tournament should produce about 70 boats.
Catfish action is still rated very good throughout the lake. The Nice-Lucerne shoreline has a lot of catfish as does the north Lakeport area. Catfish are also being caught in the State Park. Rattlesnake Island continues to be one of the better catfish areas as is Clearlake Oaks. Jumbo minnows, nightcrawlers as well as live crawdads (if you can find them) are the top baits.
Trout action at Upper Blue is rated as fair to good for trollers working the area around the Narrows. Bass are also starting to move into the shallow water to spawn.
Bass action at Lake Mendocino continues to be nothing short of outstanding. Limits of both largemouth and smallmouth have been common and the lake is in perfect condition.
Lake Pillsbury is scheduled to be stocked with trout next week. This lake offers excellent fishing for both bass and trout. Bass weighing up to 12 pounds are being caught. The best part of making a trip to Lake Pillsbury is looking at the many Tule elk living there. The best area to view the elk is around the old airport at the north end of the lake.
The spring wild turkey season is in full swing and the toms are strutting all around the county. Several hunters report bagging a tom. Hunters are reminded that the limit is one bearded turkey per day and a total of three for the season.
