Bass fishermen at Clear Lake are hoping the weather warms up for the weekend. The fishing was anything but good earlier in the week as rain, hail and wind hammered the area.
Bassmasters is holding its BASS Western Nation Division Finals this week and the fishermen struggled on Wednesday, the first day of the tournament. Of the 154 anglers (77 boats) in the field, 41 fishermen didn’t weigh in a single fish. The leader had only 30 pounds, 10 ounces and his boating partner only 29 pounds. After that the weights dropped considerably. For example, the fisherman in 10th place had only 16 pounds.
The second-round results weren’t much better on Thursday. Only six fishermen weighed in limits on both days and the leader through two rounds, Brent Shores of Boise, Idaho, had only 39 pounds, 14 ounces. He caught most of that (22-2) on Thursday to move up from eighth place after round one. The big bass on Thursday weighed 11 pounds.
The tournament wraps up today with the weigh-in starting at 2:30 p.m. at Konocti Vista Casino.
While the pros struggled, a local fishing guide hammered the bass Wednesday. Bob Myskey said his clients boated 17 quality fish, four weighing more than 5 pounds. He said they caught all their fish in the north end of the lake using jumbo minnows.
The top lure for both the bass pros and the recreational fishermen remains the lipless crankbait such as the LV500. Just about everyone is using it and the tackle shops can’t keep them in stock. Small jerk baits also have been popular. What is surprising is the lack of fish being caught on the “A” rigs.
The warm weather forecast for the weekend should push the bass to the spawning beds where the primary technique will be sight fishing. This is especially true in the shallow water in the north end of the lake.
The Clear Lake Bassmasters are holding a club tournament Saturday with the weigh-in starting at 3 p.m. at Lakeside County Park. On Sunday, American Bass is holding a team tournament with the weigh-in starting at 3 p.m. at Konocti Vista Casino.
The good news is there are a lot of recreational fishermen visiting the lake. Local tackle shops report seeing more and more non-tournament fishemen.
Crappie action is slowly improving around the lake and some large crappie are being caught. Shag Rock and Kono Tayee are both producing quality crappie in the 2-pound range. There are even crappie being caught at the docks near Rocky Point.
Catfish action has been holding steady and the best action is in Soda Bay and Horseshoe Bend. A new catfish derby will be held on April 18 and it’s called “707.” It will be held out of Shady Acres Campground in Clearlake. The entry fee is $25 for adults and $10 for children.
Trout action at Upper Blue Lake is rated from fair to good. The Earth Science class at Clear Lake High School has been raising trout as a school project and students released them Thursday at the Pine Acres Resort in Upper Blue Lake. A big thank you to the local tackle shops that supported the class. Steve Vaughn of Pet Country in Lakeport donated tanks to raise the fish and ETicket Tackle and Clear Lake Outdoors in Lakeport donated fishing rods and bait so the youngsters could fish. Gary Hill of Kelseyville provided valuable lessons to the students on the proper trout fishing methods.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) did its first trout stocking of the year last week at Lake Pillsbury. The lake also offers excellent bass fishing.
Lake Mendocino is kicking out easy limits of bass. Both smallmouth and Largemouth bass are being caught at just about any location around the lake.
Here’s a reminder for those who want to learn more about Mount Konocti and the history of Clear Lake. The Lakeport Christen Center, located at 455 Forbes St. in Lakeport, is hosting a talk about the mountain and lake. Ed Groves and myself are the guest speakers. Groves is one of the few people who has been in the vents on the mountain and he has some marvelous and funny stories about his adventures. The talk starts at 6 p.m. and is open to the public.
Turkey hunters are hoping the warm weather gets the toms strutting. To date the hunting has only been so-so. A few hens are sitting on their eggs and it’s nearly impossible to draw the toms away from the hens. That should all change in the coming weeks. Normally the best time to hunt wild turkeys is from mid-April to early May.
