Overall the bass fishing at Clear Lake continues to improve with decent topwater action early and late. One major problem is a lack of fishermen. The local tackle shops report seeing very few customers and the boat ramps have been empty. It could be that the wildfires are scaring away the fishermen.
Gary Hill of Kelseyville experienced excellent action Wednesday when he landed 21 bass along with four catfish while fishing from his float tube near Henderson Point. Hill was using nightcrawlers.
There has been a good topwater bite for those casting RICCOs or plastic frogs. Drop-shotting a plastic worm or casting a Senko to the holes in the weed mats has been producing a decent number of fish. Most of the local guides report their clients are catching from 10-25 fish per day.
Fishermen report good to excellent action from midlake to the south end. Some of the better areas have been the rock piles around Rattlesnake Island and the shoreline off Highway 20 from Clearlake Oaks to Glenhaven. Windflower Point and Dollar Island are also producing good numbers of bass. Another area that has been productive has been the State Park and Henderson Point. The north end has improved slightly but it has been a struggle to put a limit into the boat.
In areas that have few or no weeds, crankbaits such as the Speed Trap have been effective. Drop-shotting a plastic worm or casting a jig also has been very effective. Senkos rigged wacky style have been catching good numbers of bass and this is especially true in the deeper water in the south end of the lake where there are rock piles.
The lake level is at 1.76 feet on the Rumsey Gauge and slowly dropping. Yolo County can continue to withdraw water until the lake level hit’s 1 foot on the Rumsey Gauge.
The lake itself is in excellent condition with very few algae blooms and not a lot of weed beds. This is especially true in the south end of the lake where the water is very clear in some areas. The water color in the north end remains stained.
The Lake County Chamber of Commerce has secured permits for March 19-20 for its annual team bass tournament.
Catfish action remains good throughout much of the south end for fishermen using nightcrawlers of cut bait. One of the better areas has been Shag Rock.
The East Branch of the Russian River was scheduled to be stocked with trout this week. The stream also will be stocked next week. Is the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) actually stocking the stream? To date very few trout have been caught from the stream. Upper Blue Lake also was scheduled to be stocked this week. A few fishermen have been getting limits of trout by trolling. Shore fishing has been slow. Bass action has been excellent for bass ranging from 1-3 pounds.
Several fishermen want to know about Lake Pillsbury. The lake level is very low and launching a boat is difficult. A few fishermen are launching cartop boats or kayaks and picking up a few bass.
Deer hunters got off to a good start for the opening of the Zone A season last weekend. Larry Poff of Kelseyville processes deer and said he had 30 deer carcasses brought into his shop for processing following opening weekend. The hunting pressure was down considerably in the Mendocino National Forest and only a few hunters were successful. According to Poff, most of the bucks came off the Scotts Valley ranches. A few came off Cow Mountain and several were shot on ranches near Middletown. Poff can be reached at 349-6800. The B-zone deer archery season opens Saturday and most of the hunters should be concentrated in the high country between Hull Mountain and Covelo.
