Saturday is a free fishing day in California. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) invites all Californians to celebrate the end of summer by going fishing.
Saturday is the second of two fee fishing days in 2015 when people can try their hand at fishing without having to buy a sport fishing license. Free fishing days are also a great opportunity for licensed anglers to introduce non-angling friends and children to fishing and the outdoors. All fishing regulations, such as bag and size limits, gear restrictions, report card requirements, fishing hours and stream closures remain in effect.
Overall the bass action on Clear Lake is holding steady. Most of the anglers report catching from 10-15 fish per day. The best action has been early in the mornings and the last two hours before dark. The south end of the lake is drawing most of the fishermen although the water color in the south end is now turning brownish because of the algae. The good news is with cooler weather on the way the algae should beign to disappear. The lake level is currently at 1.26 feet on the Rumsey Gauge. Last year at this time the lake level was a minus on the Rumsey Gauge.
Jigs worked along the edges of the available weeds have been successful. Square-bill crankbaits are also working. A few fishermen are also having success casting lipless crankbaits such as the LV500. There has been some decent topwater action for fishermen using plastic frogs and buzzbaits. The trick to success is to stay on the move until you locate active fish. There are also reports of fishermen seeing schools of silverside minnows in the south end of the lake along the shoreline.
The big question is, where are the fishermen? On any given day there are only a few boat trailers at the ramp parking lots. Most of the veteran fishermen say they have never seen as few fishermen at Clear Lake as this year. Hopefully the long holiday weekend will result in more fishermen and boaters.
Catfish action remains very good at just about any location around the lake. In fact, catfish are being caught off the docks at Library Park in Lakeport and at Lakeside County Park. The catfish are ranging in size from 5 pounds all the weigh up to 20 pounds. Ken Taddie of Indian Beach Resort in Glenhaven says the fishing off the resort docks has been good for bass, crappie and catfish.
Some bluegill and crappie are being caught but overall the action for these fish has been slow. There are very few fishermen going for the panfish.
Highland Springs Reservoir, located just outside of Lakeport, is producing some large bass for float tubers. Gary Hill of Kelseyville has been averaging from three to six bass each time out. He has been drop-shotting a plastic worm or casting a wacky-rigged Senko, There also have been some good topwater action.
Trout action remains fair at Upper Blue Lake and very slow at the East Branch of the Russian River. These bodies of water weren’t stocked this week and won’t be stocked for the next two week. Bass action at Upper Blue Lake has been excellent.
Deer hunters continue to battle the heat and are waiting for a cold spell. Normally by the second week of September the bucks start going into rut, which improves the hunting. Overall the season is rated from fair to good. The archery hunters in the B zones report seeing a lot of bucks in the high country. One party of five bowhunters from Kelseyville bagged three bucks while hunting near Yreka. To date deer and wild pig processor Larry Poff has had 94 bucks checked in, which is ahead of last year. Poff can be reached at 349-6800.
