The disastrous Valley Fire not only destroyed many homes and caused millions of dollars in damage, but it also has impacted bass tournaments scheduled for Clear Lake. The FLW Outdoors Tournament set for Sept. 26-27 has been rescheduled for Oct. 15-18. The Triton Boat Owners Tournament scheduled for Oct. 2-4 has been canceled. Several other major bass tournaments scheduled for October are likely to be reschduled or even canceled. One reason for the cancellations is because there are practically no motel rooms in the county available for fishermen.
On the fishing scene, there has been very little activity on Clear Lake because of the fires. The weather conditions also changed midweek with rain and cool weather arriving.
Overall the bass fishing has been rated from fair to good for the few anglers out on the lake. The guides report their clients are averaging eight to 12 fish per trip. The two-day Bob’s Marine Tournament last weekend fielded 44 boats and the winning team had 44 pounds. Mike Rothstein of Kelseyville caught the big fish of the tourney, a 10.28-pounder.
The Clear Lake Bassmasters held an unusual tournament Saturday where each angler was required to fish with only a Brush Hog. Only one fish per angler could be weighed in. The winner was Dr. Kirk Andrus of Kelseyville with a 5.9-pounder. This was his first tournament.
The south end of the lake is still producing most of the fish although a couple of anglers reported catching bass near Rocky Point. The Nice-Lucerne shoreline is also giving up a few fish. The top lures have been small-billed crankbaits and jigs. A few bass are being caught on buzzbaits. White or chartreuse spinnerbaits also have been effective as well as drop-shotting a plastic worm.
A few crappie are starting to show up around the docks at Glenhaven Beach and at Kono Tayee. The cooling water temperatures should make the crappie more active.
Catfish action has been good for the few fishermen after them. It’s the old story of there being fewer fishermen than catfish. One of the better areas has been Horseshoe Bend and Henderson Point. Jumbo minnows or cut bait have been the top fish catchers. A few catfish are being caught off the docks at Library Park in Lakeport and at Lakeside County Park.
Trout action is rated only fair at Upper Blue Lake and poor at the East Branch of the Russian River. Neither body of water has been stocked in more than two weeks.
Deer hunters will be out in force this weekend. The B-zone season gets underway Saturday morning and weather will be a major factor for success. The recent rain and cool weather should help both the A-zone and B-zone hunters. The good news is some of the bow hunters reported seeing a fair number of bucks in the northern part of Mendocino National Forest at the higher elevations. Areas such as Hull Mountain and the Snow Mountain Wilderness Area are holding decent numbers of bucks. Typically the B-zone deer stay at the higher elevations until the first rains hit and then they head for their wintering grounds at the lower elevations.
A-zone deer hunters wrap up their season Sunday. To date the results have been only fair with slightly better results on private lands. Several hunters reported that the bucks have gone into rut during the past week, which means the final weekend of the season could prove successful.
For those hunters who are successful and want their deer processed, Larry Poff of Kelseyville has a complete setup to hang, cut up and wrap deer. Poff said he has processed 134 deer from the A zone so far. He can be reached at 349-6800.
