The bass and crappie fishing at Clear Lake last week and especially last weekend was about as good as it gets. Bass were being caught all around the lake and the crappie fishing provided limits for all fishermen.
The rain that hit the area during midweek did slow the action some, but for the most part it was a warm rain. The weather has been unlike normal February conditions. Typically in past years the weather in February is bitter cold with gale force winds, but not this year. With the water temperature soaring to 60 degrees many of the bass have moved in the shallows and are preparing to spawn.
The other good news is that some of the bass being caught have been huge. There was a reported 14-pounder caught last weekend and several between 8-10 pounds.
Just about every type of lure is catching fish and that includes plastic frogs. The A rig has been very effective when cast into shallow water. In fact, most of the fishermen report catching their fish in less than 10 feet of water. Whereas two weeks ago the best action was in the south end of the lake, this past week saw the north end producing good numbers of fish. Both Big Rocky Point and Little Rocky Point are holding good numbers of bass. The Nice-Lucerne shoreline also has been holding fish. Mike Rothstein of Kelseyville caught a 9-pound-plus bass in that area on Sunday using his favorite lure, the LV500 lipless crankbait.
Typically during the cold winter months at Clear Lake the primary food supply for the bass consists of crawdads, threadfin shad and prickly sculpin. Of course, bass are also opportunists and any small fish will serve as a meal.
Sculpin are in abundance in Clear Lake and are a native fish. However, they are rarely seen. They are small and bury themselves in the mud where the bass often root them out and eat them. As the water warms up the crawdads also become more active. Normally during the cold winter months the crawdads bury themselves in the mud. Both sculpin and crawdads are a rich food source for the bass and other predator fish in the lake.
The number of fishermen signed up for the annual Clear Lake Team Bass Tournament stands at 30 as of Thursday morning. The tournament is scheduled for March 19-20.
Crappie action is about as good as it can get on Clear Lake. The old-timers say they haven’t seen this many crappie in the past 30 years. They are being caught all around the lake although Clear Lake State Park is one of the better areas. Indian Beach Resort is still rated the No. 1 spot for crappie. On any given day the docks are jammed with fishermen and they are all hauling in limits.
Fishermen are reminded that the daily limit for crappie is 25 and the game wardens have been out checking the fishermen. If you get cited for having more than 25 it will cost you at least $600 or more in fines.
Catfish action is rated fair and most of the action is coming from fishermen fishing off the docks at Library Park in Lakeport, Lakeside County Park and the shoreline in Clearlake Oaks.
At Upper Blue Lake, the trout action remains fair to good for trollers working the middle of the lake. The lake was scheduled to be stocked this week, which should improve the fishing. A few bass are also being caught along the Highway 20 shoreline on plastic worms rigged on drop-shots.
A few fishermen are having success bass fishing at Lake Mendocino. The lake is full and has a good population of both largemouth and smallmouth bass. The lake also holds crappie and bluegill and even the occasional striped bass.
