Hot weather is keeping fishermen off Clear Lake during the midday hours. With the air temperature rising above 100 degrees most of the fishing is taking place early in the morning or late in the evening.
The bass action continues to amaze everyone. In fact, the fishing has been so good anglers are complaining when they catch only five to 10 bass a day. The local fishing guides report their clients are having little trouble boating up to 50 fish per day.
The Best Bass Tournament (BBT) organization held a team tournament Saturday and the winning weight was 29.84 pounds. It took nearly 22 pounds to get a check. BBT is holding a team tournament this coming Saturday and the tournament goes out of Redbud Park in Clearlake. The weigh-in starts at noon.
A wide variety of lures have been successful. One of the most productive is the spinnerbait. The trick is to make a slow retrieve along the tules and beneath the docks. Another successful lure has been the Lucky Craft LV500. This is a lipless crankbait and should be retrieved with a lift-and-fall style. Fishing a plastic worm on a drop-shot is just about guaranteed to catch fish. Jigs also have been very effective. Bait fish are everywhere and can be seen dimpling the water. Bait fish include threadfin shad, small crappie, bluegill and even baby bass.
The topwater action has been good for a few anglers but most of them have given up on the lure. One reason for this is the lack of weed mats. Despite high water this year there have been very few weed mats. Many fishermen are blaming the county for killing the weeds with spraying but that hasn’t been the case. Even in areas where there has been no weed spraying there are few weed mats. One possibility is that the green and cloudy water is preventing the sun from penetrating down into the water, which causes weed growth.
Most of the bass being caught are weighing between 1-3 pounds with the occasional 5-pounder. These are perfect-sized fish for the recreational angler, especially the youngsters. One productive method for the youngsters is to drop-shot a live nightcrawler. Not only will they catch plenty of bass this way, but they also may come with an occasional catfish or bluegill.
The crappie action continues to slow down although there have been areas where good numbers of crappie are still being caught. The crappie have completed their spawning cycle and have moved out into the deeper water.
The Lakeport Yacht Club hosts its annual catfish derby on August 26-28. The entry fee is $50 per adult and $15 per youngster (younger than 16).
Trout fishermen are finding decent action on the East Branch of the Russian River. The stream was stocked with trout last week and a few anglers reported catching limits. Upper Blue Lake also was stocked and is producing trout for those who are trolling small spoons or other trout lures. Bank fishing has been slow. The bass fishing on Upper Blue Lake has been very good. There are reports of some bass weighing up to 5 pounds.
One small pond producing excellent bass fishing is Highland Springs Reservoir, located just outside of Lakeport. For those who have a kayak or float tube, the fishing has been excellent, especially the topwater action.
Lake Mendocino is still providing decent smallmouth bass action for the few anglers out. Some of the smallies weigh up to 3 pounds.
The ocean fishing off Fort Bragg continues to be excellent for bottom fish and slow for salmon. Bottom fishermen are having little trouble catching limits. Only a few salmon are being caught.
