Somewhere on Clear Lake there is a huge bass swimming and feeding that has a $10,000 price tag on its head. That’s the reward the Lake County Chamber of Commerce is waiting to give to the team that breaks the current lake record of 17.52 pounds during the upcoming Clear Lake Team Bass Tournament scheduled for March 17-18.
According to Melissa Fulton, CEO of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, the team that breaks the lake record will pocket an additional $10,000 in additional to the normal tournament prizes. There are certain rules that must be followed. The bass must be caught by a team participating in the tournament and caught during the official tournament hours. It must be identified as a largemouth bass and weighed in at the official weigh-in site of the tournament. In addition, the team that catches the record fish must successfully pass a polygraph (lie-detector) test.
The current lake record for largemouth bass is 17.52 pounds and was caught by Jerry Basgal on Feb. 25, 1990.
The entry fee for the tournament is $200 per team and includes the daily big-fish option. Entry forms are available at all local tackle shops and at the chamber office. The forms are also available online at www.lakecochamber.com.
After a week of excellent bass fishing the action slowed down with the return of the cool weather the past few days. There are a good number of bass being caught and they have been large. The results of the American Bass (ABA) team tournament held on Saturday bear this out. The winning team of George and Kevin Cockreill of Kelseyville weighed in 23.51 pounds. The team of Sandy and Bryan McGeoch of Lakeport finished second with 19.51 pounds. The overall average weight per fish was an impressive 4 pounds. The tournament drew 16 teams.
Most of the fishermen report the north end of the lake is producing most of the bass. The Nice-Lucerne shoreline also has been productive. A few fishermen are having success casting the A Rig and others are using swimbaits or plastic worms rigged drop-shot style.
Most of the fishermen report catching from three to seven fish per day. The average size is 2 or 3 pounds.
NewJen Bass is holding a team bass tournament Saturday. The tournament goes out of Redbud Park in Clearlake and the weigh-in starts at 3 p.m.
Crappie and bluegill action remains strong and a lot of fishermen are starting to cash in. On any given day the docks at Library Park in Lakeport and the banks at Lakeside County Park and Clear Lake State Park have fishermen on them. The crappie are biting on red-white crappie jigs suspended beneath a bobber. The bluegill are taking nightcrawlers.
The lake level has been holding steady at 3.05 feet on the Rumsey Gauge. Last year at this time it was 9.7 feet. Normal for this date is 5.13 feet.
Despite Upper Blue Lake not being stocked with trout in more than a month, the fishing has been good. One pair of anglers fished the lake earlier this week and limited on trout averaging about 14 inches in length. They trolled at a depth of 20-25 feet.
Bass are also being caught at Lake Mendocino. Several local fishermen fished the lake last weekend and reported catching limits of smallmouth bass. They said they worked the area around the dam with jigs. The bass ranged in size from 1-3 pounds.
