In just a couple of weeks the bass fishing at Clear Lake has done a complete turnaround. Whereas just a short time ago any bass weighing more than 3 pounds was a big deal, now a number of bass weighing more than 8 pounds are being caught, especially in the tournaments. A good example was the recent three-day WON BASS California Open at Clear Lake where it took nearly 74 pounds to win the tournament.
That tournament also produced a number of fish weighing more than eight pounds.
The Best Bass Tournament (BBT) held last weekend also produced some heavy weights. There were 116 boats in the tournament and the winning weight for a five-fish limit was 31 pounds, which works out to more than 6 pounds per fish. The big fish weighed 10.33 pounds and was caught by Lakeport’s Mike Rothstein, who teamed up with Forrest Stogner, also of Lakeport. Rothstein said they caught the fish on a LV500 crankbait. They also finished in fourth place and collected $1,760 in prize money.
In both the WON BASS and BBT tournaments, just about the entire field brought in limits and many of the fishermen said they caught 20-40 fish per day.
The north end of the lake is still producing most of the bass. One of the better areas has been just outside of Clear Lake State Park. The bass are literally stacked up like cordwood. Henderson Point is another good choice. Actually, the entire shoreline from Nice to Clearlake Oaks is producing a lot of bass.
The top lure continues to be a plastic worm rigged splitshot style. Jerk baits are also catching a lot of bass, and the larger bass are being caught on swimbaits.
This is also the time of the year when the bass are moving into the shallows to spawn. There is nothing more exciting than seeing a bass guarding its nest. Just about any type of plastic lure cast to the bed draws a strike.
Crappie biting
Crappie action continues to be nonstop on the lake. Just about every dock is producing large numbers of crappie and one of the better areas is around the Library Park docks in Lakeport. At any given time there are a dozen fishermen on the docks and just about all of them are catching crappie. The other good news is that some of the crappie being caught are huge, many weighing more than 2 pounds.
Catfish action
A few catfish are being caught but the problem is there are few anglers out after them. The annual Clearlake Oaks-Glenhaven catfish derby is scheduled for May 18-20 and is expected draw more than 1,000 contestants.
New owners
David and Sandy Aguayo are the new owners of the Lakeport Bait and Tackle Shop. The shop is located on North Main Street in Lakeport (next to the Skylark Shores Resort) and carries all types of bass, crappie, catfish and trout lures, plus bait. According to Sandy Aguayo, the shop is open seven days a week from daylight until dark. They welcome all fishermen to drop by and visit with them. Their telephone number is (707) 900-5101.
Other lakes
Indian Valley Reservoir is open and the fishing has been good. One party reported limiting out on trout and they also caught plenty of bass. The lake is in perfect condition and is an ideal lake for kayaks and float tubes as well as other types of boats. Even the shore fishing has been good.
Upper Blue Lake is still rated as good for trout. The lake hasn’t been stocked in nearly a month but is still producing some large trout.
Turkey hunting
The unsettled weather has slowed the turkey hunting. In fact, in many parts of the Mendocino National Forest there is snow. The hunting should improve in the coming weeks when it warms up.
