Clear Lake is not only the oldest lake in the world, it is also the most diverse. The lake is constantly changing and that includes the fish in the lake. This past year has seen a dramatic decline in large bass. Whereas a few years ago just about every tournament would produce several double-digit bass, this year an 8-pounder is considered a giant and the big fish in many tournaments have been only in the 7-pound class.
Fishermen cite a number of reasons why the large bass aren’t being caught. The primary reason is the large fish die-off that occurred last year because of hot weather and algae blooms. That die-off impacted a number of species, but bass were hit especially hard, including a good number of large bass. The main area of the lake that was impacted by the die-off was the shoreline from Nice to Clearlake Oaks. Dead bass and other species could be seen floating all along the shoreline.
Within weeks after the die-off the tournament results showed few large bass being caught and it has stayed that way for the past year. Just about all bass weighing more than 5 pounds are females. Typically a bass will gain about a pound per year if the food source is adequate. Clear Lake has an abundance of bait fish, so it isn’t the lack of food that is having an impact on the larger bass. Most of the scientists say the absence of large bass is part of a changing lake and it will correct itself within a few years.
Bass are not only the most popular gamefish in California, but they are an interesting animal. They are not native to California or the West Coast. They were first introduced into the state 1874 and into Clear Lake at the turn of the century. Prior to that time the only native game fish in Clear Lake was the Sacramento Perch. The first bass brought into the state were the northern largemouth and they soon adapted to the lower-elevation waters. Clear Lake, with its warm shallows waters and rich nutrients, offered ideal habitat for bass and they flourished. In 1969, the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) recognized that Clear Lake had the potential to become a trophy bass. To improve the fishery, DFG planted 136 adult Florida-species largemouth bass into the lake. The bass came out of Hidden Valley Lake, which the DFG was using as a holding area for Florida-strain bass. The DFG followed that initial stocking with 242 Floridas in 1970 and 58 additional Florida bass in 1971.
It was known then that Florida bass will breed with northern largemouths and the Florida genes will quickly dominate, but it even surprised the biologists just how fast that would occur at Clear Lake. In 1975, just four years after the last Florida bass was stocked into the lake, the DFG took random samples of bass and found the Florida genes in 17 percent of the bass. In 1976 that count went up to 27 percent. By 1978 it was 52 percent. What this meant was that in seven years 52 percent of all the bass in Clear Lake were either Florida-northern largemouth mix (called intergrades) or pure Florida-strain bass. By the mid-1980s all the largemouth bass in the lake were considered to be carrying the Florida gene. All the bass in Clear Lake nowadays are Florida-northern largemouth mix and there are no pure northern largemouth remaining in the lake.
Florida bass grow larger and live longer than northern largemouth bass. They also are considered harder to catch. The typical northern largemouth bass lives up to 12 years and a Florida bass can live up to 17 years. The current lake record bass of 17.52 pounds was caught in 1990 and was a 12-year-old female. It was a Florida-northern largemouth mix.
The good news is that Clear Lake is still one of the top bass lakes in the country and the big bass will return. In the meantime the bass fishing has never been better. A typical day of fishing will produce 15-50 bass and even though most will be between 1-5 pounds, the fishery is in excellent condition.
