The summer months mean warm weather and the perfect chance to get outdoors. Lake County and Clear Lake offer the outdoors crowd just about everything, from excellent fishing to fantastic bird watching. Clear Lake is home to hundreds of species of wild birds, the only problem is you normally need access to a boat to view these creatures.
There is an answer and it’s provided by a small company that offers excellent bird tours on the lake. Eyes of the Wild Tours is operated by Faith Rigolosi. She operates a pontoon boat that can accommodate up to 10 visitors comfortably. The tour ranges from two to three hours and offers the visitor a golden opportunity to get an up-close view of the hundreds of birds that call Clear Lake home. They include osprey, eagles, herons, grebes, cormorants and other waterfowl. In addition to being a sightseeing guide, Faith is also an expert wildlife photographer. A trip with her is a once-in-a-lifetime experience to view these birds up close and personal. You can book a tour by calling 262-2401 or 349-0026
Bass/crappie
On the fishing scene, the bass and crappie continue to provide excellent action for Clear Lake anglers. The winning team in the recent crappie derby was Kevin Coughlin and Justin Loveall with a 10-fish limit weighing 18.32 pounds. The big fish of the derby weighed 2.22 pounds and was caught by the team of Jose and Omar Juarez of Kelseyville.
Overall the crappie fishing is rated very good and most of bank fishermen are scoring on good numbers of crappie. Clear Lake State Park and Lakeside County Park both offer excellent opportunities to catch large crappie.
Bass action remains strong. Most of the local fishing guides report their clients are averaging from 10-20 fish per day. Drop-shotting a plastic worm remains the most consistent method of catching bass.
The bass are moving into the shallows to spawn and sight fishing will be the top technique in the coming weeks. Some of the more productive areas have been from Lakeside County Park to Clear Lake State Park. Rocky Point has been another good area along with the south end of the lake.
Other lakes
Lake Pillsbury is a good choice for bass and huge bluegill. Gary Hill and David Burruss of Kelseyville fished the lake Wednesday and reported catching more than 50 bass, the largest weighing 5 pounds. Hill said they also hooked some huge bluegill. They used a variety of lures, including drop-shotting a plastic worm, small swimbaits and crankbaits. The lake is full and the water color is perfect. The only road open going into the lake is by way of Potter Valley.
Indian Valley reservoir is putting out excellent bass fishing. One fisherman made the trip Sunday and reported catching at least 20 bass despite having to battle the wind.
Trout
Trout were hard to come by for the opening of the stream trout season on the East Branch of the Russian River. Several anglers reported catching no trout or only one or two. The river was on the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s stocking list for last week, but it is unknown if DFW actually stocked the stream.
Upper Blue Lake also was stocked and is producing a few limits for boaters trolling in the middle of the lake. Bank fishing has been good on some days, terrible on others.
Turkey season
The spring wild turkey season ends Sunday and overall the season has been rated fair. Most of the hunters managed to work gobblers and some bagged a few. All the hunters reported the hunting pressure was the lowest they have seen in a number of years.
