It’s eerie to look out across one of the most famous bass fisheries in the world and not see a single boat. Clear Lake is a lonely place nowadays. Last year, on any given weekend during the spring and summer months, there would be hundreds of bass boats roaring across the lake. Actually, it’s not only Clear Lake that is empty of boats and fishermen but most of the lakes and parks in California and throughout the nation are now closed because of the coronavirus. The good news is that Gov. Newson has said that he has no plans to shut down the fishing in California.
With Clear Lake shut down because of the coronavirus, the big question is when will it reopen again? There are all kinds of predictions and they range from a couple weeks to several months. It all depends on when the coronavirus will be contained.
There are a number of other states that have also been closed to all fishing. Oregon is only open to residents and Washington and Idaho are completely closed to all fishing. Actually, hundreds of lakes have been closed around the country. The only fishing that will be allowed on Clear Lake is if a lakeside resident fishes off his own dock.
It’s not just the fishing that is shut down, you can’t hike in some of the parks under the new rule. The new rule says that if you can walk to the park from your residence you can walk in the park.
A park that is open for hikers in the county is the Clear Lake State Park, located on Soda Bay Road. Hikers will have to park their vehicles on Soda Bay Road at the entrance to the park and hike in. The trails that meander through the park offer excellent scenery. You can take a dog but it must have a leash on it.
One local resident that lives on a hill above Lakeport where he can look down on the lake said that in all the years he has lived here he has never seen anything like it. On Monday he said the lake was flat and it was sunny and warm. He looked across the serene lake with pair of binoculars and couldn’t see a single boat. He said the lake looked like it must have looked thousands of years ago before humans settled here.
Once the lake is reopened you can bet that bass fishermen will flock back to Clear Lake in large numbers, especially the tournament anglers. During the spring and early summer months Clear Lake is one of the more popular bass tournament locations in the West. Several major tournament directors have told me that as soon as the authorities lift the restrictions they will be filing for tournament permits.
There is no question that between the months of March and July the tournament anglers make up the bulk of the fishermen. On a typical weekend during these times there are at least 100 boats out on the lake and studies have shown that tournament fishermen make up more than 80 percent. A good example on just how popular Clear Lake is among the bass tournament fishermen for the remainder of 2020, there are 30 club tournaments and 23 major tournaments that have received permits from the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Hikers that use the parks and trails that are open should be sure and keep their group to less than five people and even then to stay a distance of at least six feet from the nearest person. Also wear a face mask.
It’s not only the fishermen that are confused, the bass are as well. In their entire life there has never been time when they didn’t see a lure, especially during the spring.
