Local fishermen are in a quandary about where and when they can fish. Originally only shore fishermen could fish and any fishing from a watercraft was outlawed and that was only for food. That changed which allowed fishermen to fish from kayaks, float tubes, canoes and similar watercraft. This rule applies to all the waters within the boundaries of Lake County. The rules have left more than few fishermen confused. They want to go fishing but don’t want to break the law.
Actually, the fishermen out in the boats are in no danger of spreading the virus. They normally shun other fishermen and it’s rare to see a fisherman closer than 100 yards to another angler. In fact, if you get too close to another fisherman he will shout and curse you. Apparently, the concern is the number of fishermen congregating at the ramp and the parking lots. There is also the worry the if the local lakes were open to the public that dozens of fishermen from out of the county would flock to the county and create a problem. There is an answer to that problem. Have the quagga mussel inspectors at the public ramps and they would only allow one boat to launch at a time and no more than two people per boat. The boats waiting to launch would have to stay in the parking lot until their turn. Large runabouts and patio boats would be banned. Have the launching hours limited from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. and each ramp would have a maximum number of boats allowed to launch during a given period of time.
Fishing is a major part of the tourist industry in Lake County. Many of the local businesses count on the fishermen to buy gas, fishing equipment, stay in the motels and eat in the local resturants.
All the fishermen that I have spoken with in the past two weeks have all supported being extra careful and don’t want an outbreak of the coronavirus. The problem is that they say they keep hearing conflicting statements on when the lakes will reopen to power boats. Some of the rumors even state the lakes will be closed until January 2021.
One plan is to wait until the other local lakes open so that Clear Lake wouldn’t be flooded with out of county fishermen. These lakes include Lake Berryessa, Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma. That would take a lot of coordination among the neighboring county officials and would take a lot of time.
One certain factor is that the bass tournaments that normally are held during the spring months on Clear Lake won’t be held this year even if the lake is open. Most of the tournament organizers are talking about waiting until next year to hold their tournaments.
It’s not just Clear Lake that needs reopening the other lakes in the county also are important tourist locations. Upper Blue Lake, Lake Pillsbury and Indian Valley Reservoir are all popular fishing areas.
If the lakes are reopened in the coming weeks the fishermen will have to take a lot of responsibility to the keep a distance from each other and wear face masks. They also can’t congregate at the boat ramps. If they don’t take these steps the lake will probably be closed down again.
