For years Clear Lake has been famous for its outstanding bass fishery. Major bass tournaments such as Bassmasters made special efforts to hold tournaments here with some of the biggest names in the professional fishing business. This week Bassmaster named Clear Lake has the best bass fishery in the nation. This is the first time that Clear Lake has been on the top of the list. It has been rated in the top 10 a number of times. In fact, in the past 10 years Clear Lake has always been rated in the top ten. Only one other body of water in California was rated in the top 10 and that was the Delta which was rated 5th.
What this rating means is that more bass fishermen from around the world will be visiting the lake and the county. There is no question that the rating will mean a lot for tourism.
On the fishing scene the bass action on Clear Lake continues to be excellent. The best action has been in the mornings before the algae blooms. By lake afternoon the water is a dark brown. The bass have moved out into the deeper water and jigs continues to be the top lure followed by drop-shotting a plastic worm. The success fishermen have been adding a small plastic trailer to the jig and are working it very slowly over the rocks.
NewJen held a tournament on Saturday and it drew 49 boats. The winning weight was 25.49 pounds for five fish. The big fish of he tournament weighed 8.74 pounds and was caught by Tom Jolin of Lakeport. That was the only fish weighing more than 7 pounds caught in the tournament.
Crappie action continues to be excellent with huge crappie being caught. A number of crappie that weighed from 2-3 pounds were caught this week. The are being caught all around the lake with Shag Rock and Henderson Point being two of the better areas.
Catfish action has also been very good. In fact, a number of bass fishermen report that they are catching catfish on crankbaits as well as plastic worms.
Upper Blue Lake is still kicking some trout for both shore anglers and boaters. Still no news from the East Branch of the Russian River.
If you want to be guaranteed to catch fish, then head to Indian Valley Reservoir. The lake has been reopened and the action has been nonstop for the few anglers going there. Bob Bridges of Lakeport teamed up with Gary Hill of Kelseyville and they fished the lake on Tuesday. In a space of six hours they caught and released more than 90 bass. What was really amazing was a third of fish were smallmouths and Bridges said they fought like crazy. Their top lure was a plastic worm rigged drop-shot style. What was even more amazing was they were the only boat on the lake. The road going into the lake is a little rough and dusty and it’s not the place to take a modern shiny bass boat. A small aluminum boat or kayak is perfect. Be careful of the wind because late in the afternoons there is often a north wind that can cause whitecaps.
This lake is strictly for fishermen. There is a 10 mph hour speed limit on the entire lake. It’s strictly a lake for fishing and relaxing. There is a campground at the dam with toilets and tables. You have to bring in your own drinking water.
The lake can be reached off Highway 20 in eastern Lake County. Turn off at Walker Ridge Road. The lake is approximately 12 miles off Highway 20.
