The bass tournaments return to Clear Lake this weekend as American Bass holds a two-day tournament that goes out of Lakeport. Weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday begin at 3 p.m.
Overall the tournament anglers are working hard to find fish. The NewJen tournament held last weekend showed just how difficult fishing is at Clear Lake right now. It took 43 pounds to win the tournament and many of the fisherman caught only one or two fish. The water temperature has been holding in the low 50s and bass haven’t yet moved onto their spawning beds.
There have been a large number of recreational fishermen out on the lake and they are struggling as well. Weather-wise this has been a strange spring. It will be interesting to see how the late spring and early summer turns out. Normally the bass are in full spawn by the first of May or June. There are a number of bass tournaments scheduled for the summer months.
The top lures have been swimbaits and small crankbaits worked slowly along the bottom. The tules haven’t yet showed up but should start growing soon. That will draw the bass and crappie into the weeds to spawn. The good news is the water color is good and you can seen down a foot or more in many areas.
Crappie
The crappie are starting to bite and one of the better areas has been Clear Lake State Park. Crappie jigs and small minnows have been the top baits. Another good area is Henderson Point. Shag Rock is also holding a lot of fish as well. For shoreline fisherman, Lakeside County Park is also worth a try.
There have been a good number of large crappie being caught, many weighing in the 3-pound-plus range.
Someone cleaned a large number of crappie and dumped their remains at the edge of the boat ramp at Lakeside County Park. The smell and sight of the dead crappie was awful.
Catfish
Catfishing has been excellent as the results of the catfish derby held last weekend showed. The derby took place Saturday and Sunday out of Library Park in Lakeport. Thirty-five three-man teams participated. Each team was allowed to weigh in three fish per day and the fish had to be alive. The captain of the winning team was Ron Ladd of Lakeport. His team weighed in 115 pounds. Many 20-pounders were caught during the tournament.
Hitch
From all appearances the hitch had a big spawn at Clear Lake this year. Reports are coming in that hitch are being seen in large numbers in all the streams flowing into the lake. Greg Giusti said he has been checking the streams flowing through his property in Kelseyville and has been counting 300-500 hitch every day. Other residents in the area report similar numbers.
Indian Valley
A number of people have contacted me and asked if Indian Valley Reservoir is open for fishing this year. So far the answer is no and there are several reasons why. Yolo County is trying to hire a person to manage the lake and has yet to find one. The gate to the lake is locked and no entry is allowed. This is a shame because it’s a great lake to fish for bass. It’s also a pretty lake with loads of wildlife nearby. The road going into the lake is in poor shape.
