The bass will get a rest from tournament fishermen, as there no major tournaments scheduled for the month of August. There are several club tournaments but most of them will have less than 15 boats.
The bass fishing has improved. On Wednesday Mike Rothstein of Lakeport teamed up with Jim Craig of Upper Lake and they spent a day out on the lake doing some bass fishing. According to Rothstein they caught more than 30 bass with several in the 5-pound range. Most of their fish were caught on crankbaits in 20 feet of water. Other fishermen have reported similar results,
Best Bass Tournaments (BBT) held a pair of tournaments this past weekend. On Saturday the tournament drew 92 boats and the winning team had 26-plus pounds and Sunday’s tournament drew 68 boats with the winning team weighing in 24 pounds. The big fish for the tournament weighed 8 pounds.
There are still a few bass spawning and they are concentrated in less than 10 feet of water. The bass will spawn until the end of August.
The hot weather has had an impact on the fishermen. With daytime temperatures soaring over 90 degrees and the fishermen all say it hard to be out on the lake late in the afternoons.
The best news on the fishing scene is the crappie and catfish fishing. This past week saw a number of fishermen loading up on crappie with one angler reported that he caught and released more than 50 crappie. He fished in the deeper water in the south end of the lake. There have also been reports of crappie being caught by fishermen fishing from docks in Lakeport and Nice-Lucerne. Clear Lake holds both white and black crappie and they range in size from a pound to more than 4 pounds. The lake holds the state record for black crappie with 4.33-pounder caught last year by local angler David Burruss of Kelseyville. A 4-pound crappie is a huge fish. Burruss is the owner of Clear Lake Outdoors tackle shop in Lakeport.
Catfish action has been nonstop and some of the catfish being caught have been huge with many in the 20-pound-plus range. The Lakeport Yacht Club will have a three-day Catfish Derby Friday through Sunday starting on August 25, 26 and 27.
There will be a raffle with prizes donated by businesses as well, according to Deb Clarke of the yacht club.
The entry fee is $15 for children and $50 for adults.
The Catfish Derby headquarters is at the Lakeport Yacht Club building at the end of the Fifth Street parking lot in Lakeport, north of Library Park.
Money raised at the event will go toward Shipwreck Days in September, as well as next year’s Fourth of July and Duct Tape Race.
Entries must be in by 9 p.m. Friday, August 25. Children must have a signature on their forms and be accompanied by their guardian to be in the event.
A few trout are being caught out of Upper Blue Lake but overall the fishing has been slow. The lake still hasn’t been stocked and isn’t scheduled to be stocked in the near future
