The Lakeport Yacht Club will have a three-day Catfish Derby this weekend. There will be a raffle with prizes donated by businesses as well. The entry fee is $15 for children and $50 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 various projects put on by the club.
The derby should produce a lot of catfish. Just about every angler reports catching catfish while they are fishing for bass. Most of the catfish being caught are of the channel catfish species. Clear Lake holds three species of catfish. They are the channel catfish, which is the largest, followed by the white catfish and the brown bullhead, which is the smallest. The lake record for catfish is 33 pounds and it was caught in 2017. Twenty pounders have been common this year. Most of the fishermen predict that it will take at least a 28 pounder to win the derby. Many of the anglers, fish at night for catfish. They use a wide variety of baits and they include nightcrawlers, minnows and a wide variety of baits. The yacht club will host a barbecue on Sunday.
The bass fishing on Clear Lake has been improving daily. The majority of the bass fishermen have been catching from 5-10 bass daily. Senkos and plastic worms have been the top lures. There has been some success using topwater lures. Bass are being caught all around the lake in both deep water and up in the shallows. There are no major bass tournaments scheduled for the weekend.
An ideal place to take a youngster fishing is Highland Springs Reservoir, located outside of Lakeport. The top fish is a bluegill. Use redworms and rig them under a bobber. The lake also has bass. Some of the best fishing takes place from shore. There is no entry fee to fish the lake.
If you want to hike and barbecue a trip to the Clearlake State Park is a perfect place to visit. The park has all kinds of wildlife and you can also fish. There are dozens of well maintained trails. The park is safe and well maintained.
Upper Blue Lake still hasn’t been stocked and is not on the stocking list for the coming weeks. There are a few trout being caught. The bass fishing has been good and the lake is in perfect condition,
Lake Pillsbury has been providing some decent bass fishing. The trout action has been slow.
Deer hunters are hoping for some cool weather. The temperatures have been in the high 90s which makes hunting a difficult task. The hunter numbers are down considerably, The deer numbers are also down. The popular B zones opens on Sept. 16.
