Activity on Clear Lake will pick up a little this weekend because of an American Bass tournament to be held on Saturday. The team tournament will go out of Library Park in Lakeport with the weigh in being at 3 p.m. on Saturday,
The temperatures have been dipping down to the freezing mark in the mornings at Clear Lake so there is no reason to be on the lake at daylight. The best action has been from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. which is typical for early winter bass fishing. The good news is that larger bass are being caught. On Saturday there was a small tournament over the weekend with the winning team having 23 pounds for five fish. The bluegill action continues to be nothing short of fantastic. Even the bass fishermen report catching bluegills on plastic worms. Of course, a nightcrawler or red worm rigged under a bobber has been deadly. Just about every location around the lake is kicking out good numbers of bluegill. The good news is that there loads of bait Several years ago fishermen discovered jumbo minnows would readily catch very large bass during the winter months. Actually, the minnow fishing improves as the water gets colder. In fact, many of the local fishing guides use jumbo minnows during the winter months.
The minnow can be rigged several ways. One is to run a size 2 hook through the lips of the minnow and then attach a small split shot about 10 inches up the line from the hook. The minnow is allowed to swim above the rocks or under the docks. The other technique is to use a slip bobber and drift with the live minnow suspended about 4-6 feet beneath the bobber. A bobber stopper is attached to the line, which allows the fisherman to make an easy cast. The stopper controls the depth of the minnow. Commercial bobber stoppers are available at the local tackle shops.
The Lake County Chamber of Commerce annual team bass tournament is scheduled for March 16-17 and this year American Bass Association (ABA) will be running the tournament for the chamber. It is one of the most popular bass tournaments to be held on the lake and it features a 100 percent payback of all the entry fees. The entry forms are available at the Chamber office in Lakeport
Catfish action is improving with most of the catfish being caught being of the white catfish species. These are considered to be the best eating of all the species of catfish.
The main problem is not a lack of fish but a lack of fishermen. On any given day there will be only a few boats out on the lake. For some unknown reason the fishermen just aren’t coming to Clear Lake this winter. The main reason could be the high price of gasoline.
Winter is the ideal time to take a hike up Mount Konocti. The view from the mountain is awesome. Take some food and water and plan on spending the day.
