Clear Lake has been wall-to-wall with fishermen all week. There was a tournament over the weekend and Major League Fishing has a tournament this week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Local angler, John Pearl took the lead after day 1 with 29.1 pounds. Newjen has a tournament scheduled for Saturday with the weigh-in slated for Library Park in Lakeport.
The hot bait has been a swimbait in the 6-inch size. Plastic worms rigged along a split-shot have also been effective. LV500s crankbaits fished yo-yo style have also been effective. Live jumbo minnows have also been effective. The trick to success is to keep on the move until you locate fish. This is where the new electronics come into play. They can spot a bass suspended at a depth of 15 feet. The other major factor in success are the new trolling motors that are electronically controlled.
The bass should start moving into the shallows and staging for spawning. This year there should be some huge bass on the beds. Some of the better areas have been the rockpiles in the south end of the lake and off Clearlakes Oaks. Actually, bass are being caught all the way out to the middle of the lake.
Many of the fishermen are waiting for the crappie to start biting. Typically, the crappie become active in March and April and areas such as Kono Tayee, Shag Rock and Henderson Point are the hot spots. The waters around Rattlesnake Island are also good crappie waters. The current limit is 25 fish per day but most of the fishermen would like to see the limit dropped to 10 a day but the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) won’t do it. There have been cases where anglers on Clear Lake have been cited by game wardens for having more than 200 crappie in possession.
A few fishermen have been catching decent numbers of trout in Upper Blue Lake. One angler reported catching a five fish limit within an hour. He said the only problem was that they were small, The lake hasn’t been stocked a month but that should change in the coming weeks. Typically the DFW starts to stock the lake on a regular schedule starting during the spring months. The lake is in excellent condition and the storms have only had a minor impact on it.
Spring is the ideal time to take a hike up to the summit of Mount Konocti. The view from the summit is unbelievable. Be sure and tell someone when you are going.
