Bass, crappie fishing off the charts

Numbers, size of bass a good sign going into the spring spawn

The bass and crappie fishing on Clear Lake has been nothing short fantastic. In fact, the bass fishermen have been complaining about catching only 15-20 fish per day. There also have been a lot of 5-pounders caught. Of course, that could all change this weekend as a weather front moves into the area with a possibility of rain. However, even with a change in the weather the fishing should remain good.

The excellent fishing has drawn hundreds of recreational fishermen to Clear Lake. Even on the weekends when there are no tournaments, the boat ramps around the lake are packed with trailers. Some of the better areas have been Rocky Point in the north end of the lake, the NiceLucerne shoreline, Clearlake Oaks, the rockpiles near Rattlesnake Island, Henderson Point, the State Park, the Lakeside County Park area, and Long Tule Point. In fact, bass are being caught all around the lake.

The warm weather should make the bass go into their spawning cycle. On Clear Lake, the start of the spawn is early April and it reaches its peak by late May. If the past two weeks are any indication, there will be thousands of bass spawning this year.

Tournaments

American Bass (ABA) is holding a team tournament Saturday. It will operate out of the Skylark Shores Resort in Lakeport and the weigh-in starts at 3 p.m. WON BASS is holding its Open on Clear Lake on April 14-16. That tournament also goes out of the Skylark Shores Resort and is expected to draw 250 boats.

There was a time when the Skylark Shores Resort was the primary location on Clear Lake for bass tournaments and dozens of them were held there each year. It appears the resort is getting back into the tournament business.

Crappie fishing

It’s not just the excellent bass fishing that is drawing hundreds of fishermen to Clear Lake in recent weeks. The crappie fishing has been off the charts. Some fishermen are catching and releasing 100 crappie a day. Hundreds of crappie can be seen in the shallows spawning all around the lake. Various types of crappie jigs have been effective.

Catfish derby

Catfish are also being caught in good numbers, which bodes well for the upcoming Clearlake Oaks/Glenhaven Crappie Derby scheduled for May 14-16. The derby should draw at least 500 fishermen. Call (707) 596-0248 for more information.

Other waters

Upper Blue Lake is still kicking out some good-sized trout. Both boaters and bank fishermen have been catching fish. The lake was scheduled to be stocked this week. The streams open for trout fishing April 30.

Turkey season

Turkey hunters are having good success around the county. Hunters who worked the Cache

Creek Wildlife Area during the season opener reported not only a lot of hunters, but also a good number of birds and a high success rate.

Low lake level

A number of fishermen and boaters are concerned about the drought. The Clear Lake level as of Thursday was only 1.19 feet on the Rumsey Gauge, which is well below normal. If we don’t receive any more rain some of the boat ramps on Clear Lake could be unusable in the near future. This could force some of the bass tournaments to relocate to other lakes.