Dress warmly if you’re going fishing

Large catfish showing up around lake for the few out chasing them

Bass fishing on Clear Lake has slowed to a crawl, both in number of fishermen on the lake and the numbers of fish being caught. Most bass fishermen say they have been happy to catch five fish for a day on the lake. The weather has been unsettled and the bass have moved into their typical winter pattern.

The water temperature has been as cold as 44 degrees early in the morning and only rising to 55 degrees by late afternoon. Make no mistake, winter bass fishing is not for the feint-hearted. You have to dress warm, which means wearing a stocking hat plus a heavy coat and gloves. Many of the fishermen are waiting until noon to launch their boats. They not only beat the cold weather that way, but it also limits the time they have to spend fishing. Twenty years ago there was a group of dedicated anglers who fished Clear Lake at night during the winter months. They did this because they caught bigger bass at night. That has all changed and now very few anglers go out after dark.

The other problem is the low lake level. Most of the tules are out of the water and they are sitting on a solid mud flat. The bass have been holding in the deeper water offshore.

The Fifth Street ramp in Lakeport is still the primary usable ramp on the lake. Even here care must be used when launching to prevent your trailer from falling off the end of the ramp

Bass tournaments

There are no major bass tournaments scheduled on Clear Lake until February and the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) has issued a total of 37 Event permits for 2022. That is a major increase from last year.

The Lake County Chamber of Commerce annual bass tournament is scheduled for March 13. Entry forms should be available within a couple of weeks.

Other fish

The good news on the fishing scene is the catfish action. The few anglers going out after them have been catching a lot of catfish, some weighing in the 20-pound class. Last week an angler told me he has been using frozen chunks of salmon he bought at a local supermarket and has been catching and releasing up to 15 large catfish a day.

The crappie are still pretty much a no-show. That should change in the coming weeks. Crappie are known as a winter fish. In fact, they are the primary fish for ice fishermen in northern states such as Minnesota.

Trout fishermen have been doing fair at Upper Blue Lake. The more successful fishermen have been trolling off Pine Acres Resort. The lake will be stocked with trout this week. A few bass are being caught by fishermen using a drop-shot rig with plastic worms. The overall fishing pressure has been very light.

Hunting

On the hunting scene, the waterfowl hunting on the refuges in the Sacramento Valley is still slow. One reason is that

the drought has resulted in less feed on the refuges, which has resulted in fewer birds.

Pheasant season closes on Dec. 26 and to date the hunting has been very slow with very few hunters bagging a limit.

The fall wild turkey season closes Sunday and this has been a good year for the turkey hunters. Limits have been common for just about all the hunters and most of them report seeing a lot of turkeys.

Hiking

This is a good week to take the youngsters for an outing at Clear Lake State Park. The park is teeming with wildlife and there are all types of wild birds, deer and other wild critters to see.