Fishermen flooding into low Clear Lake

Boaters should keep their speed down because of rock piles near surface

Clear Lake will be wall to wall with bass fishermen in the coming days. Not only will there be dozens of recreational fishermen out on the lake, but also fishermen prefishing for the upcoming Won Bass Clear Lake Open. That tournament is scheduled for April 1416 and is expected to draw close to 250 boats.

The tournament launches out of Library Park in Lakeport and the weigh-in takes place at the Skylark Shores Resort in Lakeport starting at 3 p.m. all three days. Some of the top professional fishermen in the West will be competing and some large weights should be brought in.

The fishermen should have little trouble weighing in a limit of fish. Bass are everywhere and most anglers are catching 1025 bass per day. The fish are ranging in size from 1-4 pounds with the occasional 7-pounder. Just about all types of lures have been effective with the exception of topwater lures.

Small swimbaits rigged with an underspin have been deadly. Drop-shotting a plastic worm also has been effective, as has a lipless crankbait such as a LV500. The trick to success is a slow retrieve. The deeper water in the south end of the lake has been producing most of the fish. Another good area has been just off the State Park and at Henderson Point. Shag Rock has been another good area. The successful fishermen are working the submerged rockpiles.

Crappie bite

The big news is still the outstanding crappie action. Large crappie are being caught everywhere, with Rocky Point in the north end of the lake one of the hot spots. Even the bank fishermen are starting to cash in on the crappie action. Earlier this week a pair of anglers caught crappie while fishing off the docks at Library Park. Lakeside County Park has been another good area.

Lake level

The lake level in the lowest it has been in years and many large rockpiles are just beneath the surface, which means boaters should use extreme care when traveling. Holding down your speed would help. During the past three weeks several bass boats have wiped out the lower units on their outboards by striking the submerged rocks.

Boat stickers

Fishermen are being warned they must have a current county quagga mussel sticker on their boat before launching. A number of boaters don’t understand that the state sticker doesn’t replace the county sticker. The county rule is that any boat with a state CF number must have the sticker. In other words, if the boat is powered by any kind of motor it has to have the sticker, and that includes kayaks. The sticker costs $20 a year for local residents and $20 per month for out-of-county boaters. All the local tackle shops as well as the ramp monitors sell the stickers.

New owners

Lakeport Bait and Tackle, located on Main Street in Lakeport, has new owners. Robbin Mason and Brenda Macchietto purchased the tackle shop last week. The shop is open seven days a week from early morning to late afternoon.

The shop carries all the latest in fishing tackle. The new owners welcome fishermen and all others to visit their shop.

Trout fishing

Trout are still being caught at Upper Blue Lake. The lake was stocked last week and should be good for the weekend.

Turkey season

The spring wild turkey season has been producing a good number of toms for local hunters. One pair of hunters reported they worked the Cache Creek area earlier this week and both scored on a nice pair of toms.