Bass bite cools down, crappie, bluegill biting
Fishermen must be patient, cover a lot of ground
The bass action slowed quite a bit this week on Clear Lake. Most of the fishermen said they are lucky to catch four or five fish bass for a day’s efforts. However, a few report catching up to 10 fish a day. The anglers are blaming the cold weather for the slowdown in action. The water temperature has been rising to only about 50 degrees by mid-afternoon. The action isn’t likely to improve much during the weekend as rain is forecast to hit the area Saturday morning.
The bass have moved into their winter pattern, which means they have become very lethargic. Bass are classified as a cold-blooded creature, which means their body temperature stays in the same range as the environment around them. Unlike warm-blooded creatures that eat more when they are cold to elevate their body temperature, a bass metabolism simply slows down. Studies have shown that during the warm summer months a bass can take up to a day to digest a crawdad, but during the winter months it can take as long as a week. When the water temperature dips down to below 50 degrees, a bass only feeds once every five days, if not longer.
The trick to success during the winter months is to slow down the retrieve and just inch the lure along the bottom. Without question the best bait for bass during the winter is live jumbo minnows. There is a reason the just about all the local fishing guides use live minnows almost exclusively during the cold winter months and that is because it is the most reliable method of catching bass. A live minnow rigged on a hook resembles a minnow in distress to a bass and means an easy meal.
The minnow can be rigged several ways. The most popular method is to rig the minnow beneath a slip bobber. The minnow is cast out and the slip bobber allows the minnow to sink to the desired depth. This is especially important when fishing in deep water. Another method is to rig the minnow on a drop-shot setup. This allows the minnow to swim in a small circle. A third method is to attach a small spiltshot weight about 6 inches up the line from the minnow. The bass should be allowed to take the minnow deep into its mouth before the fisherman sets the hook.
Some of the better areas on Clear Lake for minnow fishing are Rocky Point, the NiceLucerne shoreline to Clearlake Oaks, Shag Rock, Rattlesnake Island, the deeper water near Redbud Park in Clearlake, Henderson Point and Soda Bay. One reason the minnows are so effective on
Clear Lake is because of the billions of bait fish such as threadfin shad, small bluegill and crappie.
Crappie/bluegill
Whereas the bass fishing has slowed considerably, that isn’t the case for the crappie and bluegill action. Large crappie and bluegill are being caught at several locations around the lake. In fact, some of the guides have switched from bass fishing to bluegill and crappie fishing for their clients. The small minnows have been very ef
fective on the large crappie. During the cold winter months, the crappie tend to go deeper and it often takes some searching to locate a school, but once you do the action can be nonstop.
The best bait for bluegill has been a nightcrawler rigged beneath a bobber. Crappie are a popular fish during the winter months because, unlike bass, crappie normally become more active when the water turns cold.
Trout
A few trout are being caught at Upper Blue Lake but overall the fishing has been slow. The lake is not on the current stocking list.