In This Issue:
Current Fishing on Clear Lake
Table of Conditions
Activity This Month
Response to a Question From a Reader
Good Stuff on the Internet
Closing
Volume 5, Issue 2
February, 2011
Bass Fishing

Current Fishing on Clear Lake

There were 4 official team tournament on the lake during January to date. The fields drew 12, 7, 25, and 14 teams...total. That speaks a bit to the fishing! That makes a total of 58 teams on the water over 4 separate days and they brought 7 limits of fish to the scales. One tournament failed to produce a limit and the last one saw 4 limits brought to the scales. Having said that, the average winning weight of the 3 tournaments that had at least one limit weighed was 24 pounds. Kinda matches what we have been saying, when and if you can catch a fish, the size is good. Even the live bait bite, a normal winter staple, is slow right now.

The recent improvement in the weather has warmed the surface temps which is a positive. The water overall is clearing around the lake too which is a positive as well.

Bass on the lake are definitely bunched up. There are large areas that are totally void of bass and other areas are holding concentrations though they are difficult to trigger a bite.

Assuming the weather does not significantly deteriorate search baits should be the choice. Rattle baits, rip baits, crank baits, and even medium sized swim baits (bottom draggers) are the best bet. Concentrate on areas of rock.

Bass Fishing

Table of Conditions

Lake Level Water Temperature Water Clarity

5.6 Rumsey

46 to 51
2 to 10 feet
Steady
Steady
Clearing


bass fishing clear lake, California

Activity This Month

The 6th, 12th, 19th, and 20th have scheduled team events that should run from 12 to 30 teams.  Of course, there will be numerous other smaller events taking place that are predominantly smaller, club size events that will not show up on the schedule.

A reminder about what looks to be a fun, new open team tournament event that is scheduled for the 16th and 17th of April.  It is scheduled as a new annual event that is being run by Konocti Vista Casino and has an “all in” of just $160.  It is limited to 100 teams so check it out.  Sign ups will begin Saturday, January 22.  The annual Holder Ford Open team tournament that opens on March 12 is now accepting sign ups.  All in on that tournament is $200.  Both of these are fun events, great for anglers new to tournaments and grizzled old veterans.

As always, if you are planning a trip to Clear Lake and don’t know if your dates are going to be shared with a competitive event, drop me a line and I will let you know what I see listed on the calendar maintained by DFG.  Just another service we offer.

bass fishing clear lake, California

Response to a Question from a Reader

Reader Len asked me to share my thoughts on the impact of tournament fishing on Clear Lake’s bass population, here goes.

I have had numerous conversations with fish and game, participated in electroshocking studies here on the lake, and watched tournament results over the years.  Combined with my observations from actual experience there are several issues related to tournament fishing here that impact our fishery, no one really knows how much.

Briefly, the pure impact of tournament fishing that could be measurable if someone took the time to do the work is mortality due to hooking/fighting/landing and delayed mortality after the weigh in.  That is all that is really measurable.  What is factual but can only be estimated is the moving of largemouth from one part of the lake to a central release site where they do not leave.  Another factor that is not measurable is how fish respond to pressure meaning learned behavior of not biting that lure again when released.  It is highly debatable among biologists in general regarding the impact of fishing during the spawn.  From a layperson's perspective, if fishing during the spawn had a significant negative impact, largemouth would have been gone from Clear Lake by the late 80's.

What cannot be fixed and has the largest impact on our fish here (all species) is the up and down nature of the threadfin shad.  When the conditions are positive for their growth and expansion every species in the lake benefits and we see bumper crops of catfish, crappie, and bass.  Fortunately we have a good population of crawdads, hitch, perch, and carp for bass food to carry over a certain population of our bass. The silverside minnow also really helps the smaller bass and crappie make it over the hump during hard times but they are not a very good year round food source for above average size fish.  I know many visitors to the lake see the massive schools of silversides during the fall and think that the fish have plenty to eat, if they were here in December through April they would wonder were they all went.

I would like to see the elimination of tournaments here during the hot water time when tournaments are limited to 6 hours (the summer).  My suspicion is that the delayed mortality from these events may run as high as 40 to 50 %.  No one knows because no one has studied it.

Live wells of modern bass boats have improved measurably from 40 years ago.  Lakes such as Clear Lake, the Delta, Falcon to name a few, create situations where anglers regularly haul 25 pound plus limits of bass for extended periods of time.  These live wells handle the typical tournament limit around the country that rarely tops 15 pounds quite well but now we are talking about 10 to 15 pounds more fish in the same space.  Those fish are bounced around in an extremely tight space during some rough water conditions.  The physics alone mean that there is less water in the live well space to hold larger fish that require more oxygen.  The whole day is topped off by being carried in bags that are too small, have too little water, and usually are leaking.  If you stand and watch a weigh in, there are anglers who show way too little care for the fish they are carrying.  Everyone has a bad day, everyone is tired but it is usually the same guys if you watch on a regular basis.  There are a handful of anglers I watch who do an outstanding job of fish care, in my opinion, that should be a much bigger group.

There are other issues that impact the fishery but the question was specifically about the impact of tournament fishing.  Yes, in my opinion tournament fishing has an impact on the fishery.  So do the pelicans, poachers, otters, meat anglers, water quality, and food source availability.  I really don’t think that the negative impact of competition itself has a measurable impact.

Most of you know that I have a tournament background.  I am not perfect either.  I have lost a few fish over the years, it is going to happen.  What I have done is bought heavy duty carry bags for weigh ins to eliminate leaks and to hold more water.  During a tournament (for that matter every day) we make every effort to make sure the fish does not touch the carpet which damages the slime coat.  We run the aerators on manual, constantly on when we have 5 in the box.  We also use a live well additive because we believe it makes a difference.  We usually do not put a clip in the jaw of a fish that is 4 pounds or better that goes in the well.  During guide trips I no longer keep fish in the live well.  We land it, weigh it, take a picture, and let it go as soon as possible.  One thing that we all have to remember is that the fishery developed to a world class fishery because some local competitive anglers (tournament fishermen) spearheaded (and funded) the drive to introduce Florida strain largemouth bass to the lake and they collided with an above average population of threadfin shad, a perfect storm.  Without that introduction the lake record would still be in the 6 to 7 pound range.

Sorry for the long response but I couldn’t make it any shorter and in person...we would still be talking....

bass fishing clear lake, California

Good Stuff on the Internet

If you just can’t get enough of this stuff check out these web sites that offer some great general information...

            http://texasfishingforum.com
            http://tacticalbassin.com
            http://www.swimbaitunderground.com

bass fishing clear lake, California

Closing

Thank you for your continued interest and support of Clear Lake Guide Service!  Our business continues to grow with the help of you and your spreading the word and my wife Deb and I both thank you.  Good fishing and keep a tight line.

bass fishing clear lake, California

Miss an Issue of the Clear Lake Report?

We have archived all of our past Clear Lake Report Issues on our Clear Lake Fishing Guide Service website! Go to our Clear Lake Fishing Report Index!

Bass Fishing There is a lot of useful information available on the Clear Lake Website. Even insights into the best times to fish the lake and other fishing tips. Local lodging, weather, and even lake level reporting is available through the links we have set up.

Good fishing, and I look forward to seeing you soon!

bass fishing clear lake, California
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