Recreation
I stopped by Clearlake Outdoors on Thursday and found Dave Brabec had been busy making doubled-bladed buzzbaits.
Troy Bellah was telling me about some nonstop action between 7 p.m. and darkness when the magic on topwater happens.
He happened to be at the right place at the right time a couple weeks ago and the bass were coming completely out of the water hitting Dave's buzzbaits.
Buzzbaits are a weighted topwater lure. The angle and shear surface area of the lure keep it paddling on the surface, mimicking a variety of animals that deserve to be eaten for making so much noise and attracting attention to it. I had him make me two of his favorite colors.
He also showed me a special trailer hook rig up when the bass “hit short” as they often do, missing it by a half inch.
It’s a treble hook with one barb cut off, then shrink wrap heated over a flame, covering the eye of the hook. You hook the first hook through the shrink wrapped eye and it stays put. It will greatly increase your hook-up ratio.
Ted Elliott, E Ticket Tackle, Lakeport; telephone, 707-262-1233
The Lakeport Yacht Club’s second annual catfish derby was held this weekend. The derby is a fundraiser for the yacht club and the awards ceremony took place on Sunday at 1 p.m.
There were 47 entrants in the derby’s adult division. Top prize was $750. This was an increase from last year and the derby will grow through the years.
Weights were smaller than anticipated, maybe attributed to a cooler front moving into the area. The big fish was reportedly 16.56 pounds and another at around 14 pounds took fifth place.
While water quality wasn't stellar, it has improved greatly according to a report at www.catfished.com . The fishermen enjoyed free lunch and drinks as well as a raffle.
This last week has seen several catfish being caught and weighing in the 10- to 15-pound range. Fishing for catfish has been productive both from shore and from the water.
Some of the best spots for shore fishing have been Lakeside County Park, Clear Lake State Park, the docks at Indian Beach Resort in Glenhaven and the pier at Alpine park in Lucerne across from the post office. The best baits continue to be live crawdads and night crawlers.
Now on to the bass bite. The successful fisherman have been moving around and covering a lot of the lake. The baitfish have been showing up in large numbers so watch for birds feeding on the surface of the water. This will give you an indication of where the bait fish are.
The bass are following the baitfish right now, with that said one day the baitfish might be in an area and the next there won't be any.
The baits that are producing the best according to visitors to our shop have been live crawdads and night crawlers followed by lipless crank baits like Lucky Craft LV500 fished yo-yo style, chatterbaits, jigs, frogs and swimbaits fished deep down around Shag rock and Henderson.
With the weeds and algae continuing to break up the water is starting to really open up. Along the Lakeport area the weed mats of a couple of weeks ago now are breaking apart and revealing open water.
There are still some large bluegill being caught at various locations around the lake. As for the crappie, the docks at Indian Beach Resort have produced a few but no other locations around the lake have shown any action according to the crappie fishermen that visit the shop.
Troy Bellah and Dave Brabec, Clearlake Outdoors, Lakeport; telephone 707-262-5852
Things are changing for the better here on Clear Lake regarding the bass fishing. The offshore aquatic weeds are finally showing signs of beginning to die off a bit, which in turn concentrates the fish more towards the tules and weeds adjacent to the shoreline.
We also are happy to see the arrival of the silverside minnows in most areas around the lake, which has pumped up the reaction bite quite a bit. The juvenile bass and sunfish are up shallow chasing and feeding on the silversides, and the big bass are up feeding on them.
The best action still seems to be very early and very late in the day. Some of the top producing lures right now are shad colored chatterbaits, lipless crankbaits, shallow running crankbaits, swimbaits and big wake baits.
The frog bite has shown signs of improvement and the buzzbait bite is still going strong. Punching mats and targeting the shade of docks is your best bet for catching them mid day.
The live jumbo minnow bite has started up for recreational fisherman using a sliding bobber next to the tules and docks. It is a great time to get out there and enjoy some early fall pattern fishing on Clear Lake.
The south end bite is better than it has been but the algae gets thick on the windblown banks. People fishing at night are reportedly doing well at the south end.
Greg Cornish lives in Nice, Calif. Email him at
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- Written by: Greg Cornish
Thirty-six cadets graduated on Friday, Aug. 17, from the California Game Warden Academy during ceremonies at the Performing Arts Center in Paradise.
“I remember what I felt like the day my badge was pinned,” said Nancy Foley, chief of the Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) Law Enforcement Division. “I see the same eagerness in the eyes of
today’s graduating class of cadets.”
Foley presided over the graduation on her last day as California’s top warden. She is retiring after a distinguished 25-year career at DFG.
Annually, wardens make contact with more than 295,000 people and issue more than 15,000 citations. They often work alone and in remote areas that do not allow for immediate backup.
In California, the average warden has a patrol district of more than 600 square miles.
In addition to law enforcement, wardens often recommend recreational activities and serve as educators to the public by speaking to schools, service groups and media.
The graduating class included 19 sponsored warden cadets who will begin field training immediately.
Another 17 self-sponsored cadets paid their way through the academy planning to become game wardens. DFG hopes to hire them.
All the cadets spent the last 31 weeks in intensive training at Butte College in Oroville, where the academy is located.
The following are the graduating cadets and their hometowns. Sponsored cadets are noted with an asterisk.
Corey Adler, Salinas, Calif.*
Brandon Alisio, Visalia, Calif.*
Michael Allen, Tiburon, Calif.
Leonard Arkinstall, Long Beach, Calif.*
Garrett Barker, Paradise, Pardise, Calif.
Ambartsum Bagdasaryn, Northridge, Calif.*
Nathan Daniel, Seaside, Calif.
Chrisopher Doty, Fresno, Calif.*
April Esconde, Covina, Calif.*
Christopher Foster, Rocklin, Calif.
Kyle Glau, Auburn, Calif.
Todd Kinnard, Hesperia, Calif.*
Brendan Lynch, Sonoma, Calif.*
Brad Mello, Walnut Grove, Calif.*
Leah Miller, Woodland, Calif.*
Dustin Moe, Loma Rica, Calif.
Nicholas Molsberry, San Diego, Calif.
Justin Monroe, Fairfield, Calif.*
Jefferey Moran, Waterford, Calif.*
Tara Morrison, Arnold, Calif.
Preston Murphy, Fort Bragg, Calif.
Brian Peters, Taft, Calif.*
Matthew Plaza, Patterson, Calif.
Matthew Prado, Woodland, Calif.*
Brandon Rose, Graeagle, Calif.
Brian San Agustin, Stockton, Calif.*
Perry Schultz, Sacramento, Calif.*
Keith Smith, Elk Grove, Calif.
Ryan Stephenson, Fall River Mills, Calif.
Ryan Sutherland, Crescent City, Calif.
Angel Tapia, Woodland, Calif.*
Casey Thomas, Morro Bay, Calif.
Jeff Travers, Chico, Calif.
Mark White, Fairfield, Calif.*
Joshua Williams, Elk Grove, Calif.
Doug Willson, Sebastopol, Calif.*
DFG teamed with Butte College in 2007 to provide peace officer training for prospective wardens. This partnership secured an academy facility and a California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST)-certified training program for warden cadets on the college’s Oroville campus.
Butte College has a 39-year history of police recruit training. The 928-acre campus, the largest in California, is also a designated wildlife refuge.
DFG is actively hiring warden cadets. Those interested in a career as a game warden may review the job requirements and minimum qualifications at www.dfg.ca.gov/enforcement/career/index.aspx .
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