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Written by: Lake County News Reports

Published: 24 December 2009

Created: 24 December 2009

Last Updated: 24 December 2009

Winter has brought a chill to the air, some rain, some wind, and ... a new CATFISH RECORD for Clear Lake. More on this in just a moment.

Overall, the fishing is typical of this time of year. The bass bite continues to be better on live bait than on artificials. The crappie thing is about to get a whole lot more interesting – stay tuned! And well, catfish are slow but clearly some are still willing. Here's your Christmas holiday fishing report.

 

Bass anglers, surprisingly, are finding feeding fish in 5 to 13 feet of water. The deep water (18 to 25 feet) bite doesn't kick in until the mid-day sun has taken the chill out of the air. The key to wintertime success is slow, slow, slow. The deep water bite is very subtle and requires anglers to pay close attention to line movement. The shallow water bite is much more lively but with smaller bass overall. Any way you slice it, when the weather permits winter time angling is a fun and peaceful.

 

Crappie: I have had some interesting things mentioned to me about what boaters are seeing at the now defunct Konocti Harbor resort. I have had no confirmed reports of fish being caught there. You can no longer fish from the docks there. But, a bass fishing boater friend told me this week that he saw an abundance of crappie there with nobody around to fish for 'em. Any of you die-hard crappie anglers care to give it a try and report in on your success?

We've had cold ... and we've had rain ... both are what it usually takes to bring the slab bite on nice and strong. I'm hoping some of you will be the 2010 pioneers who find 'em and report! I'll up the stakes! I'm offering a FREE Shimano Convergence or Clarus fishing rod to the first customer to bring in a limit of Clear Lake Crappie to be photographed in January. That's right. Find the fish – win a rod!

 

And now ... catfish. The longstanding Clear Lake channel cat record of 33.25 pounds was broken this past week by Clampers Fred Miranda and Greg Spelhaug with a 33.33 pound giant whiskerfish. The fish was caught using a home brew of mackerel, shad and special sauce on 25 pound line. The Indian Island area of the Redbud Arm of Clear Lake is responsible for producing the fish.

Miranda and Spelhaug brought the beast to Lakeshore Bait & Tackle for preliminary weight and pictures. LSBT staffer Jerry Sloneker took a couple photos in front of the store and put the fish on our scale. When our portable scale hinted at a possible lake record, the two attempted to have the fish weighed with a local grocer but were turned away.

Frustrated but resourceful, the two found that the wonderful staff at Redbud Hospital were willing to weigh the fish. The fish was weighed three times with all three resulting in the 33.33 pound reading.

It's official! Clear Lake has a new catfish record! And if that news wasn't enough, I'm proud to share that these two local guys released the fish back into Clear Lake. The legend lives!

 

To add some commentary to this – Jerry and I both agree. This was simply the healthiest BIG fish we've seen come out of Clear Lake. The lake conditions earlier this year frustrated us immensely. Apparently they were nothing but great for our fish population.

And lastly kudos and a heartfelt thanks from all of us here at Lakeshore Bait & Tackle to Redbud Hospital for stepping up and truly being a part of our community.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Bob Rider is owner of Lakeshore Bait & Tackle, 14913 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake, telephone 707-994-FISH (3474). Visit the store online at www.994Fish.com .

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Written by: Lake County News Reports

Published: 20 December 2009

Created: 20 December 2009

Last Updated: 20 December 2009

 

 

CLEAR LAKE STATE PARK – With the recent rains, changes are taking place rapidly in the landscape of Clear Lake State.

Take the opportunity to check it out by joining park docent Walt Lyon on Saturday, Jan. 2, for a walk on the park’s Indian Nature Trail.

Meet Lyon at the front entrance parking lot at 8:30 a.m. to start the ascent of this intriguing hillside trail. Wear sturdy walking shoes for safety on this trail.

Lyon will describe how American Indians used the natural resources along this trail to enrich and sustain their lives. Many plants were prepared for medicinal uses and others for food. Many plants had multiple uses.

The Indian Nature Trail was built in 1959 for a mere $1,000 to give park visitors a great walking experience, as well as showing the importance of the natural resources in the park.

Take time out of your busy schedule to enjoy this trail for all seasons.

Rain cancels the walk. There is no entrance fee to the park for participating in walks.

Clear Lake State Park is located at 5300 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville.

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Written by: Boat Owners Association of The U.S.

Published: 11 December 2009

Created: 10 December 2009

Last Updated: 10 December 2009

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Airplane transponders allow air traffic controllers to “see” who is in the sky.

On Wednesday, in speaking before the U.S. House of Representatives Coast Guard Subcommittee, BoatU.S. testified that any potential requirement for this type of technology on boats is not practical, nor would it reduce the threat of a waterborne attack.

“Contrary to what Hollywood has portrayed, the average boat in this country is 16-feet. Requiring some type of transponder on recreational boats — many of whom don’t even have a battery to power it — would only be window dressing for a potential homeland security problem that will not be reduced, despite the outlay of billions of dollars,” said BoatU.S. Vice President of Government Affairs Margaret Podlich.

Marine Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) have long been used as a collision avoidance tool for commercial ships and provides important vessel identification, position, speed and course information to fellow mariners as well as land-based vessel traffic control systems.

Since 9/11, the Coast Guard has been tasked by the Dept. of Homeland Security to develop a small-boat threat assessment and strategy to reduce the possibility of small watercraft being used by terrorists.

“The challenge with AIS is that it does not provide the ability to reduce the small boat threat,” said Podlich. “For starters, the AIS unit on a small boat can simply be turned off. And more importantly, how could the U.S. Coast Guard monitor the millions of new vessel traffic movements? The monitoring would be overwhelming, on-the-water force response inadequate, and it would be costly to taxpayers to build and operate the system.”

She also mentioned boaters would be forced to pick up the tab for the AIS units, which currently starts at about $600.

“Even if a would-be terrorist would go to the trouble of complying with an AIS requirement, they would merely have to pull the AIS unit’s electrical plug moments before the attack,” Podlich testified.

She said a terrorist could simply steal a boat. “AIS does not recognize if people aboard a vessel are on a watch list.”

In addition, AIS can be easily “spoofed,” or manipulated to make every AIS transponder in a certain area report inaccurate data.

BoatU.S. believes the U.S. Coast Guard would have better results addressing the small boat threat if the agency’s own America's Waterway Watch program (AWW) had better funding and infrastructure support. Similar to a neighborhood watch program, America’s Waterway Watch treats boaters as part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

“Several government reports have concluded that working with recreational and commercial vessel operators is a key to increasing our domestic maritime security. Boaters need to know they have the ability to report to the US Coast Guard when they see something looks suspicious on the water by calling 1-877-24WATCH. We hope Congress will bolster this program since it’s so critical in reducing the small boat threat,” added Podlich.

Additional funding for AWW was written into the Coast Guard Authorization Act (HR 3619) which passed out of the House last month and is now awaiting action by the Senate.

To review Podlich’s testimony, go to www.BoatUS.com/gov . To learn more about America’s Waterway Watch program, go to www.AmericasWaterwayWatch.com .

BoatU.S. – Boat Owners Association of The United States – is the nation’s leading advocate for recreational boaters providing over half a million members with government representation, programs and money saving services.

For membership information visit www.BoatUS.com or call 800-395-2628.