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Recreation
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Now the little ones are back to grade school, your big kids are doing the high school social thing, and your college kids have returned to their campuses. Hopefully, with all the busyness behind us, we can get down to getting back on the water. (And you thought summers were for having fun. Hah!)
And for all of us, kids or no kids, we look forward to a fall season with fewer boats on the water and improved fishing conditions. While we’ve still got some warm weather yet to go – today’s forecast to be just above 100 again – cooler weather should be right around the corner. And with it, we’ll see the weeds die back and the fish eating well before winter sets in.
September always sees a boost in the number of fish caught over the months of July and August. We’ve seen proof of that already with reports from our local regulars who keep us up to date on what they’re doing each week (and in some cases daily).
Actually, I’d like to take just a moment of your time to recognize a few folks for their contributions. Paul Turmaine, Clint Abbott, Jerry Sloneker, Vern Westberg, Fishing Guide Dave Gilbert, Fishing Guide Bob Thein, Gary Moore, Don Wiese and Bob Koch are all regular contributors of sound and honest fishing information. There are many more that we hear from, but these guys all get kudos for sharing what they love on an ongoing basis. Thanks, fellas!
OK, on with the bite reports …
Bass anglers continue to see the best action before 9 a.m. The bite has opened up some with up to twice as many fish caught when compared to the same period from a week ago. The tough mid-day bite continues also. Most are working jigs, drop shot rigs or Carolina rigs (Baby Brush Hogs, Ol’ Monsters, and Big Dead Ringers) in deep water to keep the bite going. You’ll work hard at it this way, there are bass to be had. The water temp is running in the mid-70s.
A few diehard crappie anglers have been working late hours to find only a few fish a some deep water spots. There’s not much to report on this front … What we’re seeing is a very typical summer crappie bite. If we take a cue from the last few years, we shouldn’t really see much action until November. I’ll keep you posted.
On the catfish front, folks are still having a good time chasing cats all around the lake. My shore anglers staying at resorts and campgrounds around the lake are reporting decent catches. Boaters are also. All of the usual suspects (mackerel, anchovies, night crawlers, shrimp, etc.) have made an appearance this week for popular baits. We’ve had a pretty darn good year for catfish and there’s no sign of it letting up any time soon. So get out there with your favorite drifting or shore fishin’ rig and let ‘em take some line!
Bob Rider owns Lakeshore Bait & Tackle in Clearlake. Visit his Web site at www.994fish.com or call him at 994-FISH (3474).
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Bassers are finding top water action first thing in the morning to be pretty good. Mid-day action is downright slow. Most folks are switching to minnows or finesse rigs and moving to deeper water to find fish during the hottest hours of the day.
We have heard a couple of things with consistency lately:
Avoid areas with heavy baitfish populations during the day – you won’t get bit.
Avoid areas where weeds are in decay – the oxygen level drops substantially in these areas and the bass find it uncomfortable so the move out and away.
You’ll find areas marked with red buoys – these are marking locations where they’ve found hydrilla. Stay away from these marked areas for a couple of reasons. Reason No. 1 – your prop chops hydrilla and it’ll spread. That’s bad news. Reason No. 2 – the hydrilla project folks have been poisoning the hydrilla. The fish don’t like it and they leave. Keep these issues in mind as you’re moving around our phenomenal lake and you’ll do better than most.
Crappie anglers are still plugging away. They’re not finding much action, but the hopes of finding a few nice slabs keep ‘em trying. We’ve heard of a few nice fish being caught in deep water areas during the hours of darkness.
The biggest development on the lake this week is the return of the bluegill to the local docks. Our local bluegill fishermen have been having a ball with mini-crawlers, red worms, and night crawlers all day long.
Catfish action has continued to be pretty good. Shore anglers and boaters are enjoying a steady bite on a variety of common baits – the marshmallow/shrimp combination, mackerel, anchovies, livers, clams, etc. Jago Bay, Rattlesnake Island, Cache Creek and Henderson Point have all seen action this last week.
Enjoy your Labor Day weekend. Play safe and have fun. Drop on by the shop when you have a chance and let me know you read our report.
Bob Rider owns Lakeshore Bait & Tackle in Clearlake. Visit his Web site at www.994fish.com or call him at 994-FISH (3474).
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- Written by: Editor
CLEAR LAKE STATE PARK – Geologic changes are taking place in Lake County every day, but nothing as dramatic as 200 million years ago when Pangaea broke apart to form our continents.
To check out some of these dramatic happenings, join docent D. A. Butts in the Clear Lake State Park Visitor Center Auditorium at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 30, for a bit of history of our land.
Butts will share some intriguing facts about our matchless world right down to our small plot of ground. His enthusiasm about his subject will certainly add to your appreciation of the unique landscape of Lake County.
There is no entrance fee for visitor center programs.
Learn about the natural history of Lake County by touring the museum and inspect unique items in the gift shop.
The last summer Junior Ranger program for children 7 to 12 will be 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday at the Visitor Center. For information please call 279-2267.
Clear State Park Interpretive Association (CLSPIA), sponsor of all summer visitor center programs, will keep the visitor center open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, through September and through Saturday, Oct. 4.
The pinnacle of the season will be on Oct. 4 with A Wild Affair in Your Park. This will be a wine tasting event with hors d’oeuvres, speakers and music from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets are $35. This is a CLSPIA fundraiser to complete the funding for the Education Pavilion to be built across from the visitor center. We all fought to keep our Clear Lake State Park open for the public use and now we ask your support in completing the final phase of the Education Pavilion. Please reserve now by phoning 279-4395.
Clear Lake State Park is located at 5300 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
While we’ve had some pretty warm days this week (90s), the nights are cool with cloud cover. Overnight Wednesday night we saw the onset of a pretty stiff wind – you know the kind that blows your bedroom door shut with a SLAM just after you’ve finally fallen asleep. That kind of gusty wind.
The weather guess for the weekend has it warm and a bit more calm. The bass bite is unchanged from the last couple of weeks. Most would call it tough. The catfish are still biting readily. And, we’re seeing the occasional crappie or bluegill. Here’s what we know …
Like I mentioned above, the bass bite is generally regarded as tough right now. Explosive weed growth coupled with an abundant baitfish population seem to have had a synergistic effect on the bass’ lack of willingness to take artificial lures. Some savvy folks are on the water well before daybreak and are catching bass until the sun comes up over the horizon. Generally, the bite drops off sharply around the 8 am. to 8:30 a.m. mark. Moving deep, downsizing your offering, and moving slooooowly can help your cause.
There is good news, however, on the minnow front. We received a load of Extra-Large Minnows for the first time in weeks. For most of this season we’ve only been able to get the smallish “large” minnows. The XL’s should help us get bit down deeper for improved mid-day action.
The crappie and bluegill are still widely scattered. Daytime action has been virtually nonexistent. However, we’ve heard tell of a decent night bite along one popular area near Clearlake Park. (Four Poles, perhaps.) The party that fished this area was keeping their cards pretty close to their chest so there isn’t a whole lot of detail to share. One could surmise that the crappie bite is following the bass bite and is at its best late at night or very early in the morning. Live medium minnows would be your best bet for finding hungry slabs. If you get into a tear of ‘em, please let us get some pictures!
And for catfish – definitely a better bite during the nighttime hours. And definitely a better bite from boat that from shore. I mentioned last week that most of the good shoreline areas are choked with weeds – that hasn’t changed. I have heard that the Jago Bay area (a couple of spots over there, actually), the pipeline/Leubow Point area, Indian Island, Windflower Point and Rattlesnake Island have all been productive. Best baits include the ever popular mackerel, the shrimp and marshmallow combination, or good ol’ fashion night crawlers.
With catfish on our mind, this is a great time to mention Saturday’s CatFest being held here at Lakeshore Bait and Tackle. The barbecue starts at 4 p.m., we’ll play games and whatnot until about 6 p.m., clean up and head for the launch ramp. You’ll donate $10 to eat, play, and fish with a portion of the funds going into a “Big Fish” pool.
The angler with the biggest fish when we return at 11 p.m. wins the pot. We’ve got brand new CatFest shirts that’ll be on sale for $10/each, too. Bring your buddy, bring your boat, and come out to enjoy some good clean fun. Drop by and reserve your spot now so we have a good head count for the food.
And last, but certainly not least, we’ve got a steady stream of new Shimano rods and reels coming in – everything from the new entry level Convergence rods to the new mid-priced Clarus, and a great selection of high-end Crucial and Cumara rods. Reels from the entry level AX series, to the mid-priced Sedona and Sahara models, to the stunning Saros and Stradics.
We have a HUGE supply coming of the completely redesigned Curado reels. These reels are going to knock your socks off. If you’ve been a Curado fan in the past, but didn’t fall in love with what they did on their last release, they’ve listened and revamped again into a smaller, lighter, faster reel that’ll actually cost less and should best most anything on the market in the same price point. I’ve seen ‘em, they’re great! And, the new Curados should be arriving very soon. (As in just before our fall bite kicks into high gear and all the tournament trails go into their TOC’s.) I hope you’ll come by and see our expanded selection.
Bob Rider owns Lakeshore Bait & Tackle in Clearlake. Visit his Web site at www.994fish.com or call him at 994-FISH (3474).
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