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Recreation
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Lake County has some of the clearest, darkest skies in the country – perfect for stargazing! In this monthly column, we’ll talk about some of the things you can see at night.
Let’s start by looking at a star chart for August. This is what the night sky will look like around Aug. 15 at 9 p.m.
Face south, and look directly overhead. You will see three very bright stars that form a triangle – this is called the “Summer Triangle.” Each star is in a different constellation.
The star furthest to the west is Vega – it is in the constellation of Lyra the Harp (see the star chart). To the east is the bright star Deneb in the constellation of Cygnus the Swan. To the south, the third star in the triangle is Altair in the constellation Aguila the Eagle. Also note low in the south west is the planet Jupiter – it’s brighter than anything else in the August night skies except for the moon.
August skies have some beautiful objects that can be seen with a small to medium telescope. These objects are called deep sky objects. One of these is The Swan Nebula – it’s a big cloud of dust and gas that looks a bit like a swan. Another is the Wild Duck Cluster – a group of stars that appear close together that resemble a flock of ducks in flight. And yet another is the Ring Nebula – it looks like a smoke ring in the sky! Pictures of these are shown below.
Around the middle of August there will be a meteor shower that sometimes puts on quite a show. It’s called the Perseids. The best time to see this shower is late night (10 p.m.– midnight) on Aug. 12 through dawn on the 13th. Get a comfortable lounge chair in a dark location and look to the northeast – you won’t be disappointed!
To learn more about Lake County Skies in August, and to observe these objects through a telescope, visit Taylor Observatory (www.taylorobservatory.org) on Saturday, Aug. 18, from 8 to 11 p.m.
John Zimmerman has been an amateur astronomer for 50 years. He is a member of the Taylor Observatory staff, where, among his many duties, he helps create planetarium shows.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Good fishing and weather have combined this week to leave most anglers tired and content when they’re done for the day. Last weekend’s CatFest, held here out of Lakeshore Bait & Tackle, was a lot of fun with 10 anglers enjoying a steady bite. Deer season is just around the corner. And man, I saw a whole mess of wild pigs along Highway 29 near Hidden Valley Lake the other night …
Bass fishing has remained good. One angler reported today, “It isn’t as good as it was three days ago. I only caught 18 fish for half a day fishing instead of 30.” High teens in a few hours? That qualifies as a pretty good bite in my book.
The bass bite has fluctuated a bit from hour to hour and day to day, but overall there are plenty of fish being caught. Jigs, deep cranks, Senkos and live minnows have all played a strong role this week. Look for water from 15 to 25 feet deep. Find yourself some structure down there and you’re in business for sure.
Crappie fishing is going strong. Find the spot over at Konocti Harbor Resort or catch the school when they’re in a Four Poles. We are hearing of more schooling behavior which means that the crappie are in for a while then they’re out. If you’re willing to chase ‘em around in a boat you’ll catch a boat load of 'em. Live minnows are the first choice. Jigs with a live wax worm or a Crappie Gem will also do the trick if fished deep. A few lucky anglers have had success catching slabs early in the morning or late at night down at Redbud Park, too.
Catfishing has turned on nicely for us here. We enjoyed a beautiful (albeit a bit windy) evening last Saturday with our CatFest event. Ten of us fished for about six hours. Nearly everyone in the group enjoyed a constant bite. We didn’t see any real size to the fish – a plump 7-pounder was the big fish for the night. Everyone, however, had a good time.
Our hands-down best bait was mackerel. The most productive spots were at Monitor Island, Pirates Cove and Austin Park. All of the fish caught were caught while on anchor as the wind was too swift to catch a good slow drift.
Our next event is slated for Saturday, Aug. 25. Plan ahead and come join the fun!
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
KELSEYVILLE – On Monday, July 23, the Konocti Junior Tennis League hosted the Konocti Junior Challenger tournament, a United States Tennis Association-sanctioned event at Gard Street tennis courts in Kelseyville.
A total of 16 players participated, and the one-day event featured boys and girls from age 10 to 16.
About half of the players were local participants, with many of them experiencing their first tournament.
Results were:
Boys 10: Scott Mitchell, Santa Rosa won 6-0, 6-1 over Brandon Fretz of Sacramento.
Boys 12: Bobby Fretz won 6-0, 6-0 over Daniel Lucas of Kelseyville.
Boys 14 round robin saw Zak Bohegian of Corte Madera first place, Robbie Jones of Kelseyville in second, Taylor Paulson take third and Garrett Dick of Idaho take fourth.
Boys 16 Moses Kuzu of Kelseyville took second to Jordan Srouj, of Granite Bay 6-4, 6-4.
Girls 14 : Taylor Peterson of American Canyon took first, Natalie Sylar of Kelseyville placed second, followed by third-place finisher Grace Nowak of Kelseyville and Darcy McCarrick of Kelseyville, fourth.
The Konocti Junior Tennis league summer tennis camp is still being held each Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Gard Street tennis courts.
For more information, call 279-9652.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
More odd weather this week – it’s been a bit cooler and we got a bit of rain. The fishing is good (some would say great) with bass, catfish and crappie all coming in abundance. We’ve got a CatFest event this weekend so stay tuned for some fun group catfishing.
Bass action has continued at a strong pace as anglers are finding a good top water bite in the early morning hours. The bite then turns to jigs (brown and purple or brown and orange are favorites), finesse presentations (drop shotting and split shotting), and just this week we’re hearing about a crank bait bite. Fish mid-range depths clean down to the bottom for best results.
Crappie fishermen have been loving this summer crappie bite. Folks are catching two pound slabs with minnows and mini-jigs. We’re back to white or chartreuse for jig colors. Fish the bottom 10 feet of 20 to 30 foot deep water. The Four Poles is going strong during the day, Konocti Harbor Resort has been doing well, and Indian Beach Resort in Glenhaven is reportedly showing good numbers of crappie during the nighttime hours.
There’s good news for our catfish fans … Catfish are being caught all over the south end of the lake. We’re hearing good things about Wheeler Point, Pirates Cove, Austin Park and Bass Alley. Fishing Guide Dave Gilbert, owner of Hook Setter Guide Service, had good things to say about using mackerel and minnows to nail some nice cats in the teens this week. Other anglers have favored nightcrawlers and clams.
Come join us Saturday afternoon and evening for our first CatFest event of the year. We’ll be meeting here at Lakeshore Bait & Tackle between 3:30 and 4 in the afternoon. Come and set up your boat, tie your best rigs, and BS a bit as we gear up for a night of fun & fishing on the water. We’ll run an optional $10 pool. Biggest catfish at 11:00 pm takes the pot. We’ll also be having a raffle just before the store closes (at 5 pm) for some fun prizes for CatFest participants. This event is open to all! Bring your boat, bring your gear, and come have a great time with us.
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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