Fishermen who plan on entering the 36th annual Clear Lake Team Bass Tournament scheduled for March 16 to17 can sign up on Friday starting at 9 a.m. on Friday at the Lake County Chamber of Commerce office on, located at 875 Lakeport Blvd. in Lakeport. The blast-off numbers for the first day of the tournament will be issued in the order the fishermen sign up.
Some fishermen will wait in line all night to get a low blast-off number and be first out on the opening morning of the tournament. The reason that tournament fishermen want to be first out is because they want to be the first to their secret fishing spot.
The tournament is sponsored by the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and will be run by American Bass (ABA). The tournament goes out of Library Park in Lakeport. The entry fee is $250, which includes the big-fish option. The tournament will pay back 80 percent of the paid entry fees. Entry forms can be obtained online from the chamber's web site at www.lakecochamber.com. Local tackle shops also have the entry forms. For more information call 263-5092.
The tournament started in 1987 and for years was known as the Record-Bee/Bruno's Team Bass Tournament. At one time it was one of the largest bass tournaments in the nation and the 225-team limit was normally filled by early September. In those days the winning team took home more than $20,000 in cash. The tournament remains one of the largest and most popular bass tournaments on Clear Lake.
Dress warmly if you plan on spending the day fishing on Clear Lake. The mornings have been bitter cold and the bass fishing is tough. Most of the anglers are happy to catch three or four fish for a full day on the water. The best action has been in the afternoons when it warms a up a little. The lake level is at 3.6 feet on the Rumsey Gauge and holding steady. With more storms forecast the lake level should rise another foot or two. The water color is good and you can see down at least two feet or more. The catfish action remains excellent all around the lake. This year there have been some huge catfish caught with many weighing in the 20-pound class. The bluegill action has also been good.
Waterfowl hunters close out their season Jan. 31 and to date the hunting has been poor, especially on the refuges in the Sacramento Valley. There are a lot of snow geese but few ducks. The duck hunting on Clear Lake has been fair.
A sight-seeing trip to Lake Pillsbury to view the tule elk is a good weekend for the youngsters. There are more than 400 elk that stay along the shoreline. Take along a set binoculars. You will also see deer and other wildlife
No comments:
Post a Comment