Clear Lake is not only the oldest lake in the world it is also the most diverse. The lake is constantly changing and that includes the fish in the lake. This past year has seen a dramatic decline in large bass. Where a few years ago just about every tournament would produce several double digit bass, this year an 8 pounder is considered a giant and the big fish in many tournaments have been only in the 7-pound class.
The fishermen blame a number of reasons for why the super large bass aren't being caught. The primary blame being the large fish die-off that occurred several years ago due to hot weather and algae blooms. That die-off impacted a number of species, but bass were especially hit hard. There were also a good number of large bass that died. The main area of the lake that was impacted by the die-off was the shoreline from Nice to Clearlake Oaks. Dead bass and other species could be seen floating all along the shoreline.
Within weeks after the die-off the tournament results showed very few super large bass being caught and it has been that way for the past year. Just about all the bass that weigh more than 5 pounds are females. Typically, a bass will gain about a pound per year if the food source is adequate. Clear Lake has an abundance of bait fish, so it isn't the lack of food that is having an impact on the larger bass. Most of the scientists say the absence of large bass is part of a changing lake and it will correct itself within a few years.
Bass are not only the most popular gamefish in California they are an interesting animal. They are not native to California or the West Coast. They were first introduced into the state in 1874 and in Clear Lake just before the turn of the century. Prior to that time the only native game fish in Clear Lake was the Sacramento Perch. The first bass brought into the state were the northern largemouth and they soon adapted to the lower elevation waters. Clear Lake, with its warm shallows waters and rich nutrients, offered ideal habitat for bass and they flourished. In 1969, the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) recognized that Clear Lake had the potential to become a trophy bass lake and to improve the fishery they planted 136 adult Florida species of largemouth bass in the lake.
The bass came out of Hidden Valley Lake which the DFG was using as a holding area for Florida-strain bass. The DFG followed that initial stocking with 242 Floridas in 1970 and 58 additional Florida bass in 1971. It was known that Florida bass will breed with northern largemouths and the Florida genes will quickly dominate, but it even surprised the biologists on just how fast that would occur. In 1975, just four years after the last Florida bass was stocked in the lake, the DFG took random samples of bass and found the Florida genes in 17 percent of the bass. In 1976 that count went up to 27 percent and by 1978 it was 52 percent. What this meant was that in seven years, 52 percent of all the bass in Clear Lake were either Florida-northern largemouth mix (called intergrades) or pure Florida bass. By the mid 1980s all the largemouth bass in the lake were considered to be carrying the Florida gene. Biologists say that now all the bass in Clear Lake are Florida-northern largemouth mix and that there are no pure northern largemouth bass in the lake.
Florida bass grow larger and live longer than northern largemouth bass. They are also considered harder to catch. The typical northern largemouth bass can live up to 12 years and a Florida bass can live up to 17 years. The current lake record bass of 17.52 pounds in 1990 and was 12 years old. It was a female Florida-northern largemouth mix.
The good news is that Clear Lake is still one of the top bass lakes in the country and the big bass will return. In the meantime, the bass fishing has never been better. A typical day of fishing will produce 15 to even 50 bass and even though most will be in the 1- to 5-pound class the fishery is in excellent condition.
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