KELSEYVILLE – The Redbud Audubon Society will meet on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Kelseyville High School Auditorium, 5480 Main St., Kelseyville. Guest speaker will be Bob Keiffer, superintendent, U.C. Hopland Research and Extension Station.

Keiffer, a long-time local birder was part of a volunteer search team, organized by Cornell University in 2004 to look for the ivory-billed woodpecker. The third largest woodpecker in the world, the ivory-billed had been assumed to be extinct.

But in 2004 and 2005 15 credible sightings were reported by Cornell experts. Over the next few years, Cornell organized numerous volunteer search teams to look for the bird and document it in photographs.

Keiffer spent two weeks in 2007 canoeing and wading through the flooded bottomland forest of the Cache River and White River National Wildlife Refuges hoping to catch a glimpse of the legendary bird. The species was last documented in 1938 and by the 1970s this bird was assumed extinct by the ornithological world.

Did Keiffer see any ivory-billed woodpeckers? Come to the program to find out, to hear his story, and to see photos of other wildlife from those wet woodlands that he searched. Keiffer will give a Power Point presentation sharing his stories, wildlife photos, the history of the ivory-billed woodpecker, the story of the species decline, and a summary of evidence that supports the species existence.

The public is invited to join Redbud Audubon for this fascinating presentation. For more information about the society, go to www.redbudaudubon.org .

Consistently cool weather is taking the lake temperature cooler and cooler. The live-bait bite for bass and catfish is quite good. Crappie are being caught only in modest numbers. The reports are much the same as last week, so here's what we've got ...

Bass anglers fishing live bait are having a ball. Most have reported that the bite is slow throughout most of the morning and early afternoon hours with the tail end of the afternoon accounting for most of the fish caught.

Jumbo minnows really made a splash this past week, with over 1,200 fish passing through our tank! The hatchery was caught a bit off guard by the surge in demand. We've upped our order yet again and will repeat the increases until we find that magic number. (Last year's high was close to 2,000 minnows/week at its fall peak.)

For the folks tempting bass with lures, we're still hearing about lipless cranks, top hook and keel weighted swim baits, jigs, and drop shotting. The artificials bite has been a bit less exhilarating that the live minnow bite. Deep water and rock piles continues as a pattern for fall bass angling.

Crappie anglers – now calling daily for updates – are finding some success on nice size, albeit not great numbers, of slabs. No Name Reef, Rocky Point, Jones Bay and Jago Bay have all been mentioned to us in the store this week. With Konocti Harbor Resort now closed we're recommending anglers try many of the other fantastic resorts around the lake. Your best bet for crappie will be by boat for now.

Catfishermen are enjoying plenty of action on jumbo minnows. Deep water rock piles are working well for cats also. Mackerel, shad and anchovies are also working well. Shore anglers are catching fish from deeper standing docks all around the south end of the lake.

In event news, there are just a few weeks left to get in on the Lake Friends of NRA's three gun raffle. We're giving away a Kimber .45 pistol, a S&W M&P15 rifle, and a Remington 870 12 GA Tactical shotgun on December 12. Tickets are $20 each. Buy a whole sheet of TEN tickets for $200 and you'll receive a special ticket to get in on a drawing for a Front Sight Training Certificate.

Tickets are available at Lakeshore Bait & Tackle and other locations around Lake County. Call 707-994-3474 for more information.

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

The first meeting in this series, held in September, focused on the the severe infestation of cyanobacteria (also known as "blue-green algae") that caused so many problems on the lake last summer, with a secondary glance at mercury pollution and the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine cleanup.

Now they will turn their attention to invasive mollusks, particularly quagga and zebra mussels, with an expert panel consisting of Invasive Species Council Chair Greg Giusti, Deputy Director of Water Resources Pam Francis and Lakeport City Councilor Suzanne Lyons.

Topics under discussion will include the nature of these diminutive but dangerous creatures, the devastating ecological and economic effects that would result from an infestation in Clear Lake or other local waterways, the concrete steps being taken to keep them out, and the roles that we can all play in this essential task.

These questions and more will be on the agenda during this free-ranging panel discussion, which will be held in Room 203 at Kelseyville High School, 5480 Main St. in Kelseyville.

The meeting is free and open to the public.

For more information call Victoria Brandon at 707-994-1931 or send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .