David Wise shows off a big catfish. Photo by Bob Rider.
Hello, anglers, and welcome to another week on Clear Lake. Our fine lake has had a lot of angling pressure this last week and it isn’t letting up as we get into the TOC’s (championship tournaments) for most of the western tourney trails. While the bassin’ is a bit tough, the catfish and crappie bites have opened up nicely for us. Here’s the scoop.
First, the crappie bite … One caller reported that he caught and released 70 crappie at Kono Tayee over the course of a few hours one day this week. He had gone to that location based on a reliable report from a friend that the crappie were in there. We’ve heard other grumblings about Kono Tayee over the last week or two, so things are starting to add up along that line.
Other evidence of a hot bite is showing from the Glenhaven shoreline. We’re getting good reports from Indian Beach. Minnows and mini-jigs are working well. Silver or chartreuse colors are the first to get you bit. Minnows take the guesswork out. Want your crappie fix? Come early and fish late!
The catfishermen are enjoying a steady bite on minnows and mackerel. Anchovies and nightcrawlers have also been among the successful offerings this week. No one spot (or two for that matter) really stands out. The fish we’ve seen here have been from all over the southern end of the lake. We’ve had a few nice fish come through the door this week, too. Like the Koerlins with a nice stringer or Dave Wise with this 19+ pounder. This is a great time of year to be angling for the whiskerfish.
Bass anglers are toughing out typical fall conditions to nail some nice fish. Not lots of fish, mind you, but nice ones. This is the time of year when the minnow bite just really gets going. The pros are throwing premium swim baits like Bait Smiths and Ospreys. Blue Ghost (Citrus Shad) and hitch patterns are best. I’ve had a few local bass guys tossing the 4-inch Calcutta swim baits with decent success, too. (The Calcutta baits are nice because they have a much more reasonable price than the premium baits.)
Here’s the thing – there are a few combinations working for folks right now. For minnows, 6 to 10 feet of water has been a magic number. Then again, so has 15 to 20 feet for those fishing humps and rock piles. For the swim bait guys, ledges and rock piles have been doing best. We also expect to get that yo-yo lipless crank bait bite happening again if the weather cools down.
The weather has been warm during the days and cool at night. The lake’s surface temp has stayed fairly constant in the low sixties. Come out and enjoy our fall fishing …
Bob Rider owns Lakeshore Bait & Tackle in Clearlake. Visit his Web site at www.994fish.com or call him at 994-FISH (3474).
The Koerlins show off their big catch. Photo by Bob Rider.
UKIAH – Collegiate volleyball on a Halloween night provided plenty of thrills as the Mendocino College Women’s Volleyball team battled Laney College of Oakland to a four-set victory: 22-30, 32-30, 30-23 and 31-29.
The host Eagles started slowly and watched a 2-9 Laney club roll past them in game one, before swapping the next three games.
Laney was led by the talented and athletic Jaydelynn Suava, who seemed to be everywhere on the court.
Throughout the night, the lead changed hands often and Mendocino found it very difficult to put away the scrappy Laney team.
“It was pretty scary. We escaped with a win, which is great, but we almost allowed this to go to a fifth game. If I was in the stands, it probably would have been entertaining with all of the back and forth. To me, it wasn’t always pretty but give our ladies credit for pulling out a win,” said Mendocino Head Coach Ori Polkinghorne.
Fortunately for the Eagles, Freshman Shana Hiatt (Clear Lake) had one of her best performances of the year, collecting 11 kills, 11 digs, three blocks and two aces.
“She was the difference for us tonight. Shana had great energy and rhythm at the net, which is something we’ve been working on – it just clicked and we sure needed her effort,” said Polkinghorne.
Other top players for the Eagles were sophomore middle hitter Jamie Brown (Potter Valley) who racked up 14 kills in 27 attempts, in addition to her solid overall play.
Sophomore setter Jenny Stark (Clear Lake) pushed out 33 assists to lead the Eagles’ offense.
The Mendocino defense was anchored by Freshman Angela Newell (Fort Bragg) who dug up six balls on top of passing well in serve-receive. Newell also chipped in six kills.
The Eagles are now 6-5 in the Bay Valley Conference and wrap up their 2007 home schedule Friday night when they host first-place Napa Valley.
The match starts at 6:30 p.m. in the Mendocino College gym.
LAKE COUNTY – The Lake County Channel Cats Swim Team is now accepting new members.
Westshore Pool in Lakeport is now open four days per week for intermediate and advanced swim team members of all ages. Workouts are supervised by coach Joe Conger.
"This is the first time we’ve been able to offer winter swim," said Channel Cats President Jennifer Hanson. "The heater is now working, the covers we ordered have come in and the kids are really appreciative of the 80-degree water."
Twenty-two swimmers are currently enrolled and preparing for the first winter meet coming up in November.
The team can accommodate 40 swimmers for the winter season, which will expand to 100 swimmers for the summer season beginning next June.
Winter swimmers will be guaranteed placement on the summer team. "Last year we had a waiting list and we deeply regret having to turn away swimmers," Hanson said.
Winter swim fees for two-day-per-week swimmers are $60 per month. For four-day-per-week swimmers, fees are $110 per month. Discounts are applied for additional swimmers in the same family.
Fees help pay the City of Lakeport for rent of the pool and also offset the cost of propane for heating the water.
The Channel Cats is a nonprofit organization.
For more information about Channel Cats Swim Team fees, workout schedules and scholarships, or to make a tax-deductible donation, contact Jennifer Hanson at 263-3131.
Forest releases environmental documents on motorized access
Written by Editor
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
WILLOWS – Mendocino National Forest has released two draft environmental documents for public review and comment.
The documents cover two separate travel management proposals that are part of the route designation process.
The comment period runs until Nov. 13. This is to provide those interested in or affected by these proposals an opportunity to make their concerns known prior to a decision being made.
The draft environmental analysis documents detailing the proposals and their effects are available for review at Mendocino National Forest Supervisor's and Ranger District Offices.
One proposal concerns motorized access for dispersed camping (setting up camp for either overnight or day use in an area that has not been developed as a campground facility).
The proposal is to add 72 short user-created motorized routes to the existing Mendocino National Forest designated trail system.
These routes would be managed as motorized trails to provide access to 67 frequently used dispersed camp sites. The routes are located in various areas across the Forest and their total aggregate length is 7.8 miles.
The other proposal allows mixed use on a segment of forest road M3 from Ivory Mill Saddle to near West Crockett trailhead. Mixed-use allows use by both highway-legal and non-highway-legal vehicles and drivers. Currently only highway-legal vehicles are allowed. Total length of the segment is about 17.5 miles.
This proposed project is located on Grindstone Ranger District in Glenn County, California, about ten miles southwest of the community of Elk Creek.
Locations where the draft environmental analysis documents may be reviewed are:
SUPERVISOR'S OFFICE/GRINDSTONE RANGER DISTRICT
825 N. Humboldt Avenue
Willows, CA 95988
(530) 934-3316; TTY (530) 934-7724
COVELO RANGER DISTRICT
78150 Covelo Road
Covelo, CA 95428
(707) 983-6118; TTY (707) 983-6123
UPPER LAKE RANGER DISTRICT
10025 Elk Mountain Road
Upper Lake, CA
(707) 275-2361 or 2363; TTY (707) 275-9524
Additional information regarding these proposed actions and how to provide comments can be obtained from the Mendocino National Forest route designation Web page at www.fs.fed.us/r5/mendocino/projects/ohv/#status, or from Mike Van Dame at the Supervisor's Office, email
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
, telephone 530-934-1141; TTY 530-934-7724.
UKIAH – Led by a dominating defensive performance, Mendocino College (6-2) defeated Yuba College (6-2) 14-0 this past Saturday in Ukiah.
The Eagle defense held Yuba to just nine first downs on the day and 133 total yards.
Freshman linebacker Svante Wright (Camilla, Ga.) had seven and a half tackles, while sophomore defensive lineman Jermaine Jacobs (Sacramento) had nine tackles and two and a half sacks.
Sophomore linebacker Gary Miller (Ukiah) had nine and a half tackles and one sack and sophomore linebacker Markins Anilus (Miami, Fla.) had five total tackles and one and a half sacks.
The Eagle offense got on the board before the end of the first half by using their two-minute offense. Sophomore quarterback Cody Manguso (Reno, Nev.) hooked up with sophomore receiver Kyle O’Donnell (Windsor) to put the ball on the Yuba five-yard line.
Freshman running back Kevin Young (Windsor) then scored from one yard out to give the Eagle’s a 7-0 lead going into half time.
The Eagle’s then scored on the opening drive of the second half, when Manguso hooked up again with O’Donnell on a 32 yard touchdown pass.
The only time Yuba threatened to score was after Mendocino scored to make it 14-0 in the third quarter and then returned the kick-off to the Mendocino College four yard line. The Eagle defense then proceeded to hold Yuba on four straight downs.
“I am very pleased with the effort of our defense,” said Mendocino College Defensive Coordinator Mike Mari. “This victory is a perfect example our players lining up and our players playing hard.”
Mendocino, which is now 3-0 in the Bay Valley Conference, will travel to College of Marin this weekend.
The Eagles finish the regular season at home versus Solano College on Nov. 10.
