The quagga and zebra mussels are getting the spotlight on Clear Lake as we embark on a countywide program to keep our lakes and streams free from these invasive species.

As of Tuesday, April 8, all boats launching in Lake County waters must undergo a permit process before launching. This permit is good for the remainder of the year.

When you come into the county, stop by one of the tackle shops, fill out the form, attach your sticker to the boat and go fishing.

The process is a simple risk factor assessment, NOT a rigorous inspection of every boat. If your boat doesn’t flag the risk factors, you get a sticker and you’re good to go. If your boat IS at risk, then we’ll be looking at it to ensure you’re not inadvertently carrying these pests into our waterways. This falls under the “ounce of prevention” category with minimal inconvenience to the boating public.

The key is this: Clean, drain and dry your boat when you come out of ANY body of water. Our sticker program is temporary until the inbound check stations are open on the four major routes into the county. Once they are open, then all boats coming into the county will swing through for a quick check (like the agriculture stations are doing at the state line). Until then, one sticker is all you need.

If you take the boat home and use it elsewhere, then the hope is that you’ve learned about the evils of bringing bad stuff our way and you’ll do the right thing by cleaning, draining and drying your boat. If you’ve got questions about the program, give us a quick call at 707-994-FISH (3474).

OK, with that out of the way, let’s talk about the fishing. The weather has been up and down with 60s and 70s during the day, mid and upper 30s at night, and plenty of wind to make things difficult. Add to that hundreds of boats on the water with two very large bass tournaments over the last two weeks, and you’ve got yourself a bass bite that’s just a bit ho-hum.

The water temp is in the upper 50s to low 60s but isn’t really gaining much ground – largely due to our cool nights. The bass are being found from two feet to twenty feet. We’re anxiously awaiting the onset of consistently warm weather (both day and night) to really kick things into high gear for the spring spawn. Here are the reports.

The bass are a bit spooky. They’ll look at your bait – or maybe even follow it for a while – and simply turn away without a bite. Jumbo minnows are getting the most action – as it typical when conditions are as they are.

But even so, you have to pay attention to what your bait is doing and work the minnow to help induce a reaction bite once in a while. One angler just described to me this scene: He’s fishing in clear water and can see down several feet. He watches a 4-pound bass swim up to his minnow and give it the eye. The minnow is nonplussed by the presence of the predator but does nothing. They sit like this for a while – bass glaring at minnow in clear water.

The angler “popped” the minnow with a jerk of his rod tip and the bass pounds it. An interesting lesson in minnow fishing … For the tournament guys, or those just sticking with artificial baits, we’re seeing some key baits at work. Senkos fished weightless, Finesse Worms either on Shaky Head or Drop Shot methods, Brush Hogs on Texas or Carolina Rigs, Spinner Baits, and the beginnings of a swim bait bite.

I’ve been writing about the Maverick hand-poured baits a lot lately – well, that trend continues. They remain my best selling swim baits and are selling out nearly as fast as I can stock ‘em on the shelves. These baits are soft and supple, swim great, are easy to rig and reasonably priced. Better yet, they’re catching fish!

Crappie anglers are delighted with the onset of a pretty solid bite around the lake. We’re getting reports that the coves and creeks are all producing well for anglers working live baits. Clearlake Oaks Keys, Anderson Marsh, Austin Park (by the creek), state park and a few other spots are noteworthy this week.

Also, Tony and Ken are reporting in from Indian Beach Resort with good news of crappie being taken from their docks during the evening and nighttime hours. And again, this isn’t the ridiculous wide-open bite we experienced over the course of the last couple of years, but a more reasonable (and sustainable) fish-for-your-limit kind of bite. Minnows, mini-jigs, wax worms and night crawlers have all been in the mix this week.

Catfish anglers are starting to talk about the up and coming Catfish Derby – which returns to Clear Lake next month. Frozen shad and mackerel seem to be the baits of choice this week for the big cats. The winds have been much too high for most boaters to drift so the best reports are coming from shore anglers along Cache Creek.

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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