Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3611 May 12-26, 2017 | Page 24
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May 12-26, 2017
MAP FEATURE
VOL.36 • ISS. 11
Clear Lake offers lots of public docks and shoreline access for anglers to target crappie, bass and catfish.
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
Clear Lake Crappie On Big Spring Bite
C
lear Lake in Lake County,
the largest natural lake found
entirely within California, is known
as the “Bass Capital of the West,” but
the crappie explosion at the lake over
the past three years could earn it the
name of “Crappie Capital” at least of
California, also.
Since February, anglers have been
catching lots of black crappie from
docks and the shoreline throughout the
lake. Although fish over 3 pounds have
been reported, fish in the 11 to 12 inch
class have been more common.
Paul Myer, former Fish Sniffer
business consultant, and I experienced
outstanding crappie action on a recent
trip to the lake, catching one fish after
another.
“The good bite is early so I suggest
you get there about 7:30 am,” Myer
told me in an
email
the night before. “We can catch a
bunch of crappie and then we can go
to lunch? Let me know if that works
for you.”
I responded, “That sounds great,”
and then headed up to the lake that
morning. I drove along Highway 20
through Clear Lake Oaks and was ex-
cited to see the shoreline and the hills
surrounding the lake a verdant green
with wildflowers blooming at lots of
locations.
The lake was full; at one point ear-
lier this year the Lake County Board of
Supervisors had closed the lake to mo-
torized boating briefly because of the
potential danger to shoreline homes
and trailers caused by boat wakes on
the flooded lake. However, the water
level has receded now.
When I arrived at the private docks
where he has been fishing, we began
casting out our lures. “All I’ve been
using is 1/16 ounce Mini Jigs with no
extra weight,” Myer said. “Your best
bet is to cast out and slowly retrieve
the lure.”
Myer soon hooked a crappie and
lost it. “Some days they slam the jigs
and other days it the bite is a little
slower,” he tipped.
Three years ago, there was
very successful crappie spawn
around the lake. Those fish
began showing up as 3 to 5
inches the next year, up to 10
inches last year and up to 14
inches this year. Of course,
since there are different year
classes swimming in the lake,
your next fish could be a 3 to 4
lb. trophy.
I tossed out the same jig that
Myer was using and begin hooking
Dan Bacher, Fish Sniffer Editor, had a
great time battling this chunky crappie.
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer
Staff.
one fish after another,
most in the 10 to 12
inch range, with some
smaller and a few larger
fish mixed in. It was an
absolute blast and called
to mind the “good old
days” of crappie fishing
at Lake Berryessa with
the late Claude Davis,
who honed his crappie
and bass fishing skills at
Clear Lake.
Neither of us intend-
ed to keep any fish, so
we quickly released the
fish back into the water.
If you’re a “hook-up
junkie,” it’s hard to
beat crappie fishing in
the spring! The crappie
were all in spawning
mode, with some of the
males a dark black color
while the females were
white, silvery and fat
with eggs.
“This crappie
fishing is as good as it
gets,” noted Myer as
Five-year-old Tyler Myer holds up a giant crappie that he
he hoisted yet another
fooled with a white Mini Jig at Clear Lake this April.
fat slabside out of the
Photo by CHARLIE MYER, Tyler’s father.
water. I agreed.
breakfast!” and we went to one of
After 1-1/2 hours of excellent fish-
the local coffee shops and had a big
ing during which we lost count of the
fish we caught, the bite all of a sudden mid-morning brunch. It was a great
morning of fishing with a former Fish
slowed down as the sun rose higher in
Sniffer staffer that I hadn’t fished with
the sky.
for over a decade!!
“Let’s try the dock over there,” he
After lunch I headed back to
said, where another angler had been
Sacramento in my Toyota Tacoma on
catching crappie and went over there.
Highway 20. As I drove through Clear
Crappie gravitate towards shade and
Lake Oaks, I decided to take photos at
the fish had indeed moved to those
docks. We caught and released a bunch Island Park and the public boat ramp.
more crappie along with some bluegill A few anglers were fishing from the
shoreline for bass, but nobody was
around the shaded docks.
crappie fishing.
Finally, Myer said, “let’s go get