There’s good news and bad news for Clearwater Lake fishermen. Last spring’s high water, which lasted from March into June, produced needed big spawns of crappie and bass. But fishermen will have to sift through small fish as those year classes grow in the coming years.
Actually, 2009 should be excellent for bass and crappie fishermen, but then it is probably going to seem as if fishing goes to the dogs for awhile.
Conservation Department biologist Paul Ceislowicz says there were good numbers of bass and crappie going into last spring, but a big spawn was needed to make outstanding fishing out in time a few years.
Shad - the basis of the lake’s food chain - had excellent reproduction so the existing fish populations should have grown very well heading into this year. Then along will come the 2008 spawn, making fishermen think the lake is full of little fish when they get big enough to bite a jig or minnow.
Paul says, however, it is likely Clearwater will be exceptionally good three to four years out as those little fish become big fish.
Because of the high water last spring, the usual spring sampling of the fish population could not be completed by MDC. But based on the history of the lake and 2007 data, Paul is confident in his predictions.
“Since 2001, our samples have found 30 per cent of largemouth bass in the lake to be over 15 inches long, and 20 per cent over 18.”
There was a lull in crappie populations, but “since 2003, 65 per cent of crappie sampled have been over nine inches, and 45 per cent over 10 inches.”
Typically, crappie grow slowly in Clearwater. But they live a long time and reach sizes that rank very well among Missouri lakes.
With the high water last spring, shad populations exploded and then were concentrated again and again as the lake shrank back to normal level. Predators such as bass and crappie should have had excellent growth.
Ideally, we’ll have good spawns again in 2009 and future years without the inconvenience of high water for extended periods. But for sure, fishermen are headed for some good fishing in the next few years.
Crappie and bass are the most popular fish on Clearwater but white bass and catfish rank high as well. The spring white bass run which usually peaks during spring wild turkey season is well known. But fall fishing can be outstanding as well.
Catfish are a target for anglers in the summer and early fall.
BRUSH PILES
Clearwater is not an easy lake to fish. Where to fish isn’t obvious. For that reason, MDC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been building brushpiles in the lake. They attract fish and are easy to find for fishermen.
The lake was due for replenishment and addition of some new brush piles last spring, but the flood made that impossible. More brushpiles are planned for this March. A linked map shows locations of brushpiles as well as one area that is slated to get new brush piles this spring.
To get an updated map later this year, contact Paul at paulc @mdc.mo.gov. or call him at 573-290-5730.
BLACK RIVER
Below Clearwater Lake, the Black River is a very different environment than the lake. Walleye are an increasingly interesting fish, with 30,000 stocked last May. They’ll range for many miles below the dam.
The river also has a run of paddlefish each spring and 1000 nice sized hatchery paddlefish were stocked in November. They’ll return in future years, concentraing below the dam in March.
Paul says their are plans to place reward tags on walleye when the annual sampleing takes place in March. The idea is to get an estimate of how many walleye fishermen are catching.
Lets say you capture and tag 500 walleye and 250 tags are returned. If half the tagged walleye are caught, you can figure anglers are also catching half the non-tagged walleye.
The program is being carried out on Current River too, which is a tributary to Black River in Arknasas. A similar tagging program a few years ago found walleye tagged on one river captured many miles away in the other river. So the tagging may also reveal more information about how walleye travel.
Above Clearwater, Black River is an air-clear Ozark stream that features smallmouth bass and goggle-eye as the main attraction for anglers. Paul says, however, there is a surprising number of channel catfish up the river.
OTHER
A few anglers have learned the fun you can have catching big carp. They’re fried, mostly, but some can them and eat them like canned salmon.
Clearwater is not noted as a bluegill lake, but there are enough to introduce the small fry to the joys of fishing. And a few anlgers find goodly numbers and sizes in locations they keep secret.
There are no length limits on fish in the lake and few anglers request them.