You won”t win a new bass boat by catching one and there isn”t even a lake record for it. But this fish was swimming in the waters of Clear Lake thousands of years before the largemouth bass or catfish. It was actually here eons before humans settled around the lake. The hitch even has its own local fan club. The Clear Lake hitch is one of a kind and one of the most important species of fish in the lake.
The Clear Lake hitch is unique in that it is found nowhere else in the world. They are a subspecies of the Sacramento hitch and their scientific name is Lavinia Exilicauda Chi. They are a member of the minnow family and an adult will weigh up to a pound. They have no front teeth and are primarily plankton eaters, but they also eat insects.
Hitch were originally an important food fish for the Pomo Indians who lived on the shores of Clear Lake. The Pomo word for hitch is “chi.”
In fact, many American Indians still consider the hitch a traditional food source. They are also an important forage fish for larger predators such as bass and catfish. Birds of prey such as osprey and bald eagles also feed on hitch.
Most people who visit Clear Lake never see a hitch with the exception of the spring when they make their annual spawning run up the streams that drain into the lake. At one time hitch were so numerous that their spawning run produced thousands of fish. However, the number of hitch spawning has dwindled in recent years because of droughts and farming changes.
Hitch spawn from March through June. During the spawning activity, four or five males often attend each female. Male hitch exhibit a rusty color on their paired fins during spawning. Their eggs are large and non-adhesive, meaning they don”t stick to the bottom and will drift and lodge between rocks and gravel. The eggs hatch in five to 10 days depending on water temperature. As soon as the females lay their eggs they return to the lake. The hitch fry remain in the stream for approximately 30 days before starting their migration back to the lake.
During the spring months they migrate up several streams that enter Clear Lake in order to spawn. Because these streams were traditionally slow moving, the hitch has evolved into a poor swimmer. They can”t jump like salmon or steelhead. They even have a hard time going over fish ladders. The ideal streams for hitch to spawn have gravel beds and slow-moving water. Many of the streams in which the hitch spawn now go dry early in the summer because of extensive pumping from wells to irrigate pears and grapes. The result is that hitch have lost much of their spawning habitat.
The good news is that despite the recent droughts and other obstacles, the hitch are spawning. Reports from the Chi Council of Clear Lake Hitch are that decent numbers of spawning hitch are being seen. The Chi Council is a coordinated resource management and planning group of volunteers dedicated to the study, protection and restoration of a viable population of Clear Lake hitch.
Hitch are one of the primary forage fish for the largemouth bass and an 8-pound bass has little trouble swallowing an adult hitch. The
Clear Lake record bass of 17.52 pounds had a large hitch in its stomach. In fact, there is even a $75 swimbait made that resembles a hitch.
A fishing technique that is popular with bass fishing is called “ripping.” That”s where a long and slender minnow-type lure is cast and retrieved with short and hard jerks. The action the lure makes resembles the erratic swimming of a hitch.
While hitch may rank at the bottom of the list for some local fishermen, they are a vital part of the ecology of the lake. They are also an indicator on the health of the lake.
