Bass take a backseat at Clear Lake this weekend as the annual Clearlake Oaks/Glenhaven catfish derby gets under way Friday.
As in past years, the three-day derby is expected to draw more than 400 fishermen from throughout the West. It is the largest catfish derby in the West and remains one of the more popular fishing contests on Clear Lake. The adult winner will take home a new boat, motor and trailer while the winner in the kids division receives a new Nintendo Wii PlayStation.
Derby hours are from noon Friday until noon Sunday. The entry fee is $40 for adults if received before 11 p.m. Thursday. There is a $5 late fee for entries received after that time. The entry fee for children 15 and younger is $10. The awards ceremony starts at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Clearlake Oaks Firehouse, where there will a barbecue, music and a giant raffle.
Clear Lake has three species of catfish ? channel, white and brown bullhead. It”s the large channel catfish that the derby fishermen will be targeting. The lake record for channel catfish is 33.33 pounds and the world record is 58 pounds. Last year the derby winner was Steve Cassel of Oroville with a 28.1-pound catfish and it took more than a 17-pounder to get a check.
Catfish aren”t native to Clear Lake or even the West. The first channel catfish were bought to California from Mississippi in 1874 and were stocked in the San Joaquin River. Catfish were first put into Clear Lake around 1910. They are thought to have been in North America for at least 3,000 years.
Members of the catfish family are considered omnivorous, meaning they will eat plant and animal matter. They are mostly nocturnal, meaning they feed at night. One method they use to locate food is their whiskers, which are called barbels. These sensitive whiskers can feel out edible food in the muddiest of waters.
Unlike other members of the catfish family, the channel catfish seeks out hollow logs or holes around submerged rocks to spawn. Many of the channel catfish in Clear Lake spawn in the hundreds of submerged tires that are strewn across the bottom. The ideal water temperature for spawning is about 70 degrees and the eggs hatch in five to 10 days. Young catfish eat mostly insects, small crayfish or other small fish. They will even eat seeds.
The channel catfish reaches sexual maturity at about 5 years of age and they can live as long as 25 years. With the exception of man, an adult catfish has very few enemies.
The other species of catfish in Clear Lake is the white catfish. This is a much smaller fish and rarely grows larger than 6 pounds. They prefer muddy areas and will spawn back in the tules or sloughs. The white catfish was the most popular catfish in the lake at one time because of its taste. However, this species of catfish has just about disappeared from the lake in recent years.
Back in the 1960s and 70s, catfish were the top game fish at Clear Lake. Fishermen would spend hours anchored near Rattlesnake Island and other favored catfish holes. In those days it wasn”t unusual for an angler to catch 20 to 30 fish during a single outing. However, the catfish population began to decline in the early 1980s. The Department of Fish and Game placed large concrete culverts in the lake as spawning habitat for the channel catfish. For several years the project was successful and during the spring spawning season just about every culvert would hold several spawning catfish. However, after a few years many of the culverts silted up and no longer could be used by the catfish.
The past few years has seen a steady decline in the catfish population. However, there are still a few dedicated souls who haven”t given up on one America”s most popular game fish. They will rig up with jumbo minnows or cut bait and drift with the currents over their favorite holes looking for that big bite.
The type of fishermen now visiting Clear Lake has also changed with the times. Where once catfishermen chugged out across the lake in 12-foot aluminum boats toward their favorite fishing spots, now it”s bass fishermen roaring across the lake in excess of 60 mph in their new bass boats.
Bass have replaced catfish as the preferred fish in the lake. Even so, catfish reign supreme every year during the derby. Entry forms and the complete rules can be obtained from the Web site at www.clearlakeoaks.org or you can call 1-888-253-3729 for more information.
