It”s not on the favorite fish list of bass fishermen and few people have ever caught one on a rod and reel. Even so, they are considered one of the most valuable species of fish to swim in Clear Lake.
The Clear Lake hitch has been swimming in the lake long before humans ever graced its shoreline. The hitch recently drew attention when hundreds could be seen migrating up Adobe Creek at Bell Hill Road.
The name hitch is a Pomo word. Another Indian name for the fish is Chi. They were once the dominant fish in Clear Lake. Thousands of hitch would annually migrate up the streams emptying into Clear Lake. In fact, old photos show hitch from shore to shore in Kelsey Creek during the spring months. Whereas they don”t migrate in the vast numbers of years ago, hitch still enter the creeks in impressive numbers to spawn.
The Clear Lake hitch is a subspecies of the Sacramento hitch. Their scientific name is Lavinia Exilicauda Chi. This species of hitch is found in no other place in the world and is part of the minnow family of fishes. They have no front teeth and feed on plankton and small insects. Originally hitch were an important food fish for the Indians who lived on the shores of Clear Lake. In fact, many local Indians still consider the hitch a traditional food source.
The hitch is an important forage fish for the larger predators such as bass and catfish as well as eagles, osprey and other fish-eating birds. The size of a hitch varies from a few ounces up to a pound.
According to the Chi Council of Clear Lake Hitch website, after spawning in the streams, the hitch return to Clear Lake. The females normally swim downstream immediately after spawning, but the males may linger in the creeks in hopes of finding another opportunity to breed. Once eggs are laid, they absorb water, swell to about four times their original size and sink to the bottom. They are bound together in thick masses of shiny golden jelly. The roe settles into crevices between the stones and when conditions are right can be so abundant that the gravel bottom of the creek is largely obscured. After five to 10 days the eggs hatch out into tiny fry that resemble mosquito larva.
Hitch stay near the location where they were spawned for another five to 10 days until they can swim well enough to start moving downstream. The journey back toward Clear Lake takes several weeks and after reaching the lake the young fish stay near the shoreline for another three months or so before heading out to deep water, where they remain until they reach breeding age and are ready to begin the cycle all over again.
Hitch aren”t strong swimmers. Streams with fast water, large rocks or dams to navigate can obstruct their spawning process. They even have a hard time going over fish ladders. The ideal streams for hitch to spawn have gravel and slow moving water. Kelsey Creek and Adobe Creek are considered the primary creeks for spawning hitch, but other creeks also provide spawning grounds for the fish. Down through the years, loss of habitat and dams have destroyed much of the hitch”s spawning area. Many of these streams are now drying up early in the year, which prevents the hitch from spawning.
While most bass fishermen have never seen a hitch, they are an important part of the food chain for Clear Lake”s most popular game fish. Largemouth bass regularly feed on hitch. In fact, hitch are responsible for the popular bass fishing technique know as “ripping,” which was first started at Clear Lake.
Ripping is when a fisherman retrieves a long and floating minnow-like lure with short, hard jerks. The action of the lure resembles a hitch. The lake record bass of 17.52 pounds caught in 1990 had a large hitch in its stomach.
Hitch are receiving worldwide attention because many manufacturers are making swimbaits that closely resemble them. These swimbaits have proven so popular they are often used by professional tournament bass fishermen in states where there are no hitch.
Why do we care about this small native fish that is rarely seen and isn”t a game fish? One reason is because it is a native fish and is nearly as old as Clear Lake. More importantly it is an indicator of what”s happening to our environment. If a species as old as the hitch can disappear then we know something terribly wrong is going on in our lake.
Another reason is that most of the original native fish in Clear Lake have disappeared. A good example is the Clear Lake Splittail. It was a fish that closely resembled the hitch and once was in the lake by the thousands. It is now considered extinct.
There is a group of concerned citizens who are trying to restore the hitch population. They have formed an organization called the Chi Council for Clear Lake Hitch and their members annually fan out along the streams and count the number of hitch spawning. They also have been very active in restoring the spawning areas. More information about the organization can be obtained from their website at http://lakelive.info/chicouncil/.
