Mention Clear Lake and just about everyone thinks of the outstanding bass fishing. In fact, it’s rated as the No. 2 bass fishery in the nation, if not the world.
But Clear Lake isn’t just about bass. There are a number of other species of fish that swim in the lake and one that has drawn plenty of attention the last couple of years is the Clear Lake hitch. The hitch is native to Clear Lake and dates back more than 10,000 years. At one time it was the most numerous fish in the lake. Its historic spawning runs included streams that feed into the lake and they drew tens of thousands of hitch.
The fish originally was an important food source for the Pomo Indians residing on Clear Lake’s shores. The Indians called the hitch “chi” and they are a member of the minnow family. Adults can reach lengths up to 14 inches and exceed 1 pound in weight. The Clear Lake hitch is a subspecies of a hitch found throughout the Sacramento Valley and along the North Coast. It differs from other hitch in that it has larger eyes and deeper bodies.
The recent drought and other factors have had a major impact on the hitch population. They spawn in streams such as Kelsey and Adobe creeks but the past three years these streams have had very little water and there has been little or no spawning. The decline in the hitch has caused the California Fish and Game Commission to declare the fish “threatened” and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering placing it on the “endangered” list.
According to Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) biologists, the normal life span of a hitch is three to five years. During the recent Chi Council meeting a number of question were posed to DFW biologists considering hitch spawning. People wanted to know what would happen if the hitch were unable to spawn during a three- to four-year period. Would they become extinct? The DFW said it didn’t know. People also wanted to know if hitch spawn if the water is low, such as it is now because of the extended drought. The DFW had no answer to that question, either.
Electro-shocking studies conducted by the DFW from July 2014 through January 2015 resulted in only 27 hitch being shocked.
Hitch are considered weak swimmers and they have a hard time navigating streams where there are obstacles such as large rocks, culverts, dams and bridges.
There have been suggestions that a hitch hatchery could be built to rear hitch and they could be restocked in the lake. The DFW said it would be too expensive. Also, hatchery-raised fish could introduce diseases into the lake.
The Elem Pomo Tribe has plans to do restoration work on the streams to provide suitable spawning habitat for the hitch. Restoring the wetlands around the lake would also help the hitch. Of the hitch fingerlings that are hatched, only a small percentage survive and return to the lake. The hitch spawning season runs from late February until May. Once back in the lake the juvenile hitch spend their first months concealed along the shoreline in the tules and other weed growth. The drought has caused many of the tules to die off and that is the primary habitat for the young hitch. If they don’t have the tules to hide in they become prey for other fish as well as the birds.
If we get late winter storms and the creeks start to flow it could help solve the problem. The hitch would then be able to migrate up the creeks and spawn.
The Chi Council is seeking volunteers to count the spawning hitch. To contact the Chi Council send an email to chicouncil@lakelive.info. You can also go to the Chi Council website at http://lakelive.info/chicouncil/ and download a form to report hitch sightings.
It would a shame to lose a species of fish that has been part of Clear Lake for more than 10,000 years, but it could happen.
