Clear Lake has three species of catfish, the channel catfish, the white catfish and the brown bullhead. It’s the large channel catfish that most of the fishermen are targeting. The lake record for channel catfish is 33.33 pounds and the world record is 58 pounds. A 33-pound catfish is a monster. He can live to be 30 years old.
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 in 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 also mostly nocturnal, meaning they feed at night. One method they use to locate their 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. At Clear Lake many of the channel catfish 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 5-10 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 30 years. With the exception of man, an adult catfish has very few enemies.
The other species catfish in Clear Lake is the white catfish. This is a much smaller fish and rarely grows larger than six pounds. They prefer muddy areas and will spawn back in the tules or sloughs. At one time the white catfish was the most popular catfish in the lake because of their superior eating qualities. But in the past few years this species of catfish has just about disappeared from the lake.
Back in the 1960s and 70s, catfish were the top game fish in 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. 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 have several spawning catfish.
Even though bass have replace catfish as the most popular fish in Clear Lake there are still a few dedicated souls who haven’t given up on one of 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 it was the catfisherman chugging out across the lake in his 12-foot aluminum boat heading for his favorite fishing spot, now there are the bass fishermen in their high speed bass boats roaring across the lake at speeds in excess of 60 mph.
Bass may have replaced catfish as the preferred fish in the lake, but once a year, during the annual Clearlake Oaks derby, the catfish reigns supreme.
