March 3 2000 The catfishing is improving steadily due to all the rain we have been getting lately. Cut bait and clams in clear water and nightcrawlers or garden worms in muddy runoff water are the way to go. Bob Higgins of Limit Out Bait and Tackle in Clearlake Oaks (707-998-1006) says the catfishing in the Clearlake Oaks Keys has been excellent. Most anglers are catching channel cats in the 10 to 12 pound range with an occassional 19 or 20 pounder. The top baits have been clams and mackerel. There are also a few brown bullheads from 2 to 3 pounds being taken with crawlers. Al Freitas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake (707-995-9668) reports lots of nice channel cats from 10 to18 pounds grabbing nightcrawlers and clams in Cache Creek. There are quite a few large channels being taken around Red Bud Park with dead minnows and cut bait also. In the north end of the lake Rodman Slough has been giving up quite a few channel catfish including a 20 pounder and buckets full of brown bullheads. Nightcrawlers and garden worms are accounting for most of the action with a few fish falling for clams and mackerel. Kelsey Creek is producing similar results with worms, clams and cutbait. There have been a few channel cats and a lot of brown bullheads taken off docks at night in the Nice/Lucerne area and in Lakeport mostly with nightcrawlers or garden worms. Good Fishin.......Catfish Ed  March 10 2000 The catfishing is very good in the south end of the lake and fair to good in the north end. Al Freitas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake (707-995-9668) says the fishing is awesome in Cache Creek. Al weighed in 5 channel catfish weighing over 22 pounds each in the last week. Most of the fish are being caught on minnows and night crawlers with a few falling for mackerel. In the main lake, anglers fishing docks in the Pirates Cove area are catching cats to 18 pounds using dead minnows. There are a lot of brown bullheads weighing 2 to 4 pounds being caught on worms and crawlers wherever there is muddy water runoff coming into the lake. Terry Knight, Outdoor Editor for the Lake County Record Bee reports quite a few channel catfish from 10 to 15 pounds with a few bigger ones to 24 pounds being caught in the Lakeport area off shore and from docks. The best time has been from early evening to about 10:30 at night. The top bait has been nightcrawlers and mini crawlers. Terry confirms the brown bullhead bite around muddy runoff areas. Rodman Slough in Nice is still producing a few brown bullheads but the channel cats are not as cooperative as they were last week. There are a few cats being taken from the shore and docks in the Nice/Lucerne area mostly at night. The lake is rising slowly as the rain keeps falling and that's just what the doctor ordered for the catfishing. Good Fishin.......Catfish Ed   March 17 2000 The catfishing has slowed down in most areas due to the lack of muddy water runoff. Most of the fish have moved to deeper water making them difficult to locate. Al Freitas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake (707-995-9668) says the Cache Creek area is still producing quite a few quality fish including 3 that went from 20 to 221/2 pounds and a lot of 12 to 15 pounders. Al rates nightcrawlers and anchovies as the top baits. Percy Oved of Limit Out Bait and Tackle in Clearlake Oaks (707-998-1006) reports a few nice channel cats being taken in the Clearlake Oaks Keys with nightcrawlers including a 15 pounder (probably blind!) caught by Percy. In the north end of the lake there are a few small channel catfish being taken off docks in the Nice/Lucerne area at night with nightcrawlers and cut bait. Rodman Slough is still producing an occasional large channel cat but it's a long wait between bites. We probably won't see much change in the catfishing until we get more heavy rain to start some runoff. Good Fishin.......Catfish Ed March 24 2000 The south end of the lake is still producing a fair amount of catfish but the north end has slowed down considerably. Al Freitas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake (707-995-9668) says Cache Creek is still giving up a few channel cats running from 3 to 10 pounds using nightcrawlers and mini crawlers. Anglers fishing the back side of Indian Island are averaging 3 or 4 cats per day running 5 to 10 pounds with anchovies and mackerel. Dock fishermen are catching small channel cats at night using crawlers. Percy Oved of Limit Out Bait and Tackle in Clearlake Oaks (707-998-1006) reports local anglers catching 2 or 3 channels per day off their docks in the Clearlake Oaks Keys using nightcrawlers. The north end of the lake appears to be pretty slow although there aren't a lot of catfishermen going out. Die hard fishermen are catching an occasional channel cat in Rodman Slough with crawlers. Night fishing off docks in the Nice/Lucerne area has been fair for small cats with clams and crawlers    March 31 2000 The catfish bite has slowed down considerably due to the lack of rain. Wind in the south end of the lake has kept most fishermen off the lake. Al Freitas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake (707-995-9668) reports a pair of anglers fishing in Cache Creek all night only managed 3 channel cats from 10 to 13 pounds using live jumbo minnows and that was the best report Al had. Bob Higgins of Limit Out Bait and Tackle in Clearlake Oaks (707-998-1006) says he talked to a couple of fisherman that fished Rattlesnake Island all day and didn't even get a bite. There have been a few big channel cats taken in the Clearlake Oaks Keys with nightcrawlers off docks but it's far from a sure thing. The north end of the lake should be picking up very soon. The water is warming up and the catfish should start moving shallow in search of crawdads and other forage. There have been a few fish taken in the Nice/Lucerne area with nightcrawlers and clams while night fishing off docks. With the good weather predicted for this weekend, the action should pick up considerably. Back to Year 2000 Catfish Reports