CatfishED.com

February 7, 2002

     The weather hasn't been quite as cold as last week but the catfish action is still pretty slow in most areas around the lake.

Konocti Harbor Marina is still the only really productive spot that I am aware of. I fished there last Thursday afternoon with Fish Chris and we caught and released 16 cats weighing from 8 to 21.1 pounds with fresh shad. The latest report I have is one angler from San Leandro fished there late Friday evening through early Saturday morning. He caught and released 21 channel catfish weighing from 8 to 18 pounds from around 3:00AM to 7:00AM using frozen shad and anchovies for bait. He was anchored about 20 yards off the fuel dock in about 25 feet of water. The bad news is he reported seeing a lot of dead and dying shad in the area which could mean that the massive school of baitfish that has been in the bay for a couple of months is finally dispersing.

     Travas Bristol of Don's Bait & Tackle in Clearlake 707-995-9668 says the only catfish action that he's heard about was at the mouth of Cache Creek where they are catching an occasional channel catfish or two with nightcrawlers and clams. He added that there just aren't any serious catfish anglers going out lately.

There are still no catfishermen giving it a try in the north end of the lake that I am aware of. I caught another one (7 pounds) last Saturday evening off our back deck but had no other catfish action.

February 14, 2002

     The weather has been fantastic for this time of year but the catfish just aren't cooperating. Even the hot bite at Konocti Harbor Marina has slowed down to a crawl.

     Expert catfisherman Everett Walton from San Jose gave Konocti an honest 24 hour effort from Saturday morning to Sunday morning and only managed 2 channel cats weighing 9 and 12 pounds plus 5 brown bullheads from 3½ to 5 pounds using fresh shad and silverside minnows.

     Brad Stevens of Tackle It Sport Shop in Lakeport 707-262-1233 says he talked to a catfisherman that fished Konocti on Monday and caught only 2 cats using frozen shad but they both weighed a little over 20 pounds each.

     Brad Farrin of Don's Bait & Tackle in Clearlake 707-995-9668 says he's only talked to a couple of catfish anglers all week and they were only managing to catch one or two fish for a day's effort.

     We haven't heard of any catfishing activity in the north end of the lake and I haven't had a bite off our back deck for over a week. Hopefully we'll get some heavy rain soon which would muddy up the water and wake up the catfish.

February 21, 2002

     There's really no other way to say it, the catfishing has been downright lousy this week. The few anglers that have given it a try have either been skunked or managed to catch one catfish for a day's effort.

     Brad Farrin of Don's Bait & Tackle in Clearlake 707-995-9668 says he heard they are catching an occasional catfish at the mouth of Cache Creek with nightcrawlers but he emphasizes occasional.

     We received an email from a gentleman that fished the Konocti Harbor area for cats all day Saturday and to quote him:"we had no bites at all, cold and windy" I guess this confirms it, the Konocti bite is finished for awhile.

     We heard from one fisherman that tried it near the mouth of the Clearlake Oaks Keys in 20 feet of water. He caught one 7 pound channel catfish with chicken liver for a 4 hour effort. He did say that he saw another boat with a basketful of brown bullheads but they wouldn't reveal where they caught them or what bait was used. My guess is they were caught in one of the canals in the Keys with either garden worms or mini crawlers.

There has been absolutely no catfish action in the north end of the lake lately.

February 27, 2002

     There still aren't many people targeting catfish on the lake even though the conditions are improving.

     Percy Oved of Limit Out Bait & Tackle in Clearlake Oaks 707-998-1006 says they're catching a few small channel catfish on the lakeside of M & M Campground with jumbo minnows and or cut mackerel. Most of the fish are running from 4 to 8 pounds.

     We called all my other contacts in the south end of the lake but they had no catfish action to report.

     No one is fishing cats in the north end of the lake that I am aware of and I haven't caught one for almost three weeks. If the warm weather continues for awhile, the fish will start to move into the tules and brush to feed on crawdads.