CatfishED.com

January 3, 2002

     It appears as if most catfish anglers are staying off the lake due to the cold and rainy weather, holiday activities etc.

     The only catfisherman that's doing well is Fish Chris of www.trophybassonly.com. He and his fishing buddies continue to have great success near Konocti Harbor and Frasier Point. He and a friend went out on New Years Day and caught and released 20 channel catfish including 3 monsters weighing 23.8, 20.7 and 19.8 pounds. Most of the fish were taken in 20 to 25 feet of water with fresh and frozen shad as bait. They were using ultra-lite rods and reels so every fish was an adventure, especially the bigger ones. For more details in Chris's own words click here.

     The north end of the lake is still fairly slow for channel catfish but the heavy rain has perked up the brown bullhead bite. The top spot is Rodman Slough anywhere from the bridge up into the slough. Anywhere that has muddy water runoff from the rains flowing into the lake can be a good spot to catch the tasty bullheads which run from around 1½ to 4 pounds. Mini crawlers and garden worms are the best baits.

     Brad Stevens of Tackle It Sport Shop in Lakeport 707-262-1233 reports a few channel cats being caught off docks in the Lakeport area with crawdads and nightcrawlers.

January 10, 2002

     This report is getting very repetitious since there are so few catfish anglers going out at this time of year.

     The only spot that is really producing is still the docks at the Konocti Harbor Resort Marina. Fish Chris of www.trophybassonly.com and his friends are still experiencing excellent fishing. On Tuesday January 8 Chris and 3 friends of his caught and released 31 channel cats weighing from 10 to 23.7 pounds while fishing the docks at Konocti. They were using fresh and frozen shad with just a split shot a few inches above a #4 hook tied to the end of the line. They all were using ultra-lite gear to really add to the fun.

     Brad Farrin of Don's Bait & Tackle in Clearlake 707-995-9668 says they are getting a few cats in the 8 to 12 pound range off the local piers in Clearlake with nightcrawlers. He adds that Cache Creek is producing a few nice fish when they are letting water out at the dam, also with nightcrawlers.

There's still not much activity in the north end of the lake. They are still catching a few bullheads at Rodman Slough with mini-crawlers and a few nice channel cats are being taken off docks in the Nice/Lucerne Area and Lakeport with nightcrawlers and clams.

January 17, 2002

     Catfishing remains phenomenal at Konocti Harbor Marina but there is very little activity anywhere else.

     Fish Chris of www.trophybassonly.com and his buddy Dee, both from Fairfield Ca. continue to catch huge numbers of catfish at Konocti Harbor Marina in Kelseyville. They went out Tuesday January 15 and caught and released 71 channel catfish, 15 white catfish and 5 brown bullheads for a total weight of over 1000 pounds including 2 channels just over 20 pounds and Chris's new personal best of 27.8 pounds. They were using frozen shad fished in 15 to 25 feet of water right outside of the Konocti Marina docks. This incredible catfish bite has been going on since late November and just keeps getting better. I'm sure it's going to slow down eventually, probably when the huge school of baitfish (threadfin shad and silverside minnows) is finally depleted. For the whole story in Chris's own words go here.

     A much tamer report comes from Brad Stevens of Tackle It Sport Shop in Lakeport 707-262-1233. Brad says the only catfish report he has received is a few nice channel cats up to 23 pounds being taken in North Lakeport off docks at night with nightcrawlers.

January 24, 2002

     The extremely cold and windy weather has taken its toll on the catfishing, even the red hot fishing at Konocti Harbor Marina has cooled off a little.

Fish Chris of www.trophybassonly.com and his friends continue to catch big numbers of catfish at Konocti Harbor Marina but not nearly as many as last week. On Tuesday January 21st. Chris fished by himself and managed to catch and release 28 cats including a 20.8 and 23.3 lb'er. On Wednesday he fished with his partner Dee and they caught 32 cats including 18.6 and 18.8 lb'ers. All the fish were caught in 20 to 25 feet of water just outside the marina docks with frozen shad. Evidently the cold weather hasn't completely shut down the bite but the fact that it's slowed down considerably might indicate that the end is near. If you want to get in on this quality catfishing I suggest you dont wait much longer.

     Brad Farrin of Don's Bait & Tackle in Clearlake 707-995-9668 says there haven't been any catfishermen going out lately but a couple of bass guys have been getting a few nice cats weighing from 8 to 15 pounds while bass fishing with live jumbo minnows at Rattlesnake Island and Wheeler Point in 12 to 18 feet of water.

     I have no reports of any catfish activity in the north end of the lake except for a 19 pounder that I caught and released off our back deck on Sunday evening with mini crawlers.

January 31, 2002

     The weather has remained very cold with temperatures dipping into the low 20's and has slowed down the catfish bite even more than last week.

Fish Chris of www.trophybassonly.com was fishing at Konocti Harbor yesterday with his partner Dee and they caught 22 channel catfish from around 8 pounds to 24.4 lb's and 12 white cats to 6 lb's using frozen shad as bait. Compared to the fishing there a couple of weeks ago, it might be considered a bit slow but it's still way better than average for numbers and size of fish. Catching 4 or 5 cats weighing from 8 to 15 pounds in a day or night is considered good fishing by most Clear Lake catmen regardless of the time of year.

     Brad Farrin of Don's Bait & Tackle in Clearlake 707-995-9668 says he only talked to one catfish fisherman all week and he caught 2 channel cats weighing 8 and 11 pounds with jumbo minnows near Bass Alley.

     The north end of the lake is very slow, I caught an 8 pound channel cat off our back deck on Tuesday night with frozen shad but that's the only action I've heard about.