What kind of catfish are in california

Some fish have been found to live longer than 40 years, weigh over 26 kg, and grow to be longer than 1 m but California fish older than 10 years or longer than 53 cm are rare. Reproductive timing is also fairly variable with first spawning points ranging from 2 to 8 years old and lengths between 18 and 56 cm, but the typical maturation point is 3 years old and at least 30 cm in length.

Channel catfish need sheltered, cave-like sites for nests and often use old muskrat burrows, undercut banks, logjams, riprap of large rocks, and even dumped barrels.

These may sometimes be difficult to find and while some females may spawn twice in a season it is not uncommon for planted populations to fail to spawn entirely. If an appropriate area is found, males will clear away and protect the nest site before the pair mates.

They will mate multiple times until the female lays all her eggs: between 2, and 70, depending on her size. The males will stay with the nest, fanning it to maximize the oxygen available to the eggs until they hatch days later. The mm long juveniles start swimming after a couple days but will not leave the protection of the nest and the males until 7 days after hatching.

When the juveniles do leave the nest they may school together as a group for some time before departing on their own when they reach approximately 25 mm in length. Catfish are not line shy like some gamefish. You can get away with your trout or bass rod and smaller terminal tackle in waters dominated by smaller catfish, such as bullheads or recently stocked pan-sized channel cats.

As a general rule, catfish are most active in warm water, and the summer months offer the best opportunities to catch catfish in California.

Big catfish spend their days in deep holes, but they emerge at night to feed on shallow flats, and most anglers agree that the best catfishing is after dark and during the twilight hours of early morning and late evening. Cats will still bite if you put a bait close enough for them to smell it.

As a general rule, the biggest catfish are most active after dark, but you can still catch your limit of small to medium-sized catfish during the day. A vast inland river delta and estuary that feeds into San Francisco Bay, the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta encompasses nearly islands and more than 1, miles of waterways. Spring and summer in the California Delta often find catfish closest to shore, making these the favorite seasons among local catfish anglers.

The waters of the California Delta are influenced by the tide, but the farther upriver you go, the less the impact of the tide will have. More: Fishing in the California Delta. Flathead catfish are far less common in California than channel catfish, but the Colorado River is a unique place where flatheads flourish. The river meanders along the Arizona border in Southern California, and the section of river near the community of Blythe, California, is known for producing astonishing numbers of flatheads.

There are seemingly endless 2- to 5-pound flatheads in this section of the Colorado River, but you might end up tangling with giants too. Flatheads hunt more actively than most catfish, often waiting among the tules that grow along the riverbank to ambush prey. They have larger mouths than channel catfish, and oversized live baits can be effective.

Some locals use live bluegill, which is legal as long as you catch them in the same water you use them in. Fishing the Colorado River at night is usually the best option, and not just because catfish are more active after dark. Daytime temperatures in this part of the state are routinely over degrees. Flathead catfish also are caught in several Colorado River reservoirs, including popular Lake Havasu.

Channel catfish over 30 pounds have been pulled from Clear Lake, and any summer evening can easily yield a limit of feisty 2- to 5-pound cats, which are the best eating size. Just shy of 60 feet at its deepest point, Clear Lake is relatively shallow, and offers an abundance of aquatic vegetation and woody cover.

Popular shore fishing spots include Lakeside County Park and the area under the bridge that spans Rodman Slough. More: Clear Lake Fishing. In fact, San Vicente in a rare class of California lakes that have yielded multiple hundred-pound catfish. The Barona and Kimball arms of San Vicente Reservoir are popular among catfish anglers, and the area around Lowell Island is another favorite spot.

San Vicente Reservoir is open to the public from half an hour before sunrise until sunset, so night fishing is not an option here. Starting early in the morning is your best bet, but blue cats in deep holes will bite during midday. More: San Vicente Reservoir Fishing. But every once in a while, a giant catfish from Lake Casitas will make local headlines as well. Channel cats weighing 20 pounds or more turn up every few years in this 1,acre Ventura County Reservoir, and pounders are fairly common.

The catfish bite is pretty consistent at Lake Casitas throughout the spring and summer months. One pattern that seems to hold true here is that the best fishing is right after a heavy rain.

When searching deeper areas with sonar, look for baitfish and the thermocline. Structural elements that top out above the thermocline and hold baitfish almost always hold catfish. Remember, too, that deep water is relative. In highland or canyon impoundments, water up to 30 feet deep is considered shallow. At any time of year, concentrations of cats often spend the day at depths ranging from 40 to feet. At one of my favorite local lakes, some of my best catches have come from spots 55 to 60 feet deep.

At another area lake, local anglers have caught numbers of pound-plus channel cats from a hump near the dam in water 95 feet deep. Deep-water fishing is more difficult than fishing shallow, but the cats also tend to be less spooked by boat traffic.

Fish in these waters tend to be shy and bite tentatively, even on a good day. Fish that have adapted to living in deep lakes with little shoreline cover tend to use the depths as a form cover and prefer the low-light conditions found there. If forage is deep as well, that's where they'll spend most of their time and feel most secure. The one thing that sets southern California cat anglers apart from anglers in other regions is their unique approach to presentation. A general rule of thumb is to use the lightest possible sinker.

Here, it's how many ways can you present a bait with no sinker at all. Known as flylining or freelining, this is a common technique for serious catfish anglers, especially those targeting trophy channel cats. Catfish in these parts seem especially sensitive to weighted offerings and instantly reject a bait if they detect any resistance.

That reputation is well deserved and holds true whether they're in 6 feet of water or So three-way rigs are less effective than sliprigs and freeline rigs. Three-way rigs work when the fish are aggressive, but most anglers couple them with light-wire circle hooks so the fish hook themselves on the strike. During the warmer months when the fish feed in shallow water, fishing from the bank can be as productive as boat fishing.

Choice of spots often is determined by local access restrictions or by how far you're willing to hike from your car. The closest, best-looking points and coves probably are the most popular and hardest fished areas. Choose spots based on proximity to deep water, shoreline weedgrowth, and water clarity. When things get crowded, especially at night, I've found that the chances of connecting with bigger cats are greatly improved by fishing places most anglers consider second- or third-rate spots, but where things generally are more peaceful.

At popular day-use lakes, the peak time often is the last hour of daylight, when boats are headed for the ramp and the lake quiets down.

Heavier tackle might be necessary for big blue cats if snaggy cover is present or if longer casts or heavier sinkers are required. Standard rigs and techniques apply; when the fish are in an aggressive mood, they work here as they do everywhere else. When you're getting few bites with standard riggings, though, or the fish tend to pick up the bait, run 2 or 3 feet, and spit it out, then it's time to break out the finesse gear.

Sometimes downsizing in line diameter, hook size, and sinker weight is necessary to trigger more bites or allow the fish to hold on to the bait long enough to set the hook. The move to lighter line, in this case to pound test, has less to do with line visibility than increased casting distance.

A similar rod with a narrow-spool baitcasting reel spooled with pound line also is an excellent choice. Longer rods, such as light-power surf rods or steelhead rods are a better choice for maximum casting distance with freelined baits. Hook style and size are critical. One trick is to use a wide-gap, light-wire, small-barbed bass hook such as the R-bend style used for rigging soft-plastic baits. A light-wire Kahle hook is another good choice. Threading small pieces of cutbait on the hook creates a heavy, compact, and aerodynamic bait that can be cast far with no added weight.

The advantage of large light-wire hooks is that the fine point and short barb allow good hooksets on light line. Some days, the angler who can cast an unweighted bait past the first drop-off or weededge will be the only one catching fish.

Further improvements include using small-diameter superline such as Berkley FireLine in the to pound-test range for more distance, less stretch, and the ability to use heavier hooks.

Saves lots of rigs when fishing near snaggy cover, too. Another way to improve casting distance with freelined baits is to add a second hook using a three-way swivel. Use a inch leader on one hook, and make the other one about a foot longer.

By using a bigger hook or a heavier hunk of bait on the longer leader, the rig will cast reasonably well and give you a little more distance. You can simultaneously experiment with two baits. An important part of finesse fishing for cats, whether using a sliprig or a freeline rig, is bite detection.

A standard practice on the West Coast is to prop the rod on a forked stick, open the bail on a spinning reel, and loop the line over the raised tab of a beverage can set at a right angle to the rod.

Same deal with a baitcasting combo in freespool. When set up correctly, the slightest pull knocks over the can and alerts you to a bite. On windy days, add pebbles, sand, or water to the can for added weight.

When fishing from a boat, the same tackle and rigging used for shore angling — minus the surfcasting gear — works fine, especially in shallow water where more casting distance is required. Drift fishing probably would work here but is rarely practiced, since many lakes have limited areas, such as large flats, where that style of fishing works well.