384 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



The best fishing in Clear Lake has always been in the winter and 

 early spring with few fish of any kind being taken during the summer 

 and fall. The lake is at present open to fishing throughout the year. 



The standard type of gear for taking catfish was formerly the trot 

 line. This is a set line bearing many hooks. The best bait for catfish 

 is sardine. Since 1931 hand lines or rod and line have been the only 

 legal types of gear for catfish. The fishermen formerly shipped their 

 catfish to Sacramento or San Francisco for marketing. 



Seines are used for catching rough fish in the lake. The fishermen 

 operate under a permit which requires them to return all catfish and 

 other game fish to the water alive. Commercial fishing licenses are 

 required also. It is hoped that the seining will reduce the numbers of 

 coarse fish which are so numerous in the lake that they are considered 

 pests. A barge which can be moved to different parts of the lake is 

 the base of fishing operations. The large seine is set out from the barge 

 by a motor boat, and is hauled in with power winches. (See Fig. 146.) 

 Trucks are used for shipping the fish to market in San Francisco and 

 Sacramento. The trucks are equipped with tanks so that live fish can 

 be transported. The fish not sold are donated to charity or used for 

 fertilizer. 



Commercial fishing in other inland bodies of water in California 

 is now on a permit basis. From time to time it seems advantageous to 

 remove excess carp from reservoirs and natural lakes where they have 

 become too numerous. The fishermen use beach seines and sell their 

 catch if they can although the sale is of secondary importance. The 

 catch records show only amounts sold to dealers. Guadalupe Lake in 

 Santa Barbara County, Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, and the 

 Los Angeles City reservoirs have all been seined at times for carp. 



Nigger Slough, between Los Angeles and Wilmington, was once 

 the habitat of numerous carp. Fish dealers in Los Angeles occasionally 

 sent fishermen, equipped with beach seines, to the Slough to catch carp. 

 The Slough was partially drained about 1918, and the fish perished. 



Salton Sea was once an important fishing area for carp, humpback 

 suckers (Xijraiichen cypho) and mullet {Mugil cephalus). The fisher- 

 men made their catches with seines and trammel nets, and shipped their 

 fish to Los Angeles by train and truck. As the lake gradually receded 

 and became more salty, the carp and suckers perished but the mullet 

 fishery survived until 1931. Since then the Salton Sea fishery has been 

 on a permit basis. The statistics on the catch from this body of water 

 have never been adequate and are not included in the graphs accom- 

 panying this report. 



The inland fisheries of California will not again surpass the ocean 

 fisheries, but they may supply our markets with considerable quantities 

 of excellent fish for many years to come. 



