It’s rare at Collins Lake for catfish to steal the headlines but this time it is very well deserved.  Hilario Sandoval of Vacaville is a long time Collins Lake fisherman, who saw all the recent catfish and decided he had to get up here and get a line in the water right away. Tuesday August 27th, he sat out in front of Campsite #116, hook baited with chicken liver.  Around 9pm there was a tug at line, and on the other end was this humongous catfish, which topped out our calibrated scale.  By the time we got a bigger scale on site the fish was gutted and cleaned.

I know it’s always a point of contention, guessing at weights, but I’d put this one at no less than 28 pounds, which would have been a lake record had we gotten an official weight.  Sandoval’s penchant for catching catfish isn’t just a matter of dumb luck, the next night he caught two more whiskerfish, 3.5 & 7.5lbs, but the biggest one of all will remain the stuff of legend & lore…. how much do you think it weighs?