lazy catfishing wanted

I have a buddy who keeps bugging me to take him fishing (non-yak) and as I described different species and methods to catch them, he was most interested in catfishing.  I have only lived here for about a year and haven't done any freshwater fishing yet.  Can anyone recommend a good lake to catch some cats from shore near Monterey?  I don't really want to drive more than an hour, but all the good bets seem to be farther away than that.  Thanks in advance for your assistance.

rumor had it that there's catfish at Oneil Forebay - use night crawlers for bait....but let's keep that a secret

About an hour away and i hear it is lovely.

http://www.san-benito.ca.us/departments/dpw/parks%20pages/san_justo.htm

The santa clara lakes (Anderson, coyote, Calero) all have cats in them.  I would check on the bite with the local bait shops first.

MolBasser

You can also check out Clear Lake. And this website. www.catfished.com

CHEERS!

The lakes in Morgan Hill have catfish. Uvas, Chesbro. Molbasser mentioned the other two. Those lakes are about 45 minutes from Monterey.

If you want to catch a ton of catfish enter the striper derby!

Thanks for the help!  I think San Justo will be my target.  I checked out some of the morgan hill lakes online and they seem to be slow producers.  I would love to enter the striped bass tourny, but the WAF is not high enough, and working on another degree sure puts a limit on the radius of my adventures.  I am eagerly waiting the fall striper bite at San Antonio reservoir.

Interesting topic guys.
Truth be told...there aren't many good freshwater fishing spots near Monterey. I grew up in Gilroy and moved to Monterey. Unfortunately, I discovered once I moved here that if I wanted to fish freshwater, I had to drive back over the hill towards Gilroy.

I'm trying to be honest without sounding pessimistic here; but don't waste your time at San Justo. Especially if you really want catfish. During the spring, when they're planting trout, the bass fishin can be epic. Trout fishing is good at that time too. But there aren't many cats in the lake...I've only seen one caught there and thats a bad ratio considering I've been there about 15 times. And this time of year, the wind absolutely howls up there. Maybe not so bad in a yak but it was torturous in a raft.

I would like to reccomend Uvas Reservoir, up above Gilroy to the west. Park at the dam and walk across to the far side and fish that corner. I've had really good luck fishing there for catfish. Also, along the road that parallels the shoreline---there are a few good spots there too. I did most of my catfishing there in the evenings and at night but you can certainly catch them during the day too. Uvas is one of the few lakes that allow night-time fishing, along with Coyote Lake .Also, maybe try close to the inlet of Uvas Creek if its still muddied up. Chicken livers from safeway, salted mackrell, anchovies, night crawlers, or hotdogs all work well. The stinkier the better.
Other lakes to try would include Anderson (just upstream from the bridge or just beneath the bridge), Coyote, Chesbro, Calero (don't eat anything from here though), Coyote Creek below Anderson, and of course San Luis/O'Neill Forebay. And, if you live in Monterey, I'm sure you're familiar with El Estero. There are a few catfish in there but I wouldn't eat them. There are also catfish in Los Padres Res, up in Carmel Valley, but good luck catching them on barbless artificials (no bait allowed there). Oh ya, and there is the secret lake on former Fort Ord. Caught plenty of small catfish (maybe bullheads?) there but wouldn't consider keeping them.

Almost forgot San Anton' too! I've caught some Big cats there at night fishing from shore on the South Shore campgrounds, near Harris Creek. And I'm still waiting for my first San Anton striper. Very elusive thus far. Will be camping there later in September.

If there was ever a "good" time to catch catfish around here, it would be NOW.

Good luck if you go. And just send me a PM if you need direx or a faux guide.

See ya,
PK