Here’s an interesting critter that most folks have never encountered: The Sacramento Splittail. Even if you live in its home range of Nor Cal’s Central Valley and Delta regions, it’s not a fish commonly encountered. Part of that is due to the fact that Splittail aren’t considered a gamefish and their relative obscurity is also a function of them not being present in large numbers anymore. Sure, there are isolated populations of these guys but they’re nowhere near as abundant as they were before the valley’s rivers were dammed.
These cyprinids prefer to spawn on flood plains, but with reservoirs controlling the flow of the Sacramento and her tributaries, the flooded spawning habitat they prefer occurs only intermittently these days.
While they kinda look like a mountain whitefish crossed with a pike minnow, Splittail are actually kinda cool looking beasts when you get ’em up close. The oversized upper lobe of the caudal fin for which they’re named give’s them a bit of a “brown bonefish” vibe. Unfortunately, splitties can’t burn line like the bones of the flats, but they can actually put up a decent scrap on light gear.
Splittail once ranged from San Francisco Bay to Redding but now are most commonly found in the Delta and the Sacramento’s lower reaches…up to about the town of Verona, at the confluence of the Feather and Sacramento rivers. He’s a greedy little bugger that mainly feeds on the bottom on clams, crustaceans, and insect larvae, though I’ve seen them take insects off the surface in the early mornings and I’m pretty sure they also eat small fish.
In the winter, they’ll migrate upstream and look for flooded areas in which to spawn (typically in March).
Jeremiah says
Huh…I thought Sacramento Splittail hung out near the mouth of the American River in the warm Summer months? On expensive boats guarded by hoards of drunk roid monkeys!
Tim says
I rescued 28 Cutthroat fry from a puddle on the Van Duzen a week ago, two of them looked like Splittails… could they’ve been?
Jeremiah says
My guess would be squawfish (Sacramento Pike Minnow). The whole Eel system is infested with them.
JD says
Absolutely correct — pikemonnow!
Bentley, not to be confused with Bentrod says
Splittail are on the threatened species list now.
Justin W. says
I’ve caught a few in the delta region. I used to hate them because they reminded me of “squawfish” we used to catch in eastern Oregon (Lake Owyhee area).
Erik says
I caught one about 5 years ago in cow creek in redding, this year same spot my buddy caught one and then I also had another friend catch one this year anchor fishing for Stripers. Always wondered what they were. Thanks for the info!