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Lake Wohlford's version of Shamu

Two-pound piebald catfish

Cameron Gruwell, 27-year-old construction worker from Valley Center
Cameron Gruwell, 27-year-old construction worker from Valley Center

"I've seen thousands of catfish,” George Scalo said, “but I have never seen a catfish look like that before.”

Scalo, was talking about the piebald catfish, also referred to as a “cowfish” because of its white and black appearance — that was caught at [Lake Wohlford[[1] on Sept. 14.

Lake Wohlford. “We even serve catfish and eggs for breakfast.”

Scalo is a ranger specialist for the city of Escondido. “What a striking looking fish,” he said as we both looked at photos taken after it was caught. “It looks like Shamu.”

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“I caught it at about six in the afternoon,” Cameron Gruwell said. “When the lake started getting some shade. It was caught on a large chunk of cut mackerel in about five feet of water and it weighed about two pounds.”

After I spoke with Gruwell and Scalo on September 25, I did a search online and couldn’t find any info on a piebald catfish caught/photographed in San Diego County, prior to the Saturday catch of the 27-year-old construction worker from Valley Center.

Caught on a large chunk of cut mackerel in about five feet of water

“I’ve never even heard about that type of catfish,” said Christa from Smokey’s Lake Wohlford Cafe. She sees hundreds, maybe thousands of catfish a year, because their circa 1947 cafe, which is located by the lake and about seven miles east of Escondido, sells bait and tackle, and offers an all-you-can-eat catfish special for $17. “We even serve catfish and eggs for breakfast,” she said.

Scalo's been fishing the area since the 1980s, and has documented the catches at Lake Wohlford for 15 years.

“That day, I didn’t see Cameron’s catch,” he said.

“After taking photos, I returned the fish into the lake,” Gruwell said, “because I wanted someone else to catch it and experience the same stoke I got when I caught it.”

On a search online, another piebald catfish was caught and photographed in Oklahoma in 2015.

“The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation explained it this way in an email to GrindTV,” reported Adventure Sports Network. “”It was just a regular channel catfish. Piebalds are abnormalities in the animal kingdom. They occur occasionally in most all animal species. It was just a genetic malfunction.”

“Piebald is defined as spotted or blotched with black and white. The rare catfish was also described as a leucistic catfish, which is essential the same as piebald.”

“I’ve seen albino catfish, and they are not that common,” Scalo said. “But, I’ve never even heard of this before, [until today].”

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Cameron Gruwell, 27-year-old construction worker from Valley Center
Cameron Gruwell, 27-year-old construction worker from Valley Center

"I've seen thousands of catfish,” George Scalo said, “but I have never seen a catfish look like that before.”

Scalo, was talking about the piebald catfish, also referred to as a “cowfish” because of its white and black appearance — that was caught at [Lake Wohlford[[1] on Sept. 14.

Lake Wohlford. “We even serve catfish and eggs for breakfast.”

Scalo is a ranger specialist for the city of Escondido. “What a striking looking fish,” he said as we both looked at photos taken after it was caught. “It looks like Shamu.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I caught it at about six in the afternoon,” Cameron Gruwell said. “When the lake started getting some shade. It was caught on a large chunk of cut mackerel in about five feet of water and it weighed about two pounds.”

After I spoke with Gruwell and Scalo on September 25, I did a search online and couldn’t find any info on a piebald catfish caught/photographed in San Diego County, prior to the Saturday catch of the 27-year-old construction worker from Valley Center.

Caught on a large chunk of cut mackerel in about five feet of water

“I’ve never even heard about that type of catfish,” said Christa from Smokey’s Lake Wohlford Cafe. She sees hundreds, maybe thousands of catfish a year, because their circa 1947 cafe, which is located by the lake and about seven miles east of Escondido, sells bait and tackle, and offers an all-you-can-eat catfish special for $17. “We even serve catfish and eggs for breakfast,” she said.

Scalo's been fishing the area since the 1980s, and has documented the catches at Lake Wohlford for 15 years.

“That day, I didn’t see Cameron’s catch,” he said.

“After taking photos, I returned the fish into the lake,” Gruwell said, “because I wanted someone else to catch it and experience the same stoke I got when I caught it.”

On a search online, another piebald catfish was caught and photographed in Oklahoma in 2015.

“The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation explained it this way in an email to GrindTV,” reported Adventure Sports Network. “”It was just a regular channel catfish. Piebalds are abnormalities in the animal kingdom. They occur occasionally in most all animal species. It was just a genetic malfunction.”

“Piebald is defined as spotted or blotched with black and white. The rare catfish was also described as a leucistic catfish, which is essential the same as piebald.”

“I’ve seen albino catfish, and they are not that common,” Scalo said. “But, I’ve never even heard of this before, [until today].”

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Oct. 7, 2019
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