22 Documented Tributaries 9 Active Spawning Streams Live USGS Data

Clear Lake
Tributaries

Every stream that feeds Clear Lake tells part of the hitch story. These creeks are the spawning grounds, nurseries, and lifelines that sustain California's most endangered endemic fish. Some run strong. Some have gone dry.

View Priority Creeks Kelsey Creek →

Priority Tributaries — 2025 Status

Kelsey Creek

Active

Adobe Creek

Active

Burns Valley

Active

Manning Creek

Active

Forbes Creek

Active

Cole Creek

Restore

Morrison Creek

Survey

Seigler System

Concern

22

Documented tributaries

9

Priority spawning streams

4+

Active restoration projects

2

Streams with no recent adults

All Tributaries — Alphabetical 27 creeks

South shore - Big Valley

Historic #2 spawning stream — most frequented in 2016, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2025. Highland Creek joins upstream.

N shore - Scotts Creek watershed

Joins Clover Creek before feeding into the Scotts Creek system. Part of the largest single freshwater input to Clear Lake via Rodman Slough.

Burns Valley Creek

SE shore - rearing habitat

Rearing habitat — ~4,000 juvenile hitch and thousands of larvae documented in 2024. Major juvenile nursery on the SE shore.

Rearing habitatActive 2024

N shore - Middle Creek feeder

Joins Middle Creek before the combined flow enters Scotts Creek and Rodman Slough. Part of the Scotts watershed system.

South shore - East of Kelsey

Funded restoration project — 1.55 miles of hitch spawning habitat. Downstream reach ran dry in 2024. USGS gauged (discharge + temp).

N shore - Scotts Creek feeder

Feeds into Scotts Creek on the north shore. Dayle Creek joins upstream. Part of the Rodman Slough watershed system.

East shore - Seigler Canyon system

Adults confirmed March through May 2024 — the most encouraging signal from the Seigler Canyon drainage in two decades.

Active 2024Cache Creek system

N shore - Cooper Creek feeder

Feeds into Cooper Creek, which feeds Scotts Creek. Part of the broader Rodman Slough watershed on the north shore.

West shore - Lakeport

4.7-mile stream entering Clear Lake at Lakeport. Adults confirmed April 18, 2024. Flow cut off May 28, 2024.

Hendricks Creek

N shore - Scotts Creek feeder

Adult hitch confirmed April 2, 2024 in Lake County WPD surveys. Feeds into Scotts Creek. Pool Creek joins upstream.

Active 2024Scotts feeder

South shore - Adobe Creek feeder

Joins Adobe Creek upstream in the south-shore drainage. Conditions in Highland directly affect the Adobe Creek spawning reach.

South shore - McGaugh feeder

No adults observed in 2024-2025. Upstream feeder to McGaugh Slough — access requires McGaugh to connect to the lake first.

No fish 2024-25McGaugh feeder

South shore - Clear Lake State Park

In 2020 every single one of the 1,672 hitch observed lake-wide was here. The most critical active spawning tributary. USGS gauged.

#1 ActiveBarrier removal

NE shore - rearing habitat

Rearing habitat near the town of Lucerne on the NE shore. Limited survey data — NE shore monitoring gap.

Rearing habitat

NW shore - Upper Arm

Listed in historical hitch habitat documentation as a spawning tributary. Limited recent survey coverage.

Historical spawn

SW shore - Big Valley

CDFW confirmed adults 2024 and 2025. Thompson Creek was rerouted into Manning Creek — both drain together to the lake.

South shore - between Manning & Adobe

No adults observed 2024-2025. Hill Creek joins upstream. Positioned between two active tributaries.

No fish 2024-25

N shore - Upper Lake - Scotts feeder

Flows through Upper Lake, joins Scotts Creek before Rodman Slough. UC Davis TERC flow monitoring. No water temp data.

Scotts feederUC Davis monitored

NE shore - Upper Arm

Listed in USFWS Species Status Assessment as a historical hitch spawning tributary. NE shore monitoring gap.

Historical spawn

East shore - Seigler Canyon system

Feeds into Seigler Canyon Creek on the east shore. Part of the Cache Creek drainage. Historical spawning tributary.

Seigler systemHistorical spawn

N shore - Hendricks Creek feeder

Feeds into Hendricks Creek, which feeds Scotts Creek. Part of the Rodman Slough watershed on the north shore.

North shore - largest inflow

Entry point for the entire Scotts Creek watershed. Scotts Creek (~24% of lake inflow, 30 miles) and Middle Creek enter the lake here.

Active~24% lake inflow

South shore - historic Thompson Creek channel

Enters between Manning and Adobe Creeks. Historic Thompson Creek channel once drained here before being rerouted into Manning.

Historic channel

Schindler Creek

East end - rearing habitat in the Keys

Rearing habitat in the Clearlake Oaks Keys area. 2024 WPD survey site — no fish observed.

Rearing habitatThe Keys

N shore - Rodman Slough - largest stream

30-mile watershed providing ~24% of all Clear Lake inflow. Enters via Rodman Slough. Hendricks, Cooper and feeder creeks join upstream.

ActiveUSGS + UC Davis gauged

Seigler Canyon Creek

East shore - Cache Creek drainage

No confirmed adults at Seigler Canyon since ~2004. Copsey Creek (same system) confirmed adults March-May 2024.

No adults ~20 yrsCache Creek system

SW shore - Manning Creek feeder

CDFW confirmed adults 2024 and 2025. Rerouted from Rumsey Slough — now feeds Manning Creek in the Big Valley corridor.

Active 2024-25Manning feeder