A 30-pound channel catfish was caught at Hesperia Lake Park on Sunday, July 26, 2026.
According to Hesperia Recreation and Park District officials, the trophy fish was so heavy it broke the park’s scale during the official weigh‑in. The catch was made by angler Javier Antonio Fuentes, who officials said “brought this legend to the shoreline.”
Fuentes made the catch while braving a brutal heat wave.
Two days previously, on July 24, the lake had been stocked with 1,000 pounds of catfish and 500 pounds of tilapia.
The whopper Fuentes landed, however, had been in the 7-acre lake far longer than two days. The time it would take a five pound catfish to grow to 30 pounds would typically require no fewer than 12 months and most likely more in the range of 18 months. The channel catfish and tilapia stocked into Hesperia Lake come from Pacific Aquafarms in Niland, California. According to recent fish reports, the fish delivered by Pacific Aquafarms are typically in the 1.5 pound to 2.5 pound range, with some larger specimens up to 3-to-4 pounds. It would thus seem the Ictalurus punctatus that Fuentes hooked and then managed to pull in, was likely swimming about Lake Hesperia for at least 21 months and had perhaps been there as long as two years.
The channel catfish, with the scientific moniker Ictalurus punctatus) and known informally as the “channel cat”, is a species of catfish native to North America. They are North America’s most abundant catfish species. As such, it is also the most fished species of catfish in the United States, with around 8 million anglers seeking them out every year.
In their recent forays to Lake Hesperia, fisherman stay in the shade to avoid the sweltering conditions brought on the merciless sun.
In days going forward the temperature is expected to reach 113 degrees.
The channel catfish and tilapia stocked into Hesperia Lake come from Pacific Aquafarms in Niland, California. According to recent fish reports, the fish delivered by Pacific Aquafarms are typically in the 1.5 pound to 2.5 pound range, with some larger specimens up to 3-to-4 pounds.
The stocking is part of Hesperia Recreation and Park District’s ongoing program to maintain healthy catfish populations in the lake, with multiple annual releases to support fishing opportunities.