Valentine’s Day 2026 will be a day Vince and Kim Mack never forget. While most couples were trading chocolates and flowers, the Macks were at California's famous Clear Lake looking for something much heavier. They found it in the form of a "fish of a lifetime", a monster Channel Catfish that has officially shattered the lake record.

Vince Mack, a retired Life Science teacher from Sacramento known to friends as “Vinny Bones,” has fished Clear Lake religiously for 20 years. Despite competing in the Clear Lake Catfish Derby every year, he had never made the leaderboard.

That changed at Shag Rock. Using a sardine and mackerel combo on a ultra sharp Gamakatsu hook, Mack felt the "Monster Channel Cat" take off. With a heavy Ugly Stick baitcaster rod with 65-pound Spider Wire line. The epic 15-minute struggle witnessed by Mack’s idol, "Catfish Steve" Johnson, who was fishing just 100 yards away.

His wife, Kim, traded a traditional romantic day for the grueling task of netting the beast and hoisting it into the boat. The fish was officially weighed at the local UPS Store in Lakeport. It tipped the scales at a staggering 44 pound 1 ounce, easily eclipsing previous milestones.

In 2009 Fred Miranda’s 33.33 pound 10 year old record was broken by Frank Gentle of Kelseyville in March 2019, his Channel Cat weighed 33.57 pounds. In September of 2024 Herb Cornwell from the city of Clear Lake bested Gentle’s record with a monster weighing in at 37.04 pounds.

Herb Cornwell, the previous record holder and local guide at Whisker Fish Guide Service, offered his full support and congratulations to Mack on the achievement. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The day after the catch was Vince’s 64th birthday. Reflecting on the moment the line went taut, Mack said, “Time stopped.” For a man who has fished all over the world, he maintains that Clear Lake is his favorite place on earth.

True to the spirit of the lake, the record-breaking fish was not kept as a trophy. After a 25-minute revival effort by local angler Mike Hitomi, the female catfish was released back into the water at Library Park.

As the community prepares for the 42nd Annual Clear Lake Catfish Derby this May, the largest event of its kind west of the Mississippi. Vince Mack has set a new bar that will be talked about for years to come.