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Another strange creature sighted at Millerton Lake


Something strange lurks underneath the waters of Millerton Lake.

Earlier this week I received a phone call on the Weird Fresno hotline (yes I have a hotline) from a local resident who said he and his family witnessed something strange on their outing to Millerton Lake on Sunday. What's even more interesting is that a ranger that was on patrol there, saw the same thing. The person then found this website by doing a Google search for any strange Millerton sightings. Below is a transcript of the phone call.

I found your website while trying to figure out what I saw at Millerton Lake on this past Sunday. I'm not sure what it was in the lake, it was huge and it was making waves and there was nobody else out there.

I was on the dam with my family. It was bizare because after you saw these waves and something out there, some kind of mass, a ranger boat came up to where this was going on and was looking for whatever was causing it. And I'm pretty sure it saw what it was, because it was circling it.

So I'm not sure what it was, could have been a giant catfish or some giant fish. But it was very large. I would say maybe, from my distance it was about 200 yards away, I would say maybe about fifteen, maybe twenty feet long and the width of it was maybe about ten feet. It was rather large and that's the reason why probably the ranger saw it from afar, because you could see it from afar it was that big.

It was making lots of waves and then it dissapeared once the ranger showed up and the ranger hung around there for about, I would say for about fifteen minutes circling it. I heard some weird-like noises, like from the boat I don't know if he was singing or what. It was just bizare. My wife was there, she saw it as well.

The person also gave me his contact information and a follow up call is planned, but this has me wondering. I had posted several months ago about a giant catfish sighting also at Millerton Lake, but I has just assumed that it was just a "tall tale" told by someone to someone that was told to someone else, etc. and really didn't have much truth to it. But this sighting has me wondering what the hell is lurking under the waters by the dam.

I'm hoping to plan a small excursion to Millerton sometime in the near future. If so I'll post anything I find on here. That is if I'm not eaten by the damn thing.


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Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi,

I have buddies who told me about their own fishing experience on Millerton Lake. They were fishing one day with 20 lb strength fishing line and they caught something but it quickly broke. They then went back with a higher strength (50 lb) fishing line on a different day on Millerton Lake. The same thing happened, the line peeled out with the bite and they could not bring in the fish and the line broke. The 3rd and last try was with 100 lb test strength fishing line (braided?) and the same thing happened. They decided to quite trying after that. So there does seem to be large fish in that reservoir. Some people were joking that it was a dragon. Hahah, imagine that.
April 20, 2010 at 8:29 AM
Unknown said…
Great story...maybe it is a White sturgeon. I read that they are the largest freshwater fish in North America and can weigh over 1,500 pounds, be 20 feet in length, and live for over 100 years. Probably not, but hey..who knows!

Love your site!
May 14, 2010 at 4:00 PM
Anonymous said…
anonymous: i do believe that it could've been a dragon...i've have really close relatives who has experienced many things out there on the Millerton Lake...like one of my cousin...he loves to go fishing at millerton for their large-mouth bass...and it was a very sunny day..no clouds what so ever...then while fishing he notice that it was getting dark and had looked up to see if any clouds was there...no clouds what so ever...then he noticed that the shadow was in the water swimming very slowly moving away from him...describing the shadow as very long: bout the size of 2 buses put together both width and length...he then retrieved all his fishing pole and drove the boat back to the boat launch but was afraid of what it was so he was steering the boat very close to the shore...shortly after doing so...he looked back and notice that the shadow was now moving slowly after him as if following him...he was trembling very badly and when he got home...he told my uncle and was literally crying...then less than 1 month later...he died...so through the actions of my cousin...i do believe that its no joke...Millerton dam has been here for quite a long time..and there can be many things out there in the depth of the lake...but surely i do believe that not only 1 dragon but a couple (2 dragon) are lurking the depths of millerton lake..and the river or base liine of Millerton Lake which stretches over towards Auberry...
July 6, 2010 at 1:09 AM
Anonymous said…
dragons can take your spirit and devour the spirit instead of the body that is what I know from my religion they can either devour the spirit or eat the body with spirit
December 25, 2010 at 6:06 PM
Kevin said…
It may be true to the catfish stories which I've heard rumors of from long ago. Dragons are possible too; due to the incident one fan here mention about their cousin. The lake is built on and over what use to be the town of Millerton until a tragic flood rip through it making it what is Millerton Lake today. Having a dedicated court house rebuilt on site should spook you enough let alone having 'Lost Lake' under the dam as well. Must it be a spirited giant catfish or dragon stalking us out there in the lake... We will know one day. I go fishing there here and there during the spring when the lake is drain and surely I haven't seen anything. My brother and a few friends gone fishing there when the dam was full and saw some amazingly overgrown carp claiming them to be sizes of motorcycles. One note: catfish is rumored to have an unlimited growth size, take their cousin that was fished out of the menkong river in Thailand. Whatever you do: stray from the deep ends!! Oh and on one note sturgeons are naturally salt waters but like salmons swim up into fresh waters to mate and reproduce then making their way back to the sea, the size and years are correct though. *Heard that 'Lost Lake' was the gravesite for the town of Millerton*
February 18, 2012 at 9:37 PM
Weird Fresno said…
Kevin the town of Millerton never suffered a tragic flood, the area was flooded when Friant Dam was built. The courthouse was disassembled and then reassembled at it's current location.
February 18, 2012 at 9:40 PM
Anonymous said…
Ur right Michael....
March 6, 2012 at 11:34 PM
Anonymous said…
I actualy beleive he saw a sturgen because when the made the lake they stocked it with sturgen to and that is realy the only huge fish in that lake or so i beleive sofar because i now most of the fish in that lake
April 18, 2012 at 10:25 PM
Anonymous said…
i have heard many accounts of giant catfish at the base of the dam from workers who now refuse to go back into the waters because the monsters are wider than their shoulders are broad. i would highly recomend talking to some of these workers to confirm these encounters
July 12, 2012 at 11:39 PM
Anonymous said…
i Truly Beleive there is somthing Lurking in Millerton lake, i was there fishing with my two uncles on 07/14/12 , at the Madera side boat launch, it was a nice and clear sunny day, we got there around 2 pm, alot of boats and family were out enjoying the sun, we were out fishing by the water when we notice a large shadow in the water, looking up in the sky i knew it wasnt clouds, so i kept looking at it and it disapear, a minute later my uncle yelled at me from the other side of the hill, he was yelling, come here, come here, quikly! , so i drop my pole and ran over to him and seen that the same thing i saw moved to where he was at, it was the size of a car and this time it was making waves, and it was weird cause where we were at, there was no boats or jetskis around, and there it disapeared again , we were confuse, trying to figure out what it was, in my head i thought bout da catfish sighting but didnt share with my uncle, so he was like, i dont like the look of this so lets go home, so we called our other uncle and headed back to the car, after like 25 minutes we were waitn by the car for my other uncle, he soon arrive with a murk on his face and said you guys wont beleive what i say, he described the same thing we saw and him he knows about that cat fish thing and told my other uncle about it on our way home, right when we got home, my mom was like , did you guys know some body just drown at millerton about 20 minutes ago? i was like WTF ????
July 26, 2012 at 10:03 AM
Anonymous said…
Well guys I don't believe it is a sturgeon. It could have been a huge catfish or striped bass. But here is a story I like to tell from what I've seen with my own two eyes. When I was 10 years old ( now 22) I was on a big round raft with my friend floating along. When we passed the line that prohibits you from going pass it, the lifeguard suddenly blows his whistle signal to us to come back and when we were about to dive in the water to swim back....... We seen a long figure in the water with red glowing eyes . When it swam away it looked like a giant oarfish like figure swimming away . The thing looked like at least a good 60 feet long and 6 feet wide. So I do believe there is dragons in there seeking the next spirit to take!
August 1, 2012 at 4:01 PM
Anonymous said…
Anyone who has lived in Fresno, Clovis, or Friant for the majority of their lives knows, that there is a giant cat fish known as "Big Joe". You can no longer stand on top of the dam, but when you could, you could look down into the water by the dam and see him. At that time (1970's)he was about 20 feet long, and very large approx. 170-200lbs., at least. I knew a guy who was fishing, fell out of his boat, and was face to face with "Big Joe", terrified he started swimming as fast as he could and got back into his boat and paddled back to shore. If you want some stories, talk to some of the remaining older people who have lived in Friant, CA. all their lives.
September 6, 2012 at 11:38 AM
Anonymous said…
Me and my family have a pontoon houseboat that we carry a slip for at Millerton Lake. We were on our way to take it out of the Lake to do some maintance on it, when we notice some huge waves in the middle of the Lake. The waves were so big my kids were making jokes that it felt like we were in the ocean. There were no people, jet skiis or other boats around. And then the waves just stopped. I dont know where they came from but I dont think I'll be swimming in the lake.
October 28, 2012 at 6:43 PM
Anonymous said…
I wasn't old enough to drive so it must have been between 76 to 79. Me and my family stopped at the lake near dark. I paddled my rubber raft to the nearest island. While I was out there fooling around, my mother, father, and family friend began calling to me to look behind me, somthing big in the water, big and black. I didn't see it but I was sufficiently scared to jump in my raft and cruise back to the family as fast as I could paddle. Once back on shore my parents described a large shiny object like rubber about the size of a car, that rose slowly and then went down again. They had been about a hundred yards from the object and I only about fifty feet. I can see why they called to me to see what it was since I was so close. I am glad I didn't see it because I would probably still be on that island scared to go in the water with my raft. I Don't know what they saw. We were on vacation from over 1500 miles away and knew nothing of prior sightings. There is "something" in that lake.
November 12, 2012 at 6:36 PM
Unknown said…
For the people that don't know that lake well like I do. Let me tell what it is, it is a giant catfish that been in there for a long long time. I love fishing and I use to do it at millerton lake almost everyday because I have a boat and it was close by. Until one day me and my friend we were fishing in the hot 100 plus weather then my friend wanted to swim so we anchor the boat so my friend can take a quick dip. I didnt want to swim because I don't know how so I was just fishing. After min of casting my pole in the water I somehow saw from a corner of my eye something n big swimming very close by my friend. I then fear for his life when I actually saw what it was it frighten me so bad. I was speechless that I didn't know what to say to my friend my friend then look at me like I just saw a ghost. I told him to swim to the shore and don't ask me why. My friend was like why and then he felt something swimming around him. I thought to myself and I said if I don't do something my best friend is not gonna make it. So I quickly put the anchor up and started my boat to see if I can scare it away. When I did that it came straight to me with a huge wave on top of the water. When the wave got close to me it stop then i look down and it was a catfish bigger then my 19 footer boat. After that day me and my friend never went there again and I told all my friend n family about it that that place is not safe for people swim or fish. Hope this help and be careful if you plan on swimming there.
June 11, 2013 at 8:59 PM
Anonymous said…
Waves of water and wind was blowing like crazy as I enter the water on the Madera side towards the end. It was me and the family and in laws out for carp fishing. Before that I had a bad feeling like something was watching and making waves. Everytime I tried cast the senko worm, the wind blew harder, eventually, I gave up because it wasn't going anywhere. The scary part is that when Millerton was low, a 27 yrs old guy drowned at 5 ft of water. A uncle sited a another strange creature sighted north of the Broken bridge.
July 11, 2013 at 2:22 AM
Anonymous said…
20 feet long 200 lbs cmon folks pretty skinny for a 20 footer dont u think.I think you all need to leave the beer at home ive been around millerton since the early 70s and all your seeing are giant silver shad and occasional stripers that get up there around 70 80 lbs big fish but not big enough to write home about
July 31, 2013 at 7:36 PM
KFM said…
Something big is out there in Millerton. A young lifeguard drowned and disappeared in the 90's. I only know this because the lifeguard was friends with some of my friends. The story goes: He swam to the nearby island. Hung there for a bit and then swam back. On his way back, he seemed to be in pain all of a sudden and just like that - he disappeared down under. It's difficult to believe a lifeguard could drown from a muscle cramp. I'm pretty sure something pulled him under. Millerton claims swimmers' lives every year from what I hear. A lot of swimmers and triathlon athletes do their training at Millerton. Personally, I think there is something big in there and that the entire place is haunted.
September 3, 2013 at 2:55 PM
Anonymous said…
I've grew up hearing about the giant catfish that was supposedly the size of a VW Volkswagon.
October 31, 2013 at 11:30 AM
Anonymous said…
My Dad worked at the marina, we caught huge carp out of there 6' but they believe a sturgeon is there.
February 4, 2014 at 8:35 PM
Anonymous said…
My Father and I have fought many carp there through the years but nothing out 6' we have seen all types of huge fish out the in fact my father while managing the Marina bated the hook and gave the man who cought the record striper direction to fish from. He was told by some people when managing the Marrina that the enormous fish near the dam were sturgeon.
February 4, 2014 at 9:53 PM
Dave said…
The town of Millerton flooded in 1867 and it was why most of its residents left to now the place known as Fresno
March 22, 2014 at 7:16 PM
Anonymous said…
Ok folks, here is my opinion .Ive caught hundreds of bass at millerton lake over the years, I know the lake up and down . I thinkl what you are spotting and it occurs several times a year is that there are several shad species of fish , they form hugh schools, sometimes as long as 20 to 40 feet . Stripers and other bass chase them around.Even had them jump into the boat when stripers were going at them .They also have this bigger shad species, think they are called american shad, they get to be 5 lbs and are hugh , once again , the stripers love them . So its easy to think there is a big fish when they are schooled up, sometimes hey come to the surface and just boil and area that makes it look like the water is alive . Ive caught 20 lb plus stripes during these times as well as a bunch of spotted bass .While i think there can be 70 lb pound fish, i think they are few and far between . Biggest catfish i seen was a blue catfish about 35 lbs caught . Biggest striper 44 lbs while trolling near dam at 5 lengths down using a hair raiser jig .
May 17, 2014 at 3:00 PM
Anonymous said…
I too hav seen this thing with bright red eyes,in july 2012. I was fishing off the shore about 50 yards from camp,i shined my led light into the water about 2-3the feet off shore and it was swimming along the shore line as i approached the red eyes they went under the water really fast and was gone could hav been about six feet long..I hav even herd really loud splashes at like 2-3 in the morning when im fishing, im gonna go back and try to catch it again I KNOW IT'S OUTTHERE!!!
May 30, 2014 at 3:13 PM
Anonymous said…
Definitely a sturgeon.The fish have been known to make it from the SF Bay into the same routes the salmon and steelhead did. In about 1935 the dam was built locking in all fish that migrated into the river. Sturgeon are known to live over 120 years and reach a good 20 feet long. so that would only make the fish around 85 or 86 years old if it was one year old back then.Most likely it was about 15-20 years old then so this one is over 100 years old and they are a prehistoric looking creature not to be mixed up as a dragon!! Dragons are a myth-period!
June 23, 2014 at 8:55 PM
Marisa said…
Hello, I am not sure about the dragon, the sturgeon or the giant cat fish, however I will say that there is something very eerie about that lake and I wouldn't doubt that it is haunted. My brother worked in the mall a couple of years back and his employee had a shift switched because it was his birthday and he was going to the lake. He was on a raft and then hopped into the water only a few feet from the boat. They didn't hear screams or struggling and suddenly he was gone. They found him a while later and he had drowned. I'm probably not doing the story as much justice as it deserves but still seems odd. Anyways, today I went up to Millerton and hiked around and got into the water against my better judgement and when I came out, I had LEECHES on me. Not the giant black ones but small greenish ones and I had to peel them off of my skin. I had never heard of there being leeches at Millerton.. anyone know anything?
July 27, 2014 at 10:14 PM
Anonymous said…
Has anyone seen a huge bird type animal at hensley lake me and my friends fish there alot and we have seen it about 3 times this thing is easily 25 feet long huge u can feel the wind from its wings!!!
August 9, 2014 at 6:08 PM
Bob said…
Body with spirit goes well with ranch dipping sauce
September 17, 2014 at 1:07 AM
Bob said…
I think it might be a creature from one of those SyFy channel flicks. Megashark or Gatoroid or Crocosauras. It's really the only logical exlanation
September 17, 2014 at 1:15 AM
Bob said…
Are you exaggerating on the size? Could be a condor maybe? Or even a pterodactyl although it's been a few years since I've seen one of those around here.
September 17, 2014 at 1:17 AM
Anonymous said…
its just a freshwater mermaid!!! LOL!!
October 6, 2014 at 6:59 PM
Anonymous said…
I don't know about Hensley, but when I was a freshman at Bullard high I always took the school bus. So one day I came really early, so I sit and listen to music and look at the clouds when suddenly I see a huge black something flying towards me. I look at it and I see huge wings at least 20 ft long and bright red eyes. I got so scarred and drove under some brush and watch it fly over. It was very strange and spooky!!
October 17, 2014 at 9:57 PM
Unknown said…
I have never seen or heard anything out of the norm at millrton. I have fished there numerous times at the dam. My wife and son and I along with our dogs have swam at the dam as well with no strange sightings or occurances. Although when I was in high school (2000-2004) my good friends mom was living with this guy and he was a HUGE fisherman. He loved going out. With his boat to millrton lake. One day he woke up early and left with his truck and boat and he was never seen again. His truck and trailer were found at the parking area near the boat launch and his boat was found floating in the middle of the lake near the dam and he was nowhere to be found. To this day nobody knows what happened to him.
December 21, 2014 at 9:52 PM
Unknown said…
Good evening: My name is Vinney and I just happened to come across this website; I reside in the Northern California town of Corning, CA-I used to live in the Fresno, CA area back in the 1960's up and into the late 1990's. Back in those days I would quite often on my spare time visit Millerton Lake just to take a breather and get some piece of mind. But: With regards to my many excursions to the lake I never did notice anything out of the ordinary. If I ever go back there to the lake I would like however to spend and devote some time and effort to try search and detect the 'creature' or whatever might possibly lurk in the lake waters. it could even pose a danger to the public. I strongly believe the matter deserves investigation. Very likely according to sighting descriptions, the 'creature' or 'creatures' obviously reflect some type of huge or 'monster fish'. The lake is obviously man-made, so apparently it has to be for sure a California domestic aquatic species that seems to have 'outgrown' itself with regards to the local lake environment. Vinney Elias-
December 23, 2014 at 9:42 PM
Anonymous said…
Striped bass are growing in Millerton also. They can get huge over the years. Not many people fish for striped bass there so they are growing.
May 5, 2015 at 6:21 PM
Anonymous said…
I fish there about once a week. Leaving one day up sky harbor rood I looked down at the lake.I said what the heck is that. I could see, what looked like,I guess spikes sticking out of the water swimming and no boats were around but it was making a wake. I was a good 400 yards from the lake but you could see whatever it was.Something big in that lake.
May 28, 2015 at 7:46 PM
Anonymous said…
Last year my family and I took our pontoon boat out on the water at millerton. The board is destroyed hold 9 people although we only had four on the boat at the time. We were trolling around the water all day swimming and fishing and all that fun stuff. We decided to go to the area of the lake where the dam is. We were trolling around the water where the dam is for about 2-3 hours then killed the engine and put our our poles in the water for about an hour and a halg.... We didn't catch anything so we just decided to head back to the boat dock and call it a day. We started the boat up and was roughly 10 mind into sailing when a of a sudden the front of our pontoon boat just sunk under water without warning and without reason. We were litterly sticking horizontally out of the water like the Titanic! My niece was on the boat with us she was 6 so I instantly grabbed her and held on to her even though she was wearing a life jacket I couldn't even imagine her going under and drowning. My dad who was driving the boat all day slammed it into reverse as we were sitting there again litterly sinking into millerton! He threw it in reverse and the front of our boat sprung right up out of the wreadout was odd because we were sitting in the back of the boat under the sun tarp.... Our boat have water all over the place we were using our empty ice chests to scoop the water out. After we were able to get back to sailing everything was normal. We were on the water again no problem at all and finally reached the docks. My dad assumed we had hit some kind of under current or something. We checked the boats undercarriage and everything was in tact there was absolutely no explanation to why our boat went nose deep into the lake. I'm not saying a giant fish sucked is in or anything.... But after hearing these stories around the dam area now I'm curious as to why the hell out boat almost sunk for no explainable readon
May 31, 2015 at 11:06 PM
Unknown said…
😂😂😂😂
July 7, 2015 at 11:55 AM
Mike said…
In the Eighties and Nineties, I used to subscribe to the Fresno Bee. I'm always on the lookout for stories about the odd and unusual. I remember reading an article about sheriff's divers searching, not Millerton, but Pine Flat reservoir. I can't remember now what it was that they were searching for. What sticks in my mind is that one of the divers said that a very, very large fish swam by him while he was submerged. He flat out said that he would never dive in Pine Flat reservoir again. Sheriff's divers are brave guys who do some incredible things, so that impressed me. Whatever it was, it really scared him.

I once witnessed a catfish swallow a duck whole on the Arkansas river near Russelville. They can grow to be enormous, but I think these big fish are probably sturgeon. If they were put in right after the reservoirs were formed, they will have had decades to grow as the top predators in the lakes.
February 8, 2016 at 10:47 PM
Unknown said…
Im 42 now, but growing up in Fresno, my family and i would take trips to Millerton lake evry now and then. We have heard tons of stories. It's said to be a giant catfish the size of a vw. His name is the General. I don't know about it ever being called "big joe" but, everyone i knew of that heard of him, has always called him the General.
May 10, 2016 at 7:58 PM
Unknown said…
Im 42 now and i grew up in Fresno. My family and i would take trips to millerton lake often. We had always heard the stories of the giant catfish that lived in that lake called the General. Thats the name everyone used to call it. We have heard tons of stories about him. Like how you could sometimes see him when you were on the dam, and how some divers were scared and came back with stories of seeing the General and that he was as big as a VW and had huge basketball sized eyes. I dont know why another person on here is calling him "big joe"...but not only myself but everyone i know always knew him as the General.
May 10, 2016 at 8:11 PM
Everythingspooky said…
My uncle one time took me fishing to pineflat and I was about 9 and he pulled out a catfish as tall as me.
May 15, 2016 at 6:45 PM
Lee said…
You should check the Fresno Bee for a monster catfish sighting. There was a report of one in I think 1977. I remember that it was in Millerton Lake and the report was that the mouth was about six feet wide. If it is the same one, it must be about Killer Whale size by now.
June 5, 2016 at 10:30 AM
Lee said…
Check out the Fresno Bee for the year 1977 as it has a report of a giant catfish. The person reporting it was diving after an outboard motor that fell overboard when he came face to face with it. He said that the mouth was about 6 feet wide. I am writing this from memory as I lost the article. I remember it from a big typo in it. The writer spelled he this way hhheeeee.If it is still alive, it must be about the size of a Killer whale.
June 5, 2016 at 10:38 AM
Anonymous said…
There was an article in the Bee a couple of years back about DFG actually catching a large sturgeon when doing striped bass counts in Millerton, plus a report of another guy catching one about 5 feet long back in the river.
The reporter said they talked to a guy who was a kid when the Dam was built. He stated he helped the State catch fish that had been trapped in pools because of the receding water level for miles below the dam, they put them in 55 gallon barrels and dumped them into Millerton. He said there were lots of small sturgeon in the pools that got relocated to Millerton.....

They all were planted in Millerton....

At this point there are probably multiple fish over 1,000 lbs in Millerton...Not Catfish, Not Dragons, but Sturgeon.
July 17, 2016 at 12:17 PM
Anonymous said…
I know my story isnt Millerton, but says something about fish:
I worked afternoon shift down @ Vail Lake 29 years ago. My Dad was the MGR there, and the county sent two divers out to check on the dam, since at the time they were considering making it taller. The diver who actually went to the bottom of the damn was about 6ft tall, and while down there he felt something brush against his shoulder. Thinking it was his diving partner, he turned and saw a cat fish bigger than him. He shot out of that water so fast, and refused to ever go back in the Lake. Just saying catfish can get HUGE..I was fishing one night, and caught one on my new 26# test that snapped it like it was sewing thread.
August 1, 2016 at 6:54 PM
Anonymous said…
Watch the history of it. Google miller town.. they voted and choose fresno over it as the site and dammed it up
December 9, 2016 at 5:51 AM
fresnoguy said…
During college 2005-2010 I joined a fraternity and we would go camping in Millerton about twice a year. We would swim and sometimes go to the deep end and come back. I never saw anything. Talking to my dad one night I told him about camping out there. He told me never to get into those waters because he heard to many stories of something in the water taking people. He said it was something beyond our comprehension and never to go in the deep end. My dad is a very serious man. After that conversation I decided never to swim too far into Millerton lake. Then i began looking online and found this page... guess my dad was onto something.
March 24, 2017 at 10:37 PM
Anonymous said…
I have hiked north of millerton lake with some friends and in the strong current of the river, there was a bright blue colored fish trapped between the rocks. It was about 3-4 feet long and bright blue color. Never seen a fish like that before, I believe it was a sturgeon.
March 27, 2017 at 8:34 PM
Anonymous said…
I believe it is a large striped bass, a couple of years back I was fishing on top of a rock during a nice sunny day and no wind. I looked around me and saw a huge striped bass strolling along it went right underneath the rock I was on. It was easily 5-7 feet. Man I've always wanted to catch one at millerton. Never caught a striped bass there.
March 28, 2017 at 7:25 AM
Anonymous said…
I believe it can be a large striped bass. A couple of years back I was fishing on a huge rock when I spotted a large fish swimming by. As it got closer I could clearly see it was a striped bass, it swam right under the rock I was standing on. It was easily 5-7 ft in length. Biggest I've seen a striped, I have yet to catch a striped from out of millerton. I've also heard stories of the giant catfish as well. I believe that is also true for a former game warden back in 2004 told me about a giant catfish. Pretty awesome if you ask me. Someone will feel him in one day.
March 28, 2017 at 7:31 AM
Anonymous said…
I moved to Fresno in 87. People used to tell me stories about divers working on the dam seeing giant fish the size of Volkswagens.
April 6, 2017 at 4:53 AM
Art Johnson said…
I'm 70 years old, in 1975 my wife and I were at Millerton in the middle of the wk., there wasn't another soul there. We were camped high on a little hill where we had a great view looking down. We weren't drinking or doing drugs, the lake was calm, like glass. We happened to be looking down at the lake when all the sudden this head comes up about four feet high, then the head goes down in the water and this huge body comes up out of the water. It had to be 25 ft. long. It looked like the Loch Ness monster,it made a huge wake & we were in shock. Before leaving the lake we got gas at a log cabin building. I gassed the car, went in and paid. As I got to the door there was a board w/ newspaper articles. S.F.couple, L.A. couple, Santa Barbara family, on & on see lake monster. This is a true story, I swear. I have no reason to lie. To this day I wonder if it still lives there.
May 25, 2017 at 10:17 PM
Unknown said…
Today is may 30 2017 me and my husband just came from south finegold by millerton lake. As we are coming back from finegold bay somthing huge was following us back to launch boat area it was pushing againts the current and it was HuGE I myself will never get in there again. Mind you we where in a freaken ruber boat with a little motor...
May 30, 2017 at 6:17 PM
Unknown said…
I worked for the area headquarters and often would hear about the stories of giant cats... I recall seeing an old black and white photo of a six ft catfish.. the same diver stories have not changed... some bodies disappeared because the water is colder the deeper it gets ... I think the deepest measurement is at 374 ft .as I recall..one afternoon I was in the water knee boarding and after a turbulent ride I ate it dangling in the water the guys yelled out that they seen something big surface behind me...I was like no ... but they insisted and I just got done with water fun and got out of the water onto the boat!.. I just have a huge imagination and that triggers the thrill and anxiety of the unknown...
July 19, 2017 at 7:02 PM
Unknown said…
Thank u 4 da precious info I've been wanting that answer 4 past decade appreciations in order
July 27, 2017 at 12:41 PM
Unknown said…
😂😂😂 Good one Bob Goodman
August 28, 2017 at 9:10 AM
Jwill said…
In 1866 a courthouse with a solid granite jail was built by Charles P. Converse, owner of the ferry at the Old Fresno Crossing. It was the center of all community life. Not only was county business transacted there, but also social and religious activities were carried on. The first school in the county was held In the dining room of Mrs. L. S. Winchell, wife of the county judge, who lived at Fort Miller. In 1868 there were 113 children in school. After experiencing many floods, on Christmas Eve in 1868 a disasterous flood carried away much of the town except the courthouse. It lost the county seat to Fresno in 1874. It was the death blow to Millerton. In 1895 there was little left but a school, a private school with five dollars a month tuition for each pupil. The jail has held many characters and the courthouse has been the scene of the activities of our pioneers. In 1942 the courthouse was dismantled and stored in the Bureau of Reclamation camp in Friant. It was the only building left in Millerton, When the waters of the lake flowed over the site of the town, no one ever expected to see it again.
January 30, 2018 at 10:10 AM
Anonymous said…
Finally after reading all The comments , this one comes close to my story. It was around the late 60s to early 70s . I was about 11 , walking around millerton lke alone i was walking on those little islands and noticed piles of rocks . I came up to one that you can actually look down in like a well. It was pretty dark in there ,but as i walked away something made me look back and i seen a shiny black head looking out ! Didn't look human but almost but shiny sleek black . Scared me though . im 60 and i always wondered what it could've been.
June 14, 2018 at 5:52 PM
Juan Lopez said…
I saw the exact same thing but on hansley lake and it was big I was Searching on the internet to see if someone else has seen this animal or whatever it is and I saw this exactly the same thing i saw this happened July 1 almost a week from now.
July 5, 2018 at 7:53 PM
Shirtlesssteve said…
I am going to tell you ,, what I have seen in the lake was a Millersaurus swimming along just under the surface of the water.
I was told that some fisher man had it swim right under their
fishing boat,, L as told that it live under rattlesnake inland.
It is a Sting-Ray like Dinosaurs
So if you are on Millerton Lake or camping at the lake keep an eye out for it..
July 6, 2018 at 9:04 PM
Shirtlesssteve said…
I am going to tell you ,, what I have seen in the lake was a Millersaurus swimming along just under the surface of the water.
I was told that some fisher man had it swim right under their
fishing boat,, L as told that it live under rattlesnake inland.
It is a Sting-Ray like Dinosaurs
So if you are on Millerton Lake or camping at the lake keep an eye out for it..
July 6, 2018 at 9:05 PM
Donny said…
Me & my brother have seen this with our own eyes around 1990.....it is without a doubt a Sturgeon.....
October 12, 2018 at 9:23 AM
Donny said…
Me & my brother saw this with our own eyes around 1990....it is without a doubt a Sturgeon..
October 12, 2018 at 9:25 AM
Anonymous said…
It is a fact that there are monster sturgeon in millerton lake as well as monster catfish... It is well documented that years ago there was a local professional diver with many many years of experience that was hired on a regular periodic basis to go down and check the dam for any damage or cracks, and on one of his journeys down in the water as he got down there, he turned around and saw a catfish that was so huge and massive starring right at him that he was so petrified and frightened at the size of this fish,that he came right up to the surface got out and after that he resigned from diving and never went back down into millerton...it was reported to the media about what he saw and his experience...so there you go,that right there tells of how big some of the monster fish that are in there...I personally spoke to a resident that lives up there in sky harbor who lives in a home that sits on a hill and overlooks a huge cove, and the owner told me and showed me where some of these huge sturgeon go in there and sit and he told me that you can see the monster shadows of them in the water,. he said it's unbelievable how big that these creatures are and I believe those are what are being mistaken as so-called dragons because of the way that they look like... Sturgeon are actually known as prehistoric fish and they do get very massive...if you Google it and look up a picture of one, you will see what I'm talking about...so there you go people..!!
March 22, 2019 at 10:18 AM
Anonymous said…
In 2018, my family and I took our boat out on the lake. We beached our boat near the sail boats slips. We stayed in that cove until about sunset. On the way back to the dock my daughters friend realized she left her expensive shoes on the shore. 1/2 way back to the dock we turned around to go back to the sail boat dock area. As we entered the cove it was dark but the moon was bright enough for us make our way to the beach cove area. We also used a large flood light. As we entered the cove area just at the sail boat docking area we vividly saw something very large swimming across the lake within the cove. It was swimming much faster than a deer or boar could swim. We at first thought it was a land animal swimming. The momentum that it was swimming at was more like a dolphin and it went under. We immediate pulled up to shore found the shoes and jumped back into the boat. As we were leaving we again saw this thing swim out from under the sail boat doc area like it was chumming the surface and we were able to come into about 5 feet of it and it looked like a huge albino cat fish the size of a very full healthy size dolphin and it was fast
June 10, 2019 at 3:31 PM
Anonymous said…
What's the number to your hotline
June 14, 2019 at 2:58 AM
Unknown said…
That's exactly what I thought I heard growing up as a child but herd one guy disappeared n the other got out not before seeing a huge eye the size of him....
June 23, 2019 at 5:08 PM
Unknown said…
That's exactly what I thought I heard growing up as a child but herd one guy disappeared n the other got out not before seeing a huge eye the size of him....
June 23, 2019 at 5:09 PM
Oscar Morris 10/9/69 said…
Many years ago I seen a giant silver fish it was about 25 feet long I cast a chunk of meat as far as I could but it swam away....from the other side of the lake I seen giant skales
August 29, 2019 at 6:21 AM
Jos Keny said…
Much of this was because of changes in fishing design and truly getting a firm understanding of what a best catfish rod and reel refrain from doing
December 18, 2019 at 11:52 PM
Alice Anner said…
The major advantage of fluorocarbon line over mono and braid is that it has really low light refraction catfish reels, making it essentially invisible underwater.
December 23, 2019 at 9:29 PM
Anonymous said…
I have a video a good quality video of the monster fish i seen it with my two own eyes it was atlease the size of 2 trucks long
May 3, 2020 at 7:40 AM
Unknown said…
I was there this very same day and I too have witnessed the same thing as you and your family did.i stayed until the daylight hours were long gone and rescue divers were still searching for the Man that dissapear
January 16, 2021 at 8:25 AM
Art Johnson said…
My wife and I were camping there for three days during the week and there wasn't another soul there. We had a perfect overview of the lake from where we were camped and the water was like glass. We both saw this head, out of the water like you would imagine the loch Ness monster then the head went down and his back came up out of the water and then the entire monster went under. We figured it to be at least 30 ft long. There was no one else there to say hey did you see that it was just her and I and now all these years later I can still vividly see it. I'm a honest man and I don't exaggerate believe it or not.
December 22, 2021 at 6:39 AM
MWave said…
Ah come on. You're no fun. I mean with all your perfectly reasonable explanations and common sense and stuff.
December 29, 2021 at 6:58 PM
MWave said…
I don't know if anyone in this thread will ever revisit it to respond to any of my comments, but Bob, if you do, please tell me you were being sarcastic (sometimes its hard to tell without the wry smirk and condescending voice inflection).
December 29, 2021 at 7:07 PM
Anonymous said…
My 2 cousins saw it. On Kearney in Fresno! I told them it was a Thunderbird!
August 28, 2022 at 8:36 PM
Anonymous said…
Nessie the Loch Ness Monster, (stated by Saint Columbo 550 A.D.), Champ, the Lake Champlain Monster, are these real? My opinion is that these are large sharks that have adapted themselves to brackish and even fresh water. The San Joaquin River flows from the Pacific Ocean. Old Joe could be a large Shark. Laugh at me, I don’t care!
January 5, 2023 at 4:30 AM
Anonymous said…
sturgeon and catfish are both bottom dwellers and feeders.
October 22, 2023 at 6:39 PM
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