Camp-N-Fish Gathering at the Colorado River

[riverbud55]

Ok AZ bros come and spend time with the bros from CA, who's in for a spring(2006) time fish-n-camp gathering at the river. any dates are good for me but been looking in april at the 7th, 8th(fri), 9th(sat), 10th and 11th. here's why I think it mite be the best time.The weather is the very very best that time of year, tax day and easter will be the following weekend, the full moon will be on the 13th( good for getting around on the river at nite), this would be the start of spring break for some who get it off(bluehunter), the flathead will bitting by then w/ lots of channels to be had, and the river should be running high by then, won't be a lot of boats on the river other then us

what i,ll do for the weekend is reserve and pay the for the two spots next to my trailer for the tents and partying, that would give a total of six parking spots for folks that want to sleep in trucks and maybe room for one rv and room for a gang of tents. any one wanting a spot for an rv will have no problem getting one about 27.00 per nite w/elc. and water but no sewer(to close to the river for sewer)and there is motels in town for the folks who don't camp but the fun will be in camp

were this camp is, is on the colorado river (30' and you in the water) in blythe ca about 5 miles north of the 10 fwy,. 170 miles from riverside and about 2 1/2 hrs. what the camp has, all camping is on grass under trees, super clean restrooms and showers, a camp store w/lots of beer, a boat ramp and dock ( got some nice channels fishen off of the dock). Name of camp is Hidden Beaches Resort

There's great fishen from a boat with a lot of good spots from the banks of the river and lots of canals to fish, i,ll put some maps togather for the spots i go.
I think this would a blast for all. bring the the family and friends and have good time. so lets roll this date around some and how it goes for all

i know it's a long time off but i well need to reserve the spaces next to me soon to make sure we have them


river(colorado)bud(weiser)

[asukevin]

yo man, you can count me in as of right now. ive been waitin for an event on the west coast. not a fan of blythe for various reasons, but if its for fishin, im down.

[dadcheek]

I will try to make this. We have had a couple of gatherings down around the Oxbow area with very little participation. Dates are great for me. Can you fish all night or day from the bank? I always like having a pole in the water. I will talk with Bill Koble and see if he would be up for the trip also.

[Billy Jo]

Hey Donald, How are you and family doing? Hope all is fine. Well, you know me and the river, I will fish there anytime. I fished the lake Martinez area in October didn't do to well but had good time. I have only fished Blythe area two times and there were to many people there for me. Last May when we fished the river remember how cold it was at night, had to wear insulated coveralls to keep warm. I thank April may be a little to early but I will be there,I always like to fish the river.
Bill

[Matthew Cook]

i will also try to make it. our last local gathering was a blast so count me in. with ours we had a fish tournament. it was the biggest of 4 fish pot and a big fish pot. we tied for the big fish and took home the biggest of 4 fish, but that was on local waters. i am a newby with river fishing. but it all sound like a blast. defiantly count me in

[riverbud55]

hay guys hope all you dudes can make it, we need the bros from AZ to show us dudes from CA hows catch them big flats lol most of the bros from here have never fished the river of or fished for flats but we got some good catfisherman that's going to be there, bluehunter got a 81.5 blue last Jan., then there's muskyman this dude at our last BOC gathering got a 75# blue and the night before one at 40+ and others. think we had about 25 show for that one and what a great grope of dudes they are, bluehunter posted pics of the last one CA talk Irvine results 9/17. we all had a blast at that one

dadcheek no problem, day time, nite time any were ya want

billy jo not alot of river traffic until after mid may, until it starts getting hot in the day time. were i fish is from the palo verda dam south about 6mi to were the camp ground is at and then south of camp theres a big bend in the river that catches a lot of sand and trees so it makes it kinda hard for the boaters to get threw(but good for fishen) most of the boats coming from down by the 10fwy will never make up that far

and as far as the weather its the desert anything can happen that time of year I would think it wont get below 55 ta 60 and not above 85 these dudes from the coast youd killem it got 110 lol

matthew there will b fishen for dollars

[tdpasser]

I will try also with my 2 boys, we fished in the bartlett tourney as did young matthew and his dad. that was a blast we met in the afternoon hung out for a bit then we all took off to fish for the night and had the weigh-in in the morning. then we had a big chow line. i think i gained 5 lb's that day. i was born and raised in oakland and yes that does mean Raiders/A's, so I welcome the Cal brothers. Details as we go along like camp info would be great.

[Billy Jo]

Hey "Riverbud" I look forward to fishing with you Califorina boys. Most of us Arizona boys spend most of our time fishing for flatheads, they are a hard fish to catch, especially the big ones. So us AZ boys are looking foward to spending some "California Money". This will be a great time to meet everyone and have a good time and catch some fish.
Billy Jo

[shorepatrol]

I'll try to make it

[janzaldo]

Count me in ! Dale, I can reimburse you for reserving a tent spot before the gathering or on that day. April 7th weekend is good for me.
How about a potluck? I can bring burgers for one day and hotdogs for another day. What do you guys think?
I have always wanted to fish the Colorado. Have always wanted to catch a flattie.
I look foward to seeing all of you guys and shooting the breeze.

Jaime

[janzaldo]

Forgot to mention, I would be more than happy to carpool. I agree with David, will spend less in gas money. If you guys don;t mind that is.

Jaime

[riverbud55]

hi folks this starting to look good

jaime a pot luck will be in order

shorepatrol hope ta see ya

billy jo will see about the $$$$. myself grew up going to the river with my grandpa and fishen havasu during the 60s and lived in parker and even went to parker high for a few years so maybe im kinda 1/2 and 1/2 lol

tdpasser the kids love the river, water temp should be in the low 70s so the kids can be getting in the water if they want, i,ll have my waverunners in for some scouting and for some fun. when did u dudes do the barrtlet thing? thats some place id like to fish, here tell you dudes get some big flats out of there, dont know about fishen the river at nite out of a boat for the average person, sandbars and trees are found on the river, myself i use a gps to run the river at nite after I log a track up and down the river during the day. if we go out at nite we will be the only ones on the river so for safty we can go out togather and stay near each other and stay in contact with each other with radios and phones. belive me its a little scary out there by yourself a nite. I know your a river runner and know what im talking about. any one that has a boat a gps would be a real + and money well spent. most of the time the day time bite is good this time of the year this last april my uncle and myself got 16 channels and a 3 lb flat ( at the time didnt fish for the flats) in about 2 hrs in the morn

[tdpasser]

Thanks Dale,
What I normally do with my boys is scout a spot in the day that I can bank the boat pull out the chairs for the night on a killer hole.

Will a plan like that work on the river, I'm pretty good at reading a river for eddies and holes but I am a little worried about hole hoping at night?

Will we all camp close together and can you catch flats from the bank near the campsite?

[riverbud55]

tdpasser flatheads from camp probaly not but anythings posable . having a gps would be nice on the river at nite set up a good track up en down the river and it will keep ya out of trouble, the moon will be coming in to near full so it will make pretty easy to see. fishen from a boat in shore spot is cool only thing is the river may come up 2' or 3' in an hour or so at around 2 or 3am so just be ready for it. the river runs high from say 3am to about 10am then slowly drops to its low point around 4pm. got 2 waverunners down there if ya can ride one i'll take ya out to show ya the river and that goes 4 any one with a boat

oya we will be campen all togather

[dadcheek]

Hi all, TDPASSER what me and Bill do is find us a good hole and then stay there all night. The sand bars are all over. You can move around at night but we just stay put. I will do a good breakfast for all on one of the mornings ,maybe 2, with all the fixins. I just need a place close to the camp to park my truck as during the day I usually try to get a little sleep. No tent. I like to set up my cooking gear close to the truck as I try to use the tailgate for a table also. Am really looking foward to this gathering. I will email David and make sure he knows. Bill you up for any fishing between now and then? Just let me know.

[tdpasser]

Sounds good Don,
if it's any thing like the Bartlett breakfast i say we save some of the derby kitty for the cook that was a mighty chowline last time. Look forward to fishing a new flattie spot and getting tips from you old pro's. Has any one heard from one of our az's best Chris (Crush) haven't heard from him since the Bartlett derby. Will be great to see you all again. Going this weekend to bartlett try for Sat 4:30am to 2pm or so, island just south of yellow cliffs. post anything good. ( cold temps=daytime flatties, right?) I hope. :thumbsup:

[riverbud55]

well guys its all sounden good, i'm headen to the river for week tonite going to b doing some fishen and hunten, ill let ya know how it goes, report is for some good catfishen still . ya all have good thanksgiving

[AZrivercat]

Wow, I'm stoked, this is my second post on here, but I guarantee Ill be at the gathering. Sounds almost too good to be true! OUCH, well I'm awake!

Ill be staying in my truck, what arrangements do I need to make?

[asukevin]

i hope everyone has a great thanksgiving and i look forward to the gathering in april.

[tdpasser]

asukevin,
we fished repairian (gilbert library lake) and caught some trout we normally let them go but the first one was bleeding so we decided to put him in the cooler and try a couple of these to eat. we fried them in olive oil and seasoning and they we absolutly delicious. The trout are from colorado so they are cold water trout even though they are farm trout. we also do very well at tempe town lake for the trout using panther martin spinners and kastmasters, fun with the light gear.

[asukevin]

so i got out of class early today and decided to go do a little fishing (5 hours) at an urban lake by my parents house. used mealworms and caught 4 really nice trout (biggest was 1.5 pounds) and tried to do some catfishing with my big rod. i used some frozen shrimp and managed to get a few bites but no big runs. do the cats stop biting really hard when the weather cools down or what? anyways, gonna try later this week to see if i can get anymore fish. later bros.

[riverbud55]

well folks got back last night from the river, reserved 3 spots for the gathering while i was there

did some huntin, fishin and some R&R. hunting so so, fishing zip, R&R got lots of it.

havent got a cat in over a month :o , going to put out a mayday soon, was able to fish out of the boat only one day and moved around all day looken in all the old holes and couldnt find them anywere, tried to find some deep water and about the deepest i could find was about 14 ft. just cant even get a bite. dont know if its the lower level of the river or the water temps, in late oct the water temp 74- 73 then the 1st of nov 70-69 , mid nov 68-67 then last week on monday it was 63 and by sunday morning it was 56

also found and bought a 1987 24' sun tracker pontoon party barge now a catfishen barge, with a 115 hp merc outboard now im going to be able to stay out allnite for the fishen also be good for the gathering to get a few more out in a boat

[dadcheek]

HI all, that is the type of boat I'm looking for. They are great. David from Tombstone has the 20 footer I believe and we used it last year. If you don't mind, what did you pay for it and where did you find it? Hoping to get one just like it within about 3 mos. Can you post some pics? Still looking foward to the gathering. I plan on going up to the river between Bartlett and Horseshoe this week. Will probably go up Mon or Tues and come back Wed am. If anybody up that way give me a holler.

[AZflats]

dadcheek~
Let us know what comes out of your trip up that river.. This time of the year I will always fish deep, so I am interested on how you do in the shallow river. I plan to fish this lake soon, havent wet a line in close to 2 months..

River Bud,
This gathering sounds fun. Do I need to know four months in advance if I can be there? Can I just show up? I don't need a camping spot, I would just stay in my boat..
** I have got a boat similar to yours, although I am cautious about putting it in a river, Are the areas you launch/fish in rough waters, or fast moving waters? My Sun Tracker only has a 25 merc.
Thanks!

[riverbud55]

I all just got back from the river no fish again but only fished maybe 2 hrs in the middel of the day

dadcheek paid 3000.00, got it in havasu city from a lady that her husband had passed away last year. havasu city has a lot of used pontoons for sale. only thing wrong with it is the vinel on the seats and there good enough for me as far as a fishing boat goes, engine seams to run good and all havent put her in the water yet just what to check out a few things first, also came with a hard top with a full on tent for it. will get some pics the next time im down at the river I store it a the camp gound ($15.00 a month)and dont have it with me right now.

AZflats the river is not rough at all most of the time is as smooth as glass. can't tell ya the speed of the water but my bass boat drifts at about 6 0r 7 miles per hour on the gps. saw a pontoon that someone on the river uses as a dock make it up the river slowly with a 5hp. as far as planing goes no real need for it. one thing i can say is all boats should have a good anchor

[Billy Jo]

Well i didn't make the river like I wanted too. From what riverbud said the fishing wasn't that great.

Donald went to catfish point on the 6th and you weren't there infact there wasn't anyone there. Would like to try some day fishing at barttlet up by the dam, let me know if you would like to go.

Matt, how did you do at Martinez ?

AZFlats, I see that you live in ELmirage. I live in Peoria off 103 and Olive. Have you fished Barttlet during the day? I know you said you fish the deep water across the lake from the marina. If you are thanking about go to the gathering on the Colorado river I thank your toon will do just fine. I have seen a lot of toons on the river. I have a 14' boat and it dose just fine on the river . But have had to push it off a sand bar or two but that was because I wasn't watching my depth finder. I would like to take a weekend before the gathering to go to Blythe and give that part of the river a good look and see were the channel runs because I have never had my boat on that part of the river. Maybe you would like to go and see the river first hand. That way you could see if you would want to put your boat on the river.

Tdpasser, You and your boys will love the river. Like donald said we just find a hole a spend the night, but if the fishing is bad in that spot I will move not far but I will move, some times only 100 yards and start catching fish.

Chad, how have you been? Did you get your new boat.

Talk at you later Billy Jo

[asukevin]

UGH!!! i hate finals!!! i just want to go fishing....

[martinman]

ASUKEVIN...

Patience my friend. The fish will still be there. I feel the same way. I am really wanting to go fishing. I don't care if I get skunked...just a chance to be out on the wate.


About the camp-n-fish gathering...I spoke with my wife and it looks like a possibility. I would really like to go.


Martinman

[riverbud55]

how ya all doing, thinken needen to post something over here

martin need to get some fishen in myself havn't got a fish in 2 months, but thats fishen. hope ya can make it

hey when any of you dudes want what to check out the river let me know and ill take you dudes out and show around, ya can stay at my place if ya like just let me know got beds for 3 other ppl

Ill b at the river 4 the week after x-mas if your out that way stop by

have a good c-ya all later

[Billy Jo]

Hey Riverbud, If you are going to be at the river the week after Christmas I may just hook-up the boat and come and look you up. What would be the best way to get ahold of you when I get there? I would mined spending a couples days doing a little fishing and R&R. Looking foward to meeting you.

Billy Jo

[riverbud55]

hey billy jo come on down, pm'd you with my cell # , going to b doing some work (install new wheel bearing on the trailer)on that pontoon i bought and got to go to DMV in blythe to regester the thing in my name, dont know how that's all going to go, I forsee problems the boat was registerd in AZ and going transfer it to CA. Seeing I got you I have ? for you or anybody, when i picked up the boat the ladie could not find a title for the boat, do boats in AZ have a title or is there only the yearly registeration, I have that and it has a place on it to sign when you sell it and trasfer it to the new owner, is that all you need. hope it only takes a day to do all that, but i can do it any time so ill b ready to go fishin when ever

the river may be real low within the next few weeks the river will be drawn down for the people to work on things in and next to the river. Try out this web site http://www.usbr.gov/lc/riverops.html and you can check out how the river is and going to run ,look for the palo verda dam any thing below 4000 cps is hard to get any were on the river at about 2500 ya can walk across the river with out getting you belly button wet and thats the deep part, also look at projected op and look at parker dam and the only thing thay give you is an average any thing below about 7500 is going to be low. on jan 1 the canals will be drained for two weeks for work to be done on them. I think there will be somewere to get your boat in and do some fishen

[Koda]

Afternoon riverbud, in AZ the yearly boat registeration is the same as a title so you should not have any problems, good luck fishing.
will not know for a few months if we can make it or not but have small cl c motor home so we are self contained and if it works out will try and see all of you at the river in april.
Luck David & Ann

[riverbud55]

thanks dave and or ann, that title thing had me worried. hope you folks can make it out, be nice to meet ya. thanks again

[Billy Jo]

Riverbud, I got your PM thanks for the number. I took a trip to Califorina on the 18th to 21st and on the way back to AZ I stopped and look around Hidder Beaches. Nice place, also found your place right across the road from the store.
Also went up river to MayFlower County Park to look around they have nice canping area and boat ramp there. I will be their on the 27th, sometime before noon. If water to low to put boat in at your place we can go to Palo Verde to fish, only 20 miles south. I know soom good spots in that area. See you in a couple days.

Billy Jo

[riverbud55]

bill hope to see ya out there, looken at the fish report saying that the cat are biting fair to good on stink baits and some cut baits

[riverbud55]

hey there all just tought say hi to ya all, I was down at the river over the holidays for some fishen and hunten the birds were kinda dead lol but did get a few fish. Billyjo came out to river and stayed at my trailer for a couple of nites, took his boat out on the river and showed him around a little, went up by the dam a showed him the drain canal and went up with his boat tied up and threw out some hog wild and shrimp, bill hooked up and lost one at the side of the boat and I landed a 3.4 lb channel. man bill great have n ya there and thanks for the boat ride and great fishen with ya and I think that ice machine will work out great.

after bill had gone on the new years day went out to the canals after the yearly draw down of the canals and cruzed them and fishen. found a spot with a school 150 to 200 2lb channels schooled up in a solid mass with more cruzing the edge of the canal so I fished it for 2 or 3 hrs and got 2 at 2lb, them fish were all the same size in the canal, seems strange to me. So went back to the spot the next day and no fish anywere and then saw a bunch of foot prints going down in to the canal then after rembering what the DFG worden toll me last year of the truck he had stoped a the year before driven by some folks from south of the boarder with 500 cats and big nets in the back of there truck, I think i know what happend to them cats. there was no were for them to go the water was only deep enough in the canal for maybe 1/2 mile and only 2' or 3' deep and 10' wide. And then they wonder why we want to but up a wall at the border

thought that i would post a link to the google satellite map of river,http://maps.google.com/?ll=33.662157,-114.524993&spn=0.003724,0.005461&t=h camp is in the middle of the frame, youll see the dock as a small little white strip in the middle, my trailer is right above the "e" in ave right below the dock we have the spot east of the trailer and 2 to the west. zoom in and out and move around the river to get a good idea of the layout, Im thinking and hopeing that I mite be able to show you folks some of the my fishen spots and things to look for on the river by using these maps. I'm not up on my PC skills to much but I would think could copy and mark up the map in paint may b and link it back to google for these things, mite try and work in some pics to go with them, I also have some topo maps that I'll try to copy for all, just don't tell anyone were ya got em lol

we also need to start and talk about what and how were going to do things. going to need to know whos not and whos got boats and if thay mite have room to offer to others that dont. I know I have a pontoon that will hold 15 people lol but I think 3 or 4 others can fish off of it with care, b cuz of the current it kinda hard to fish a lot people from a boat with out getting lines tangeld, 4 peps= 8 polls but I could offer rides up and down the river and drop them off in some spots for shore fishen ware only a boat can get you in to. maybe peps can switch off from shore fishen and the toon

so anyway lets start putting our heads togather for a good gathering with lots of good people and good fun

[Tym2Fish]

Sounds good Don,
if it's any thing like the Bartlett breakfast

Sorry I wont be able to make the river trip:crying: however, If another Bartlett event "get together" comes along count me in.:thumbsup:

[riverbud55]

Sorry ya can't make Tym2Fish and I'd love to fish for some big flats at Bartlett that would be a cool BOC gathering

to all got that list done, not sure how to use it, but guess post to the list of what's going on in here to try and keep track of thing's that way. never done anything like this before.

need to start getting some ideas on what things we are going to be doing as a group, such as the derby or derbys and some group meals, ect.

also got a thread going on in the CA talk section so need to be talking with them also

also i think it would be good for us all to make a post in the gathering section, there is a thread there also, it is a BOC gathering , kinda show the rest of the BOC what's going on

just a little more the 2 month away

good fishing to all

[AZflats]

Riverbud~
Looking forward to the gathering.
COUNT ME IN!
* I have a boat which will double as my camp.
My buddy Mike will also go~ (Fellow catman, not yet BOC member)

Take care!

[topjimmy]

Is everyone who is going gonna have a boat? I would like to go, but I don't want to intrude on anyone by having to hitchhike for a boat ride. I love to shore fish but I don't want to shore fish if I am the only one shore fishing...

TIA

[riverbud55]

topjimmy not all will have boats and i know myself will help out you folks that dont have one. just got a 24' pontoon that will hold alot of people. dont think you'll be left on your own, man just come out and have some fun

AZflats got u and your pm's thanks will add your info

[topjimmy]

topjimmy not all will have boats and i know myself will help out you folks that dont have one. just got a 24' pontoon that will hold alot of people. dont think you'll be left on your own, man just come out and have some fun


OK, count me in then.