River

[karodi]

went to the river to meet up with Dale and Bill to do some prefishing for the gathering. Hit 3 spots total. My achors pop up on me so i decided to move one last time to a spot i lost a a big fish at last season. Baited up a nice 3 inch goldfish. casted out and went to bait up a bluegill and my clicker wents nuts. Set the hook after 20 min battle my lady netted a 17 lb flat. here's the picture enjoy. Keith

[plumbertom1]

Nice fish Keith. I have been thinking I am going to head down there on the 1st and hang around checking things out from the shore unless Ray wants me to bring his small boat. Last time I hauled his boat the trailer lost a fender so he may not.
Any way what day are you heading out?

[Capt Steve]

That's a nice one, Keith!

[bluehunter]

Nice keith. I will be out on the last weekend of the month hopefully. Good going on the flat and the networking. PEACE!

[gilmafam]

went to the river to meet up with Dale and Bill to do some prefishing for the gathering. Hit 3 spots total. My achors pop up on me so i decided to move one last time to a spot i lost a a big fish at last season. Baited up a nice 3 inch goldfish. casted out and went to bait up a bluegill and my clicker wents nuts. Set the hook after 20 min battle my lady netted a 17 lb flat. here's the picture enjoy. Keith


Keith.... Nice looking cat..... "you say your anchors were popin up... just wondered what size did you have out?.... how many? how much rope out? just trying to check on the flow of the water... I have not had this new boat in the water at Mayflower landing yet.... sure I've been there with two other boats.... were you up by the fast water at the weir? or down below out in front of riverbudds place?

bayrunner ray

[gilmafam]

Nice fish Keith. I have been thinking I am going to head down there on the 1st and hang around checking things out from the shore unless Ray wants me to bring his small boat. Last time I hauled his boat the trailer lost a fender so he may not.
Any way what day are you heading out?

Still have to put that new one on...... my buddy captn jack found one at Morgan craft boats..... we traded it to pay for his part of one of our latest rock cod trips.....

Got a new design to put it on.... That ole trailer (home made) does a lot of jumping and stuff going down old roads..... even at 55mph, which is not my normal "pulling my boat speed".....on roads like the "ole 99" is brutal on the equipment.... all the trucks that go down that road..... they try to keep it in shape, but there is "mucho trucks" traveling on it and that outside lane can have some "bad stuff" there.

Pm me and we'll talk about the up comming trip... or call the home...


bayrunner ray

[plumbertom1]

Still have to put that new one on...... my buddy captn jack found one at Morgan craft boats..... we traded it to pay for his part of one of our latest rock cod trips.....

Got a new design to put it on.... That ole trailer (home made) does a lot of jumping and stuff going down old roads..... even at 55mph, which is not my normal "pulling my boat speed".....on roads like the "ole 99" is brutal on the equipment.... all the trucks that go down that road..... they try to keep it in shape, but there is "mucho trucks" traveling on it and that outside lane can have some "bad stuff" there.

Pm me and we'll talk about the up comming trip... or call the home...


bayrunner ray
Last time it was comming back on I-5 but that right lane is so torn up from the heavy truck traffic that it's just like a wash board. And I'm not a fan of pulling a trailer at the 75MPH that is needed to keep from getting run over in the left lane so...

Ray, I have some plumbing projects that I have to get done today if I can, a couple of leaks to fix, a slow drain and a faucet and a couple of filters to replace so I have to make a trip to the Depot for parts. I hope I don't have to much trouble getting under the sinks. When I compleat my chores I'll give you a call.

[karodi]

my achors pop up on when the river came up at about 930 at night. outside of that it holds pretty good in the current. It was real windy Saturday night. At my night spot it held no problem wind and all. I use a mighty mite achor off the front or sometimes i use train track. Keith

[riverbud55]

good going on the flaty keith, good to know the there starting to bite for the gathering think the water temp is going to stay above 65*, air temp should be in the mid 90s in a few weeks on a day to day basis

hey ray ya know a good welder to put them fenders on for ever,, lol

[orchardhills]

Very nice! That is a beauty.

[AZflats]

Nice fish!!!
I can't wait to get into that action.. Just a few more weeks!!!
:oh: :oh:

[Vulture]

Super flattie!
I wonder how Bill and Dale did? I visited Dale on Thursday and he told me he was heading to the river. I wish I could have been there. Where did you get the goldies? I might get some that way I don't have to worry about making bait all week. I never fished gold fish before, I wouldn't know what size of hook or where to hook them up. Did you hook them by the lips or the dorsal fin?

[karodi]

I pick up my bait up at B and B bait on 6th street. I hook my goldfish behind the dorsal fin. I use 6/0 to 10/0 hooks depending on the size of my bait. see you at the river. Keith

[tofish]

been so long since i've fished for these big ones, and up around blythe with current. guess i'd best go pick up some larger hooks and weights.:ooooh:
gary

[woodchucker]

You will be just fine up river Gary,a flathead is a flathead no matter where it lives.If you are staying at mayflower park it is very nice,as far as living outside in the desert in the summer goes.Free showers and lots of grass with shade all day if you get the right spots.Here are a couple fish i pulled from the spot north of mayflower.Good luck,
Billy

[bluehunter]

Nice pictures. Hope to get into some this weekend.

[tofish]

think will need heavier weights though. current around yuma is much slower so have gone to all lighter weights. only thing i'm concerned with around blythe is not familiar with river and sandbars up there. but, got my shovel along, and partner to help dig boat off if need happens. :big_smile:
getting front end of truck aligned today. last thing to do except load gear in friday night. see all up there sat.
gary

[big taz]

Keith
Nice flattie hope I can get one this year. I know a few spots around Niland but I have yet to get one. My buddy caught a very nice one in August 06 in my spot.. LOL

My time is coming..

Corey

[tofish]

luey and i got to blythe sat morning about 0900. everyone was out fishing, so set up camp. then ray and tom came in. introduced ourselves to them, got a few tips on where to go start, launched boat and headed upriver. caught the only two cats for luey and I. he got one channel about 1/2 lb, and i got one about 3/4 lb. came in early for a bbq and get together with rest of bunch. I'm horrible with names, but met all that was there, (or at least most of them) and had a great visit. river was dropping, so before bbq, pulled my boat out.
after bbq, was tired, so decided to take nap. darn, forgot what it was like to sleep outside in tent. never went out fishing sat night. just slept. others went out, but heard fishing wasn't the best. didn't hear of any flatheads caught by our bunch.
left sunday morning after breakfast and saying so long to most of them. luey and I drove south to bridge and launched in the snag area on AZ side of river for a few more hrs. no luck though.
got home to yuma before 4:00.
definetly am looking forward to another get together with all next time. only i'm taking at least 2-3 days for it next time. some are thinking of coming down to yuma area in next few months. hopefully will. i can show them around here and some of holes on the lower river.
oh, was windy, but not too bad. temp was maybe in high 80 or low 90, but not uncomfortable.
gary

[tofish]

hmm? did people make it home ok? no one is posting about this trip. good or bad, if you made it home and safe, was a good trip. let's here it folks.
gary

[plumbertom1]

First off, let me say THANK YOU to Dale (Riverbud) for being the area host for this gathering, the fine breakfast at his place he spent half the night preparing for us and the lunch cook out in the park. Very well done considering how disorganized we were about getting there for it.
I also want to thank Greg (Vulture) for having the shirts printed and delivering them to Dale for us. I like mine a lot.
I arrived Tuesday afternoon about 3:00 and set up my camp tent then went over to the river bank to sit and enjoy the afternoon.
About 4pm Dale came over with Bill (Billy Jo) and introduced themselves. Dale offered me a spot at his place but I was already set in the park so I spent the rest of the day and Wednesday just relaxing and enjoying the fine weather. I was warm and slightly breezy but not uncomfortable in the shade of the trees at the park campground.
On Thursday as members began to arrive I did my best to recognize them and offer greetings.
Folks continued to arrive Friday and Saturday and much effort was placed on trying to find the fish. It was mostly a bust for the big fish although a few keepers were caught. Myself, I caught and released many small cats and small mouth bass while fishing for bait, but I couldn't seem to catch a bluegill. I ended up fishing the drainage canal north of the park for Taliapa to use for bait.
Bay Runner Ray (gilmafam) and I spent much of Friday night and all night Saturday fishing and the only thing I managed to catch was a hand sized blugill, a football sized carp, the river bottom and one very small cat. Ray caught nada.
I had a great time meeting all of you that came. It really nice to be able to put a true face and voice to the names that we communicate with on this forum. I want to thank all who attended for the opportunity to meet you.
I hope to see you all and more next year when this gathering is repeated.
Sure, not many fish were caught but I enjoyed the fellowship. I can hardly wait for next year.
I tried to get photos of everyone who was at the Lunch at the park but as the 'puter I'm using does not have a card reader and I cant find my connector cable I can't post any of my photos. For that I apologize.

[tofish]

decided since luey and i slept all saturday nite sleeping, and didn't fish, :embarassed: and i had these goldfish left over, i'd take a few out and fish above imperial dam tonight. took 3 and hit the water about 7:30. about 8:30, first bite. missed and lossed goldfish. rebaited and threw back out. (I'm fishing from boat in a 24 ft hole that back swerls) (spl) second time, i just plain was stuped and tried to set hook too soon. there goes second goldfish. now i'm concerned. but, hooked up again, grabbed a cold beer and settled back down. clicker starts going off. that's okay, i'm cool. let it go. goes again, and again. after 3rd time, i pick up pole and get ready. a mighty swing and it's on. it jerked back so hard it tore my brush grips off the reeds from shore and now we are drifting free down the channel with fish actually towing me. after what i figured was as least 20 minutes, (was probably closer to 10) i got to boat side. i've never seen in person a flathead that big!!!!!!!!! head wouldn't even fit into my standard size net. so i dig gaff out of side compartment of boat and get ready to swing. should of waited. it wasn't ready. spooked, and tangled in motor. snapped line off. (i was using 45 braided line). i stood there looking dumb, thought for a few, figured i was out of goldfish, this was sign, and headed for shore. but i'll be back this week.
guys, i do believe the flatties are starting to bite down here in slower water.
gary

[thunderchicken]

Wow gary! Bet that was exciting! Those kind of moments really make your heart pump faster! Sorry you didn't get to boat that fish but at least you got the thrill of the battle and got to see it. I think most of us have lost big fish in some fashion. The fishing should only get better as summer gets into high gear. Best of luck and tight lines.

:cool2:

[plumbertom1]

Hey Gary, at least you had some fun from it. That's some story and for each one we lose we learn for the next time. Get the raes of those bait fish and hit the water again.

[bluehunter]

Good that you got to fight the fish for a time eventhough it sucks to lose after a battle. I want to hit the imperial area one day and will make way there this flat season.

[tofish]

Brian, let me know when and will show you a few holes in the river down here. don't forget to get another fish basket by the way.:lol:
gary

[thunderchicken]

Brian, That's a NICE crappie in your avatar. Would love to run into a school of those.

:cool2:

[bluehunter]

Brian, let me know when and will show you a few holes in the river down here. don't forget to get another fish basket by the way.:lol:
gary

It will be when school gets out likely in late June during the week or even July. I will hit you up.

[gilmafam]

Hey Gang.... been busy with fixing my bent skeg and boat stuff, and cleaning up from the Mayflower... "Colorado River Gathering" hosted by Dale "Riverbud55". I just wanted to direct your attention to the post on "members gatherings" and what others and I had to posted regarding the "Great" time that we had on this outing.....

later for now.... bayrunner ray

[riverbud55]

hey ray what did you hit, tree or rock

[tofish]

was gonna ask same thing. talked to plummertom sunday morning before we left and he didn't mention anything about it. hope it was too bad.
gary

[plumbertom1]

Thats old damage that wasn't done at the river. Rays previous repair just need some tuning up.

[gilmafam]

hey ray what did you hit, tree or rock

"Thats old damage that wasn't done at the river. Rays previous repair just needed some tuning up."

Hey Riverbud55.... When I went in to close at Isabella (over an island) I broke part of the skeg... back to summers ago..... This trip, on Sunday, when we had finished at the upper canal (drain) we came out and fished down from the cable on the CA side..... my motor got choked out and wouldnt start... so we were in close to the rip rap and evidently when we pulled the engine cowel off to check things out, and then put the motor down the "home made" skeg protector got bent some...... I could here an unusual buss/humm as we were running back.... no stearing problems... just noise...here is a picture of the ole borken skeg, and the 1/32 stainless "sandwich" that I put together to put it back into shape.... Nice to have friends with skills to put it together huh?.... my own design...

See you in June as friends are going to McIntire... or Rivera...


Bayrunner Ray

[riverbud55]

ya ray that bottom of the canal is like asphalt, if ya drag an anchor down it it feels like your draging it down a parking lot, don't know if i would have gone up the canal in your big boat i have bottomed out in my little red boat in the past, need to be out of there by 2pm so as not to hit low water, when im going up or down it i do a slow plane to get the boat up on top of the water, but it holds some nice fish so its worth the trip up there, how was it turning the boat around to get out of the canal, took me more then a few time to figer it out with out taking your head out with the trees, lost a hat and a pair of sunglasses once:lol:

welded up a lot of skags in the past, used to have a big boat repair shop next door to our old shop down in the city of orange and we would weld one up 1 a week, welded a 1/4" pl in the shape of the skag, now days they have a replacment weld on skag with all the right contures and shapes, if ya ever want to do it right bring it by the shop, easy fix

you lucky u didnt bend the prop shaft or the prop, looks like ya put a new s.s. prop on after the last fix, them thing are big $$$, i think its best to use a alum prop on the river, if ya hit something the prop gives and not the prop shaft, and there less $$$ if ya mess 1 up

[gilmafam]

Yobud, Thanks for the info on canal/drain.... I've been way up it years back in my ole "bayrunner". Even on the ole boat, I have fabricated a transducder on a fiberglass wand that is attached to a bracket off to the side of the bow of the boat.....The unit comes out of the water when on plane, but it sure is nice to know the depth as you're creeping along real slow in shallow water...... Use to have a "brodie knob" on my ole boat for turning around and such..... In narrow areas.... You have to do the "ole fork-lift" way of "back en forth" to get around in tight places...."most" folks don't like to pull into the weeds/bushes.... thats the secret... head in and place the bow into the tules/bushes, and turn as you push againt it, and then back out... forward/ back and your out.....got to be "more heads" up now with this heavier boat.

I've had the stainless prop for some time now......(new/used $100).....

I've lost several of the comp props in the debris in lake Nacimeinto, and the Delta... early in the year when the lake is comming up.... floating logs, I even hit a floating 50 gal drum once...(nice to have room in the boat for a spare prop)

In a way, I miss the "ole boat" with its 60 Merc... the motor would come up when it got shallow.....I made my first prop protector/ skeg guard years ago..... for the ole bayrunner..... the boat was "light enough" that the prop protector thing that I made would move the boat over and lift the motor up when needed..... (see the pic)... This North River boat has a tilt/trim and is easy to bring it up for shallow water running....

Thanks for the offer to weld the skeg for me.... keep it in mind for down the line....for now, the "thing" I've got is easily brought back into shape, un-screw it and "form it back into shape" for major stuff, or just bend it by hand as it is attached....... kind of like a "feeler" or wiskers on a cat......


Later for now....... bayrunner ray

[hustlur]

Thank you for sharing!!!!

[tofish]

i went up that thing at the get together earlier this month. it was shallow. turned around in a 6 point turn i think. it was nasty up there.
gary