Lower Colorado River chewing now -catfish and stripers biting!

[tofish]

the cats and stripers are biting folks. took a couple out this past tuesday. i played net boy. 5 cats, (channels) and 6 stripers. all decent size. went back out tonight by myself same spot. fished less than 1 1/2 hrs. from 6:30 to 7:45. caught 6 channels and 5 stripers. all hooked in mouth and sense i didn't need, released to fight again.
fish mouth of inlets. mackeral and worms. flatheads biting after about 8:00 or so on live gills. it's a ball.
gary

[SSgt Fishslayer]

good job gary. i am stuck here at headquarters on duty for the night. might go out tomorrow since i have Duty Day Off. hit me up if you wanna head out.

[tofish]

tomorrow night? call me. i'm awake until 0030 at least. or send message.
gary

[jason berry]

Good catch. I miss Arizona had some of the best fishing of my life their around the yuma area in the gila river and the yuma canals. Flathead and big bass galore. im coming back in March just to go fishing.

[gilmafam]

Gary, got off the PM talking to Plumbertom1, and we will be heading down that way on Thur 11.... might fish the American Canal on the way down, and will meet up with someone in yuma .... I'd like to meet up with you if your avail... maybe we can get up river to Piccacho for sat. Pm, or just stay down river and fish your recomendations......

Yuma mini gathering????

Bayrunner ray

[tofish]

Ray, far as i know, it's sounding good. my sister shouldn't get here until after that weekend, so nothing to stop me now.
hopefully sgt fishslayer will be able to go to.
gary

[gtbait]

I'll be down there over the 11-14th. Likely camping and fishin out of Picacho. The Channels will be setting up in predictable locations in the backwater lakes. Bait will be easy to make during the middle of the day. Saving the twilight and early mornings for the Flatheads. This is a great time of year for fishin' all night as far as I'm concerned. It's a rare overnighter that my Flathead bait isn't sucked down by a passing Striper. Not those little 3-5 pounders. Something with ill intent and an appetite. If you folks head up to the Picacho area you'll likely see a little white Porta-bote hiding out in the shade during the midday. I won't go to CA to pick up my Basstracker. The little Porta-bote floats in inches, just right for sneakin in the backwaters.

[tofish]

fished same spot again last night with a friend. only one decent bite. but got to looking at the water flow and thinking. the other nights, water was flowing a lot faster and stronger than last night. so i went online to check the outlet flows at the pala verde dam. now it's so far up river, i figure about 4-6 hrs to affect water flow down close to imperial dam. if this is case, the difference was close to a 5,000 meter less last night. guess i'm gonna start watching the water flow a lot closer now.
gary

[badgmc]

toFish,
I was thinking of heading down that way this weekend. Is it possible to use a 20ft deep V fiberglass on the river down there? I used to fish the rivers back in Virginia without a problem, haven't tried it in the year plus out here. If I can flaot the boat where would you recommend putting in and heading to. In general terms I do not want to know where you hot spot is, just ones like it.

Thanks for any help,
badgmc

[tofish]

badgmc, several places to launch. fisher lake is free, but sometimes kinda shallow. i believe best ramp is at squaw lake. 10.00 use fee though. i've seen lots of deep boats out there. are you going after bass or cats? i don't know very much about bass fishing. hope okay to do this, but a good site to ask on is ............com it's a local site, and people are very free with their knowledge.
pm me if you want more info. by the way, i monitor that site and we keep it very family friendly.
gary

[gilmafam]

Gary.... I plan to depart Thur Pm and maybe fish the canals off of 8 on the way down... maybe Tom and you and I can do the local canals fri pm, and then go to Fisher landing on Sat.... I like it better there for camping and launching.... I'd rather do that then launch at Squaw.... but I've only been there by boat and have not driven there....Got to keep the water watch going......

bayrunner ray

[tofish]

Ray, i'm opposite. i like squaw better to launch. but can do both. what canals you talking about? in ca or az? i cannot fish ca now.
i'm slowly figuring out the water flow. (my old mind works slow nowadays) seems like when pala verde dam opens, it takes about 6 hrs to affect imperial area. figure, 5 1/2 hrs for fishers, ect as you go up. least that is what i'm thinking. you bringing that boat i saw you with at blythe? or have another? just wondering.
anyhow, where ever launch at, i'm down and game at this time. if sgt fishslayer can't go, have another marine from base that wants to go. i'm gonna try and get up to military cabins at martinez and talk to guys there. ask them about sand bars up river. last time, they gave me good info on where to dodge accross the river at what point. that might help us.
gary

[gilmafam]

Gary, been so busy with posts at other places and so I forgot about this one.... they all say the same thing.... were going after after "flats and channels" if anything else gets in our way they we will go from there..... I think that you are right on the launch at squaw... from what I saw when I flew over via the google ship, it looks ok..... I just like to get out of calif. sometimes, and Fisher landing is in az....... I get the "itchie back" feeling in calif.

Anyway.... "we bee leaving and arriving all on the same day".... just a little tail wind might help...... going down through Indio and look at the Salton Sea and wonder what it was like 20 years ago before the "DEMOS" ended it.....I even stopped at New River one day to check out the fishing in the "most poluted rivier in the United States of America. That was rather "trippy".... here I was under the freeway in the shade with "stink' fishing for 20 minutes.... one of thoes "look-see" trips on the way to Martinez..... anyway, I was done trying and came back to the RV, and the wife said that this guy pulled over to tell me that the fish in there are going to kill me, and it was listed in the wall street journal as the most......... so what "I fished it".....

Do you have any extra feul tanks.... I may bring the "BIG Boat"

See ya Thursday..... Bayrunner Ray

[tofish]

ray, i've fished both new river and the alamo river. both are almost tied in pollution. only did good in alamo though. nice size flatties out of it. didn't keep any though.
you bring the big boat and we're all going up in it. we could just plow a new channel upriver.
understand the itch to get out of ca once in awhile. i used to live there too. but i think you'll like it better.
gary

[O2Bfishing]

Good catch. I miss Arizona had some of the best fishing of my life their around the yuma area in the gila river and the yuma canals. Flathead and big bass galore. im coming back in March just to go fishing.


I was in yuma 3 times the period I was active duty and if I had know then what I know now about the fishing. woo wee ! I would be a conservation officer for Az right now !

[SSgt Fishslayer]

hey ray if you bring the big boat we wont have to worry about making it to picacho. the only thing we will have to worry about is keeping more water in front of us than there is behid us.

[plumbertom1]

Well guys, I'm Having a cup of mornin mud and then hitting the road down to Rays. WE will be departing through the Inland Empire Via the 91 fwy as soon as I can make my way through LA morning trafffic on the 405. See you soon.

[SSgt Fishslayer]

looking forward to meeting you Tom. have a good trip and be careful. the snowbirds are in town.

[tofish]

well Tom, if i remember right, that will take you most of morning to get down the 405 :0a19:. hated that fwy.
i'm still waiting to hear from eric on when he's bringing the yak over, but it'll all work out.
i went out yestersday with camp host for afternoon. did good on smaller bass using small shallow divers with blue or red in them. about fell over when he caught a 3/4 lb crappy in lake ferguson too.
have a safe drive and hope you tear the canals up if you still stop and fish them.
gary

[gilmafam]

Gary, thanks for the "great trip".....what is the fishing like around... just before Thanksgiving.... I know the water may be much lower, but what about the availability of "Gills" that time of the year? If the Salmon arn't at Rio Vista, and depending on weather.... I'd rather enjoy some good ole Yuma heat... than the "Delta" wind and rain....

bayrunner ray

[tofish]

ray, i've only been here one winter, so really don't remember how the gills are then. but should be able to find some. sure gonna be lots cooler at night though. just let me know and unless i'm out of town for family, i'll go. but don't know about sleeping in boat again that cool at night.
gary

[SSgt Fishslayer]

gary, i want to thank you again for the awesome time i had this weekend. it was really nice to get out with some of the Brothers and learn their secrets to success. it was one of the best trips i have had in a long time. next time we go out, i will take you out to some of my favorite places for flatheads. dont know how good we will do, but it should be a good time either way. i would also like to say thank you to Ray and Tom for being such good sports out there. i have never met such a good bunch of people. Maybe next time i wont get skunked. :wink:

[Da Chummer]

Looks like a fun time. How many flatheads did you guys catch? I have always wanted to do some serious fishing down there but don't know where to go for the big flatheads. Glad you guys had fun.

[gtbait]

It was nice seeing you gents on the river. I have to admit I was a bit taken aback when I saw 3 boats headed in my direction. That little Porta-bote doesn't usually spook easily. I would have liked to ran some water with you folks yet I'd promised a buddy I'd join him in cutting tules for an oxbow entrance. I caught a dozen or so Channels each day using dip baits. Enough to fill the larder until next months trip. Ray there are Bluegill to be caught all year in the side channels out of Squaw Lake. I made bait daily when I fished that area while living in Yuma. There's always bait to be had fishin the spillway at the Yuma Main canal off 4th Ave. There are a lot of Channels and Flatheads to be caught in the river below the 4th Ave dam. The cold front that pushed through along with the lowering water level over this last weekend put the damper on the bigger fish. A buddy camping and fishin out of Picacho caught a 50lb Flathead Wednesday night near the 4S campground. Usually the mouths of the larger lakes along with the cuts going back into the oxbows produce fish when the water level is dropping. At any rate, I'm headed back again next month. Usually one of the better months of numbers of Appaloosa cats. Flatheads at night with a few ducks early morning make for a great Thanksgiving supper.

[tofish]

ralph, i was in lead boat. flipped you the pease sign and the look on your face made my day. you looked like you didn't know whether to say hi or run for the reeds. glad to see you though. would of talked to you more, but with the 4 boats floating around, it was getting kinda crowded.
gary

[tofish]

travis, think the final count was 7 flatheads, and one channel. largest was 15 by eric. was a great outing for us.
gary

[Da Chummer]

Sounds like a blast. Some day i'd like to try fishing down there.

[tofish]

gary, i want to thank you again for the awesome time i had this weekend. it was really nice to get out with some of the Brothers and learn their secrets to success. it was one of the best trips i have had in a long time. next time we go out, i will take you out to some of my favorite places for flatheads. dont know how good we will do, but it should be a good time either way. i would also like to say thank you to Ray and Tom for being such good sports out there. i have never met such a good bunch of people. Maybe next time i wont get skunked. :wink:
joey, this was the first time you and i had ever fished together and honestly, i went into it with a few misgivings. i've taken others out like this, and will never do again. but most i would. after this trip, you are welcome in my boat, truck, house, any time sir. it was a great trip for all of us. it would of been better if you would of caught some cats, but you did catch some of those dinky, yucky smallies, large mouths, stripers, (i'll add all dinks) so didn't get skunked. anyone that takes you out would enjoy you along. thanks for being my boat partner last weekend.
gary

[gtbait]

Was that really a peace sign? I only saw half of it. HaHa. What with all the boat traffic I fingered I'd putted in front of another irate skiier. A short story. I was fishin just off the inside of the entrance to Taylor lake early in the day Saturday. There was an armada of tourney Bass fisherman lined up against the cliff wall. Each one about 75 feet from another. I was catching 5-7lb Carp for a thrill, and yea, some to bring home to eat. I could see the tourney boys eyeing me each time I was playing a fish. As the first of the group left Taylor I was asked by each what I'd been catching. The first couple of boats heard "Golden Stripers", the others "Blonde Trout". It seems high dollar angling attitude doesn't match well with a simple food fisherman's humor. They didn't know it yet I'd caught a dozen 1-2lb bass on short Berkely worms at daybreak along that same wall.

[tofish]

:0a34:two fingers raised up in a V i think is a peace sign. a single digit raised up with me yelling my head off at you is a bird. yep, it was a actual peace sign i flipped you. i only flip the bird at jet skiers, and stuped bass guys that crowd me.
i know that cliff. nice hole there. lots of stripers hanging around there usually too. as for carp, i've been known to eat a few also. kinda bony though.
gary
well, now that i think of it, i was yelling at you if you posted on the BOC site. can see where you could of wondered. sorry.

[gilmafam]

ray, i've only been here one winter, so really don't remember how the gills are then. but should be able to find some. sure gonna be lots cooler at night though. just let me know and unless i'm out of town for family, i'll go. but don't know about sleeping in boat again that cool at night.
gary

Gary, If you want to know the truth, and I'm sure you do..... It was "very uncomfortable even in my boat"....Tom and I need an air mattress..(two singles) ...... you should see what he looks like trying to sleep on the seat/chair that he was on..... Easy for him to put up with my snoring when he is sleeping..... just turn off the hearing aid..... I can't turn anything off when he is snoring......I'd rather not spend the night as it is very slow from say 1 pm on ....... "I was cramped up and shivering"..... I like the comfort of the RV for the sleeping thing....The spot up river @ picacho was very productive.... but thats a long run up from Squaw.....

I'd propably stay at squaw and fish out of there with you and others and save on the boat gas..... like boat gas is something to worry about when fishing....

bayrunner ray

[janzaldo]

Hi Ray, did you take any pictures?

Jaime

[gtbait]

Ray, there's always camping at Picacho. Granted the road is rough yet gentle enough if you take your time. The scenery once you near the gold mine is spectacular. Copper basin strikes me as to what driving into the Grand Canyon would be akin to. That hour drive up there saves a lot of boat gas and gives you a nice base camp to fish out of. There's a solar shower available, water at almost every site. You can hook up your RV to a faucet without a problem. There's a dump site, FREE. All the outdoor johns are very clean as is the campground itself. You can launch your boat at the lower dock. It's a paved ramp in a small lagoon. Great for avoiding the rivers current when launching or retrieving your boat. I know the Rangers there along with all the staff. They're upstanding people and will tune you into some of the better fishin areas if you ask.

[tofish]

Hi Ray, did you take any pictures?

Jaime
check this one and scroll down for more.
gary
http://www.catfish1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60897&page=3

[janzaldo]

Thanks Gary sure is pretty scenary.

Jaime

[tofish]

Ray, there's always camping at Picacho. Granted the road is rough yet gentle enough if you take your time. The scenery once you near the gold mine is spectacular. Copper basin strikes me as to what driving into the Grand Canyon would be akin to. That hour drive up there saves a lot of boat gas and gives you a nice base camp to fish out of. There's a solar shower available, water at almost every site. You can hook up your RV to a faucet without a problem. There's a dump site, FREE. All the outdoor johns are very clean as is the campground itself. You can launch your boat at the lower dock. It's a paved ramp in a small lagoon. Great for avoiding the rivers current when launching or retrieving your boat. I know the Rangers there along with all the staff. They're upstanding people and will tune you into some of the better fishin areas if you ask.
ralph, i know you have that fold up boat. do you tow a trailor up there? i've done it twice pulling my boat and wouldn't wish that road on anyone. have to keep it 10-15 mph all the way, and when i got home both times, took me a couple of days each time to tighten or replace nuts, bolts or screws that either fell out or came loose.
i see lots of boats that are towed up there, but that road is nothing but ruts.
but you're sure right on the scenery.
gary