Weather: Sunny, clear, highs 75-77, lows 55-60
Moon Phase: 50% Moon
Location: All American Canal, California and Arizona border
Bait: Live bluegill for catfish, jerk-baits for bass, worms for bluegill
Who Went: Jonathan, Me
I had the opportunity to go down to the warm state of Arizona for work from November 13 through the 22nd. I flew into Phoenix then drove 3 hours southwest to Yuma, Arizona. The lucky part about this trip is one of our subcontractors (Jonathan) was local and an avid fisherman. His favorite target is the flathead catfish that are found in most lakes and rivers in the area. He doesn’t just go for any catfish though; his goal is to break the state record! Unfortunately I was there in the off season for big catfish, but he told me he still catches them occasionally. I tried to fit in some bass fishing after work the first week, but only had a couple nights where I actually finished work before dark and was able to get in about 15-30 minutes of actual fishing.
I caught tons of bluegill and largemouth, but none of the bass were very big. My camera decided to crap out on me after 8 years so most my pictures are pretty poor taken from my camera on my phone. One spot I fished right after work was below the diversion of the Colorado River into the All American Canal.
This canal sends what looked like 60-70% of the water in the Colorado River straight to California! The river above the diversion is impressive, but the river below is a third the size. The diversion ran down multiple concrete shoots before turning into one big canal.
The next night of fishing I had about 30 min. before dark and fished further down on the All American Canal where you can literally just drive the canal looking out the window sight fishing for bass and bluegill.
It was a lot of fun, but got dark way to fast. I caught a lot of bass, but they were all small in the 1 -1 ½ lb range.
I was working at the Yuma Proving Grounds Army Base and they do not work Fridays, so Jonathan and I planned a 3 day straight fishing adventure for flathead catfish. The way Jonathon fishes for these flatheads is at night! He shows up to the canal Thursday evening just before dark and catches a few bluegill to use for bait. He uses live bluegill for bait! Then he fishes all night Thursday for flatheads until the sun comes up on Friday and he begins fishing for Friday night’s bluegill. Once he has a few bluegills he goes home and sleeps until just before dark. He repeats this process through Saturday night and then sleeps most of Sunday before waking up and dressing out the catfish he caught over the weekend. He told me he has done this every weekend all year long with the exception of only a few where he had other commitments. Dude is a freak and I loved it!Thursday night came and Jonathon asked if I would go to one of his best bluegill holes and catch us some bait before fishing all night because he had a few things to take care of at home. I told him no problem, because let’s face it, I had nothing better to do besides sit in a hotel room. This spot was below another diversion they called Laguna Dam.
Jonathan warned me that this was a tough time of year to catch bluegill, but that this was a good spot. I fished hard during the hour of daylight I had left and caught channel catfish and largemouth bass, but was only able to land one measly bluegill for bait.
Let me tell you, having the pressure to catch your bait before fishing is something that is very new to me and I loved it! I’ve never been more focused on catching a bluegill in my life! I would miss a hit and it was devastating!I met up with Jonathan at his favorite catfish hole with my one bluegill and he set up one rod with my bluegill and another with a frozen bluegill that he uses when he doesn’t have live ones.
After that we sat there until 4:00 a.m. without so much as a nibble! It was all I could do to stay focused, but not Jonathan, I could tell that he knew what the possibilities were at any given moment. It reminded me of my lake trout fishing experiences where most people I take want to call it a day, but I stay focused as ever because I know it only takes one hit to catch the biggest fish of your life! Just after 4:00 a.m I couldn’t deal with it anymore and called it quits, so Jonathan did to. I went home and slept until my internal clock made me get out of bed at 10:00 a.m. Crazy as I am, I got up and went bass fishing all day, only to return to my hotel room and receive a phone call from Jonathan telling me he’s heading out to catch bluegill for tonight’s fishing! That said, I headed back to the canal where we fished for bluegill until dark.
It was tough fishing again, but I was able to land two and Jonathan one, so we at least had a few bluegill for bait.Friday night brought more of the same and we didn’t get a single bite! This time we stayed for the long haul and fished for bluegill and bass in the morning until around noon.
By this time I was exhausted and Jonathon began talking to me about Saturday nights fishing. In my mind I was thinking, there is no way I’m staying out all night again to watch a rod that never moves. So I ditched out and drove to Phoenix instead, to visit my buddy Shain Jorgensen who moved down there a few years ago. When I woke up at Shain’s house on Sunday morning I had a new picture message on my phone from Jonathan that read… “why did you leave lmao!” with this picture attached…
I couldn’t believe it! All that time spent with no bites and he lands a 25-30 lb catfish the moment I leave! This got my juices flowing again and I told him we had to try one more night! I left Arizona on a Tuesday, so Monday night before leaving I talked him into going out for one last chance. We started fishing around 5:00 p.m. for bait and were able to land a couple bluegills for the night. Once it was dark we threw two rods out hoping for one last chance. At 8:30 p.m. I finally had a bite.
I grabbed the rod and it was bouncing vigorously. I asked if I should set the hook and he firmly told me no way! He directed me to free spool my line and let the fish run, so I did. I free spooled my reel and wow did the fish run! He must have taken 50 yards off the spool when Jonathan told me to slow him down with my thumb until bringing him to a complete stop. Once he was stopped we let him run one more time breaking him down to a stop with my thumb again. By this time I couldn’t stand it any longer and felt I had to set the hook. Jonathan told me to wait for one good tug and then to set it. I felt a few minor tugs and then my line just stayed taunt with no play. At first I thought the fish was just holding it in his mouth, but after 30 seconds I realized something wasn’t right. Jonathan shined his flashlight down into the canal and my line was heading straight down the bank into some big rocks! Still not worried with 80 lb test, Jonathan tried to get my line untangled until he fell flat on his butt as the strong line finally gave and snapped in half. My spirits were at an all time low, and to make matters worse, Jonathan began telling me that based on how the fish was running he felt it was a good catfish in the 30-40 pound range! I was in pure depression. We still had one pole left with a live bluegill and I patiently waited until around 1:00 a.m. but the next bite never came. I can’t get the big fish out of my mind, but with more work planned in Yuma next year, I don’t expect it to be my last chance! The bass fishing was fun and the bluegills down there are huge! All in all I had a good time, but can’t wait for another chance to join the 40 pound catfish club!
