Family Fun in the Arizona Sun

Fishing Time:  February 25 to 28, 2016

Weather:  Sunny and clear, T-90s

Moon Phase:  92 to 71% Moon

Water Temp:  Morning - 65, Afternoon - 70 deg

Location:  Colorado River, Arizona

Best Bait:  Texas rigged white pearl senko (8 oz wt)

Who Went:  Devin, Addison, Dayton, Dunc

The family is here and it’s not quiet around anymore!  The kids love the lake house and especially the dock.  Surprisingly the dock is more exciting to fish from than the boat.  I can’t blame them since there are bass on beds all over near the dock.  The photo above is Dayton trying to entice a male bass guarding a bed two feet from shore.  Unfortunately with all the commotion the bass on beds were not biting.  Try explaining to a 4, 5, and 6 year old that you need to be quiet and sneak up on them.  Yeah right. 

One day we went down to the bait shop to get some live bait.  I figured this might be there best chance at catching a fish.  Well… the live bait instantly became our pets and not many ever made it on a hook. 

Devin did finally land a bass fishing from the back of the boat.  It makes my day watching the kids reel in fish. 

About an hour later we were out on the boat and Dev had a snag (we had a lot of those), and I had just barely casted a senko into shallow water.  I gave the rod to Dayton (4 years old) and told him to reel it in really slow while daddy fixed Devin’s snag.  I got the snag out and turned around to find Dayton reeling in a fish!  Awesome!  

He got it all the way to the boat, but unfortunately it popped off right before I could grab it.  This was our last fish of the trip.  The kids had a blast, but keeping their attention to fish was near impossible. 

One night we ran up river a few miles, turned the motor off, and floated all the way back home during sunset.  I fished the whole way down river, but no fish were found in the cold river water.  Floating in silence and hanging with the family was really fun.  It was a great time having my family visit me at the Arizona lake house.

Bass Spawn Overnight...

Fishing Time:  February 15 to 18, 2016

Weather:  Sunny and clear, T-80s

Moon Phase:  50 to 84% Moon

Water Temp:  Morning - 62, Afternoon - 68

Location:  Colorado River, Arizona

Best Bait:  Texas rigged green pumpkin senko (8 oz wt)

Who Went:  Dunc

First let me start by saying that this week was unusually slow fishing, but the few I landed were a bit larger in the 3 pound range.  This made the slow fishing bearable. 

Then one day towards the end of the week it happened.  I came home from work and decided to stop in at the store at the marina and ran into a couple bass fishermen sitting in their boat drinking a beer after a long day of fishing.  I casually asked them if they left any fish in the lake for me and they told me they only landed one bass all day, but they were everywhere in the shallows on beds.  What?!  On beds?!  I haven’t seen a fish in the shallows since being here.  How could this be?  I asked them where they were fishing and sure enough it was the same area I fish.  I talked to them for a bit then drove home in complete confusion.  Once home I ran down to the dock and I couldn’t believe it.  Just as I hit the dock at least 5 bass swam from the shallows into deeper water.  I looked down and there was a bass bed built right in front of my boat.  A few seconds later the bass came back to guard his bed.  The spawn literally triggered overnight!  Crazy! 

Unfortunately I had to leave the next day for home.  It’s my daughter’s birthday.  Can’t miss that!  I’m still amazed that one day no bass were to be found and the next day they are swarming all over in the shallows.  Next weekend my family will be down here to spend the weekend with me, so hopefully I can get the kids into a few fish.

It's Starting to Heat up in Arizona

Fishing Time:  February 8 to 14, 2016

Weather:  Sunny, clear, breezy to windy, T-80s

Moon Phase:  0 to 43% Moon

Water Temp:  Morning - 58, Afternoon - 61

Location:  Colorado River, Arizona

Best Bait:  Texas rigged green pumpkin senko (8 oz wt)

Who Went:  Dunc

I'm not much for selfies, but I was getting a little bored with holding the same 2 pound bass out for a photo, so, I tried to switch it up a bit.  I took more GoPro video than photos this week and I'm hoping to make a video of my time down here.

This was my most successful week since I've been here, but still nothing over 2 pounds.  The water is warming into the low 60s by the end of the day, but it has been windy.  I think if the winds die down the water will warm even more and the bass should start to flock to the shallows.  This weekend air temps were reaching 90 degrees.  From what I'm hearing the bass usually spawn in the middle of March.  For now I'm still catching most my bass in deeper water. Anywhere there is grass or sunken trees in 6 to 10 feet of water.

I've tried a few other baits, but for some reason the only thing that continues to get action is the Texas-rigged senko.  Bites usually come as soon as I bounce through an underwater tree or run through some deep grass.  If there's no grass or cover then there is usually no fish.  Some of the background scenery while fishing here is pretty amazing...

Another Week in Paradise

Fishing Time:  Sporadic from Feb 1 to 7.  

Weather:  Breezy to windy every day, T-70s

Moon Phase: 1 to 45% Moon

Location:  Colorado River - Yuma, Arizona

Water Temp:  54 to 56 degrees

Best Bait:  Texas rigged senko - green pumpkin (1/8 oz weight)

Who Went:  Dunc

Another week and the fishing still seems a bit slow on the Colorado River.  I seem to catch 1 or 2 on each trip, but just can’t seem to find any real numbers.  The fish are all clones in the 2 pound range, but fight like there 5 pounders.  Every time I hook up I think I’ve finally landed the big one.  These river fish have some fight in them!  The photos get a bit boring when you’re by yourself every trip. But here is the weeks catch…

Still haven’t seen any fish in the shallows and all my success has come from the deep end of the docks working the bottom with a Texas-rigged senko.  I've tried using a spinnerbait on windy days, but still no bites.  You would think with temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s that the fish would be in the shallows by now, but the Colorado River water stays pretty cold.  The forecast for next week is mid to high 80s all week, so that might get the water temp up a bit, and hopefully the fish respond.  I leave you with another sunset from the water...