Bass fishing in Arizona

[Garry2Rs]

Well Folks;

Another month has slid bye, or that could be skid & slid for you-guys up north...hahaha.

Buck and I are fine. We have toughed it out through the "cold weather" and we are looking forward to warmer days ahead.

The forecast is for 80 degrees from Friday this week until Thursday next week.

 

On the water, January started well enough. We caught two good fish but then things tanked...

This month the fishing continued to be slow. The water temperature has been around 54 - 55 degrees but was up to 57 yesterday.

This coming week of warm weather might move the Bass from winter mode into pre-spawn mode, and get them biting again.

Anyway, I hope so.

 

Last weekend on one of the fishing shows, a Bass Pro named George Cochran was promoting his Wal-Mart exclusive crankbait called "Lil' Mister Money."

It's a Strike King bait, so it might be sold as something else in other stores...I don't know.

Anyway it's a two inch bait with red hooks and a rattle that runs 3 feet deep.

There are three Wal-Marts in Yuma, so I ventured out and bought the bait for about $4.50.

Since the main forage in Mittry is Sunfish, I own Rapala DT-4's and DT-6's in Sunfish pattern.

Mister Money was available in three natural finishes, and Firetiger...

I generally buy natural coloured baits, because the water at home is so clear, but the visibility in Mittry is only about 2 feet on a good day...

By that I mean that the lure disappears from my view at one foot down, but the light has to go down and back up for me to see it, so two feet of visibility in total.

Now, even if a Bass can see three or four times as far as me, in that soup, that's still not very good with a two inch crankbait.

I opted for Firetiger to increase the small baits visibility.

 

Buck and I went to Mittry Lake yesterday afternoon.

I spoke to two guys who were leaving as I was launching. They reported one fish, on a crankbait.

The species was unknown, but they thought it might have been a Crappie because it zig-zagged it's way around the boat, down deep, before getting off...

 

We started our fishing by returning to the spot where our last two fish have come from.

I was alternately throwing the new bait on a spinning rod, and a Rapala DT-4, in Sunfish pattern on a baitcaster.

Plus, in the area where we picked-up a 16 inch Bass on a tube, last month, I tried a Jig & Pig in every hole and around all the roots...

There was nothing doing anywhere in this area.

 

Next we cast our way along several banks, and even trolled over some schools of fish that we marked on the sonar, without success

We were generally heading toward the area where my big fish in November and December came from.

 

Around four o'clock we were opposite a group of reeds where we have caught several fish in the past.

The outside egde of the reeds are in 3 - 4 feet of water and there's a ledge about 4 - 6 feet out that tappers fairly quickly to 8 - 10 feet.

I was casting the Mister Money close to the reeds and working it out on a 30 or 40 degree angle so as to keep the bait between the cover and the drop-off for the longest time that I could on each cast.

 

Suddenly the line got heavy, and started to move sideways...Buck went on attention, but I told him to "Sit down"...

I guess I got him before he hit the "Red Zone" because he listened...for a change...grin.

It was nip and tuck whether he was going over the side or not...The fish would swirl...he would ramp-up and I would tell him "Sit!"

That would last until the fish broke water again, then we would go through the whole ritual again.

After a minute or so, the fish came boat side and I was able to lip it.

I popped it in the live well for safe keeping while I installed batteries in my new digital scale...

Three pounds and eight ounces aka three and a half pounds on the scale!

 

On the Golden Rule it was just over the 18 inch line when I wiggled the tail.

 

While in the live well, the fish spit-up a minnow, which I scooped out...

You can see it's a two inch, Long Ear Sunfish.

My bait is the right size and shape, even if the colours are way overdone.

 

We continued fishing for another hour, until about 5:30, then split for home.

As was passed a farm along the way, I saw this horse with the sun setting behind it...

Garry

[mepps]

Great report, i'm envious of that t-shirt weather too!

I just spent a week in Montreal and i've been trying to thaw out ever since...

[Mike the Pike]

Great report, i'm envious of that t-shirt weather too!

I just spent a week in Montreal and i've been trying to thaw out ever since...

 

Nice report Gary looks so warm.

 

Ya Mepps its dang Damp here eh

[b2kptbo]

Beauty, fun in the sun...

[mattyk]

great report, thanks for sharing.

[OhioFisherman]

Great pictures and nice report!

[foggy]

great report, wish i was there

[shane]

Ha Ha! Love the smile on Buck. You would think he caught that fish.

Edited February 9, 2008 by fireball

[Clampet]

Thanks fer the report Garry!

Ole Duke says hi to Buck.