lets go camping and fishin' at commins lake

[southernman]

lets go camping and fishin' at commins lake - 'they' say theyre knockin em dead up there! ! !

im up for it this weekend or the next, anybody in?

sm

[Nighthawk]

I have to do Scouting for Food Sat and next week is thanksgiving weekend so that's out for me

[southernman]

everybody leave lots of food for them scouts and our not-as-well-to-do citizens (there but for the grace of god, goes I) . .

and especially cause nighthawk will have to pack it all!!!

now make sure and pack those boxes right nighthawk! (private joke ala mike miller)


sm

[Powermaker]

Man, I'd like to go but with my work schedule the next several weeks are all screwed up (weekend too). I'll have too stay local for any fishing.

Maybe next time,
Take crae

[southernman]

Originally posted by Nighthawk
I have to do Scouting for Food Sat and next week is thanksgiving weekend so that's out for me

forget commins - too cold for camping - lets go south to canyon lake on the apache trail . . .it'll be a blast . .we'll rent a boat . .cheap . . well pretty cheap . .

later. .. .

sm

[Nighthawk]

What is the weather going to be like there?
Cold and Windy with a chance of Snow!!!!!!!

[southernman]

Originally posted by Nighthawk
What is the weather going to be like there?
Cold and Windy with a chance of Snow!!!!!!!

no now im thinking Topock Marsh, between Havasu and Needles . . no rain, highs in the 60's, lows in the 30's for next weekend . . .and i hear theres good fishing & camping there . .

sm

[Nighthawk]

We could camp at Park Moabi or 5 mile landing and rent a small boat from the docks there. We could go to Catfish Paradise, Topock Marsh area or the narrows like you said. What do you think it would cost for a small boat these days?

[Nighthawk]

Here is an Article I found of the Topock Area.

Giant Catfish of the Colorado River
By Richard Alden Bean

Southern California catfish enthusiasts find plenty of excitement pursuing channel and flathead catfish from Needles to Yuma

The lower Colorado River is great catfish country. You could say with some justification that it is a catfish angler's paradise. There's even a place on the river at Topock Marsh called Catfish Paradise. Indeed, it's the closest thing to a sure bet you can get in fishing.

While there are several kinds of catfish in the Colorado, the vast majority of anglers head there for two species: channel and flathead catfish.

Channel cats, which are bluish-gray with deeply forked tails, are widely distributed by game and fish departments on both sides of the border and grow to fairly good size in the river. Arizona's Colorado River record was a 35-pound, 4-ounce hunk caught at Topock Marsh in 1952. California doesn't keep a Colorado River record; its state record is a whopping 52-pound, 10-ounce fish from a Southern California reservoir.

The flathead catfish is something else again. This big catfish has a square tail and a wide, flat head that is distinctive among all fish. These brutes - there's no better descriptive word for a big flathead - can reach weights that would astound you. The National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame world record is an almost unbelievable 123 pounds!

The Colorado River hasn't produced one that big yet, but Arizona's river record is a very respectable 74 pounds, caught near Laguna Dam in 1998. The California flathead catfish record is 60 pounds, a fish from Palo Verde Lagoon on the Colorado River near Blythe.

Channel catfish will eat almost anything that stinks, and anglers are more than obliging to provide them with meals made of noxious stuff: Spoiled chicken parts, spoiled anchovies, sliced mackerel, chicken liver, rotten shrimp, and a host of rather foul cheese and blood baits.

Flatheads, on the other hand, eat live fish. They prefer a struggling minnow fished near the bottom to anything that stinks. While most bait stores along the river sell goldfish to catfish anglers, you can also catch bluegill, tilapia minnows, gizzard shad, threadfin shad or shiners to use as bait, although it's illegal to move bait from one place on the river to another.

When anglers at the river start talking about big goldfish, they don't mess around. Baits in the 6- to 8-inch range are used to attract the river's huge flatheads.

"Fishermen using shad or bluegills may use a 2/0 to 4/0 hook," said Wayne Pinkerton, owner of B&B Bait in Blythe. "I recommend a 5/0 for big goldfish. I rig an 18-inch leader below a barrel swivel with a slip sinker above the swivel. That way, when the cat takes the bait, the sinker doesn't drag and scare him off."

Tackle used for flatheads is often as awesome as the fish themselves. Heavy saltwater tackle is more the rule than the exception. Flathead specialists won't go with less than 15-pound-test, and even that's light. Some experts use levelwind reels loaded with 80-pound Dacron. Channel catfish don't require such awesome equipment, but start with a medium-heavy spinning or bait-casting outfit and a 12- to 20-pound-test.

Catfish anglers like the new regulation in California that allows them to use up to two rods simultaneously in the Colorado River district, a luxury that was only available to lake and reservoir anglers prior to this year. A second rod stamp is available for $9.70 and is good for the entire year. Arizona honors the second rod stamp on the Arizona shore of the river and for anglers in boats or other floating devices on the river. For more than a decade, Arizona's second rod stamp has been honored by California on the California side of the Colorado River.


CATFISH HOTSPOTS
Channel catfish inhabit the entire lower Colorado River. One hotspot is the labyrinth of drowned trees and winding canals of 4,500-acre Topock Marsh, part of the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. You can fish placid bays, channels and "lakes" within the marsh. Ringing the shore are dense stands of cattails and bulrushes.

Topock's average depth is only about 9 feet, with much of it less than 4 feet in depth. Because it is jammed with stumps, layovers and the skeletons of thousands of dead trees, it is perfect catfish habitat, and an excellent place for the angler equipped with a float tube, canoe or boat.

A few miles downriver is the giant bulge of Lake Havasu, a popular destination for skiers and water recreationists, and home to some great fishing. This is where the ranges of channel and flathead catfish overlap. In recent years, reports of ever larger flatheads have emanated from the lower part of the lake, particularly around the Bill Williams arm.

Brad Jacobson, an Arizona Game and Fish Department biologist, says a large habitat project at the 45-mile-long lake is beginning to produce results. Not only are flatheads increasing in size but they're moving upstream into new habitat that should be beneficial to the species.

South of Havasu the river runs through what locals call the Parker Strip; here the river is large, and its banks are supported with riprap. Jay Rankin, who at one time owned a bait and tackle business in Parker, reported weighing several flatheads from the area that bottom-out a 50-pound scales. "I'd say they were about 55- or 60-pounders," Rankin said. Most anglers who go there, however, can realistically expect to catch fish in the 20-pound range.

Related Resources
Your 2003 Southern California Bass Outlook

Truckee Troutin'

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"Right below the Agnes Wilson Bridge south of Parker on the Arizona side of the river is a good spot," Rankin said. "It's rocky. You'll lose a lot of terminal tackle, but you'll catch a lot of catfish."

We would be wrong not to mention the numerous agricultural canals around Parker and Blythe. A lot of water gets removed from the river in those areas, and the canals are filled with channel cats and flatheads. Anglers catch a good number of them where canals run under streets and roads. Drifting bait back into the cool dark of a large culvert is one way to get yourself fastened to a big catfish.

From Blythe south to Yuma, Palo Verde Lagoon, Oxbow Lake and the area near Walter's Camp below Blythe produce flatheads to more than 50 pounds, and the channel catfish action can be very good as well.

As you get closer to the Imperial Dam south of Martinez Lake, the river changes. It gets backed up in hundreds of tule-ringed pothole seeps and "lakes" that offer excellent catfish fishing. The flatheads will be found in the flowing water of the main river channel, usually in the deeper holes, and the vast, sluggish side waters will hold huge numbers of channel cats.

"The area around Picacho State Park on the California side to Martinez on the Arizona shore is the real hotspot of flathead fishing on the river," said Jacobson, the biologist. "The largest flatheads come from Draper Lake down to Picacho State Park. That part of the river (inside the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge) is pretty isolated and gets less pressure simply because it is harder to get to.

"Last year, we noted on our surveys that the area from the Palo Verde diversion dam down to Cibola Lake is growing larger flatheads," Jacobson noted. "It used to be an area where you could find wall-to-wall flatheads in the 2- to 5-pound range, but we've started seeing more 20-pounders there."


FOR YOUR INFORMATION
The Colorado River from Needles to Yuma forms the California-Arizona border. Anglers fishing from the bank in their respective states need only a fishing license from that state. Those that choose to use a boat or other floating device need to purchase a special Colorado River stamp from the other state to go with their license. It's a bargain at just $3.

Non-residents of those two states have a number of license options. You can purchase an Arizona annual non-resident Colorado River license, which covers everything on the river from Lake Powell to Mexico, for $42.50 for a year. Or for $26 you can purchase a five-day non-resident license. California has an annual non-resident license for $81.65, a 10-day non-resident license for $30.45, or a two-day resident/non-resident license for $11.05. Both states offer a stamp for fishing with a second rod.

The aggregate limit for catfish on the Colorado River is 10 fish. Regulations permit the use of several baitfish, including tilapia, bluegill, threadfin shad, carp, goldfish, golden shiners, red shiners and fathead minnows as bait. Be sure to check the regulations for specifics.

[Nighthawk]

I check out Park Moabi Boat Rentals. Bad News the water level on the Colorado river is real low this time of the year and they are not renting any boats out.

We can always fish from the shore?

I can't find any information on boat rentals in the topock marsh area.
Still looking

[southernman]

shore would be fine . . .just not there at moabi , , ,never saw a fish there . .
sm

[Powermaker]

When were you all planning this trip? I have a weekend off coming up Dec. 6 & 7.

[Powermaker]

When were you all planning this trip? I have a weekend off coming up Dec. 6 & 7.

[Nighthawk]

Hey SM I checked into renting a boat at Five Mile Landing, Goldenshores Marina and Catfish Paradise and all told me the same thing that the river is to low at this time and they don't rent them out. I guess the shore will have to do.

[Nighthawk]

Hey Powermaker we are planning this one for Thanksgiving Weekend. Friday Staurday and Sunday.

[Nighthawk]

Originally posted by southernman
everybody leave lots of food for them scouts and our not-as-well-to-do citizens (there but for the grace of god, goes I) . .

and especially cause nighthawk will have to pack it all!!!

now make sure and pack those boxes right nighthawk! (private joke ala mike miller)


sm

Some other troop stole our job this year. We have been boxing up the food for over 12 years. I think it was wrong to be dropped without seeing if we were going to do it or not. I was over at the site delivering our food and they didn't seem to have it under control. Once again they didn't get their boxes in time and finally got finished at 7 PM. We always got done before 6PM. It looked real disorganized to me. They didn't have time to count the bags or even take pictures. We made sure that we did both. Well I wonder if they will do it next year?

[Powermaker]

Hope you have a good (great) time, take lots of pictures. Working for a living is really cutting in my fishing time.