Rancho Dos Palmas

[sweetfish]

Has anybody fished these little ponds in the Rancho Dos Palmas area near Desert beach (Salton Sea area)? They look pretty fishy and was thinking about giving a try.

[DarkShadow]

Aren't the ponds fed by underwater springs? I was wondering if the PH level of the water, and the size of the ponds, would inhibit any fish from thriving, but the owner says there is fish in there, but gives no clue on what type they may be, or if you can even fish for 'em.

Let us know how the venture goes if you decide to hit it up.

[RTG]

Has anybody fished these little ponds in the Rancho Dos Palmas area near Desert beach (Salton Sea area)? They look pretty fishy and was thinking about giving a try.

It is a desert pupfish preserve. No fishing allowed. That is if you're talking about Dos Palmas between the Salton Sea and the Coachella Canal.

[Jcco98]

There are several holes at Dos Palmas and many have desert pupfish (endangered). While the desert pupfish is protected, none of the other fishes in those ponds are.

There are several pools that have decent populations of small black bass. Most of the rest of the fish are junk (mostly a slew tilapia and a bunch of little exotics (lots of mollies)).

I am a wildlife biologist and actually worked on a plan to help the pupfish populations there. I had recommended the send in some anglers to help rid the problem of the larger fish...that was shot down pretty quick.

For those that do not know, here is some history on the site. The area was first noted in the mid 1800's and called Dos Palmas because there were only two palms near a spring. The site was used a station for people passing through. In the mid 1940s there were about 27 trees (this is just after the canal was finished--the leakage led to more water for the trees). Now there are thousands of palm trees (due to the hydraulic modifications and the canal leakage).

In the 1920s, a man named Frank Coffey began planting exotic fishes (mostly from Asia) in the pools. It also seems Mr. Coffey did some experimenting with some tilapia, creating a hybrid tilapia that is quite capable at surviving in a wide range of conditions. Some aquafarms continued off and on until the 1990s. This resulted in the addition of ponds and connecting of ponds, as well as some modifications that increased the number of palms into the thousands (though a fire in 2008 wiped out many of these).

It is believed that desert pupfish were extirpated from the site. In 1990, 593 desert pupfish were moved from the Coachella Preserve to a holding tank, and then released into a few ponds. A handful of the ponds are still doing okay today. The invasives (tilapia, mollies, crayfish, snails, frogs, etc.) have wrecked havoc on the populations and controlling those populations is critical to helping these pupfish populations.

[bowler]

Has anybody fished these little ponds in the Rancho Dos Palmas area near Desert beach (Salton Sea area)? They look pretty fishy and was thinking about giving a try.

i try to fish it one time and i was kicked out of there. They told me there was no fishing allowed in there. But before they kicked me out of there i saw some of the pond and they had some nice size bass in there. But i called some one that wrote about this place and he told me that they was fishing allowed in there.

[RTG]

There are several holes at Dos Palmas and many have desert pupfish (endangered). While the desert pupfish is protected, none of the other fishes in those ponds are.

There are several pools that have decent populations of small black bass. Most of the rest of the fish are junk (mostly a slew tilapia and a bunch of little exotics (lots of mollies)).

I am a wildlife biologist and actually worked on a plan to help the pupfish populations there. I had recommended the send in some anglers to help rid the problem of the larger fish...that was shot down pretty quick.

For those that do not know, here is some history on the site. The area was first noted in the mid 1800's and called Dos Palmas because there were only two palms near a spring. The site was used a station for people passing through. In the mid 1940s there were about 27 trees (this is just after the canal was finished--the leakage led to more water for the trees). Now there are thousands of palm trees (due to the hydraulic modifications and the canal leakage).

In the 1920s, a man named Frank Coffey began planting exotic fishes (mostly from Asia) in the pools. It also seems Mr. Coffey did some experimenting with some tilapia, creating a hybrid tilapia that is quite capable at surviving in a wide range of conditions. Some aquafarms continued off and on until the 1990s. This resulted in the addition of ponds and connecting of ponds, as well as some modifications that increased the number of palms into the thousands (though a fire in 2008 wiped out many of these).

It is believed that desert pupfish were extirpated from the site. In 1990, 593 desert pupfish were moved from the Coachella Preserve to a holding tank, and then released into a few ponds. A handful of the ponds are still doing okay today. The invasives (tilapia, mollies, crayfish, snails, frogs, etc.) have wrecked havoc on the populations and controlling those populations is critical to helping these pupfish populations.
The point is that the area is posted "No Trespassing" and you can't fish there. It doesn't matter what is swimming in the ponds, it is posted. There are BLM signs on the fencing.

[sweetfish]

Thanks guys. Someone told my friend that he caught over 100 lmb last year, and I thought he was full of it. I guess he must have been talking about somewhere else, since it is posted.