Panfish are definitely biting in the Colorado River backwaters

[Natural Lefty]

http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j368/NaturalLefty/AhaQuinfishMay32013.jpg (http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/NaturalLefty/media/AhaQuinfishMay32013.jpg.html)

The fishing started out a bit slow on the late afternoon of May 3, but as soon as the sun went down, Redears and Bluegills were swarming and biting immediately on a worms and jigs. The final tally for my wife and I was 13 good size Bluegills, 4 large Redears, a large Redear/Bluegill hybrid and a pound or so Channel Catfish. My wife Eunice caught the biggest fish, which was a 1 pound, 6 ounce Redear, seen in the front left side of the photo.

[Natural Lefty]

Alice, I hope you see this (as well as others interested in fishing the lower Colorado River). I sent you a message, but not sure it went through.

[fish4anything]

Very nice!

[jaggerbub]

I fished a stretch of the Colorado two weeks ago and had the same results on panfish. I saw the biggest bluegill ever but could not get her to bite. Going again in about two weeks for some big cats. Planning on bringing an ultralight rod this time for red ears/bluegills.... Boy they were thick in my big kitty honey hole...

[gogreeenz4]

any idea on water temp on the Co river?? mainly blythe

[The Fishing Queen]

Alice, I hope you see this (as well as others interested in fishing the lower Colorado River). I sent you a message, but not sure it went through.

Robert, yes I got the message, thanks! I'm happy to see you and Eunice had good time fishing the Colorado River. I read your reports in the past and it seems like she always beats you with the size of her catch.... Ha, ha... It was strange that the panfish were more active in the late afternoon. I heard something like this happened at the Pudd. Last December Pudd had a big die off, the panfish action has been real slow. Last spring and summer we had great time fishing at the lake. I hope the fishery will pick up soon.

Thanks for the report! The panfish look pretty nice, especially the big one Eunice caught...... Lol....

Alice

[Natural Lefty]

Thanks Fish4anything.

I am glad you had similarly good fishing, Jaggerbub. Anyplace where the water is not too swift is growing thriving populations of panfish and bass in the river.

Gogreenz, I don't know the water temp., but clearly it has warmed up enough for the fish to be in prespawn mode and be hungry. I know you go fishing sometimes in the same location where Eunice and I caught these fish, so don't hesitate to fish there now, and I wish you good luck.

Hello Alice. I just tried sending another message but it said that your message box was full -- yet again. I heard about the dieoff at Pudingstone. I went there last in March when I thought entrance would be free, but they made me pay $10, and I only caught 1 small Redear, so the dieoff has negatively impacted the fishing. Biting primarily around sunset is not unusual in my experience, but the strange thing is wondering where all these fish came from, and why they weren't around a few minutes earlier. That is exactly what happened to Eunice and myself last Friday. Obviously, the fish were in the area, perhaps shielding themselves from the bright sunlight until the sun went down. Then they swam toward shore and fed voraciously.

Yes, Eunice usually does beat me with the biggest catch. :) <3 All of the Redears were at least around a pound, so yes, they are huge along the Colorado River.