Blythe was on !

[Durdy Daug]

Things started out scratchy, on the way down my signal lights on the truck had stopped working, so I pulled off and messed with all the fuses, all was good, continued down the road, got to B&B at 08:58, bought some gold fish, and called a local for guide advise, ended up at a sweet spot on the back water put up the tent and got excited and tried to launch from where I was, the truck ended up getting stuck in soft sand. Well that was when things really started to go north, I realized too late that I had forgotten to put the plug in, also forgot to unhitch the boat at the back, and had the transom rod still attached! the truck was down to the frame, the trailer down to the tongue, I had a shovel in the truck so I tried to dig my way out, no doing... a boater passed by and I asked for help, he was kind and brought his truck and I hooked my tow strap to his hitch, the strap broke without even budging my truck, so I cut the strap into 4 pieces, and he was able to pull me out. The boat had taken on soo much water, that my battery charger, which I had stored in the battery compartment, shorted out, lucky for me I had a spare!
Went out fishing about 18:00 for some red ear, my navigational lights stopped working so I navigated with a flash light. Stayed out till about 24:00 when my feet felt like 2 ice cubes, went back to the camp site, slept till 05:00, went out again for red ear, and ended up hooking my first ever SMB, on a 7/0 circle hook! Go figure! My buddy and I then went to a sand bar to try for catfish, after about 2 hours of nothing, we drifted off the sand bar, going backward, both my lines ended up tangled, once I finally got everything straight, my buddy calls out "Monster Cat" I cast out, and instantly my line was going up current, I tried to keep up with my trolling motor, but I was not even able to even keep still, my buddy got on the main motor, and I was reeling like crazy, (Circle hook so no swinging on the fish), finally I could not gain any line and none was going out... Got rocked, lost 12 oz of lead and the 7/o circle hook!
Well I had a blast, I can't wait to get back out again really soon!

[jaggerbub]

Sounds like you had quite an adventure! Glad all ended well for you...

[DEVOREFLYER]

All's well that ends well...........

[Stinkbait]

Maybe you knew, but I understand you can use bluegill for bait in the river. Cat candy.

[Durdy Daug]

Yeah, I did hear that, we even tried soaking one for a couple of hours, but it was a no go. It seems like I have more adventures while fishing than most, either that or else I'm the only fool to admit it!
I am all ready to hit it again the next weekend after this one. Worked out a few more of the kinks on the boat. I was trying to sell it, but now I decided to just keep it specifically for the river, the boat handled very well, and the flat bottom was a real blessing!
I bought a new extra heavy tow strap, jumper cables, 28 oz weights, a 900 lumen spot light, so now I'm thinking that once again I am ready to take on some big fish, I think that I will end up using my swim bait rod for the next trip!

[Stinkbait]

Did you at least checkout Oxbow Lake in Palo Verde?

[Baja1ab]

Did you at least checkout Oxbow Lake in Palo Verde?

I fished that place last year. Really cool spot.

[Durdy Daug]

No, I stayed on the river, and the back water, next trip I may be able to check that out, what is it like?

[riverbud55]

Maybe you knew, but I understand you can use bluegill for bait in the river. Cat candy. yep gills make good bait as will the red ear sunfish, tilapia, baby carp,, on the river 95% of the time never use over 3oz of weight, also if your down in PV cheak out Cibola lake on the NWR some nice flats in there , only thing is its electric motor only, have had better luck on it then the pv oxbow

[Durdy Daug]

I tried to use a light weight, but the current carried away even 8 oz of lead. How do you manage to keep the bait under control with less than 16 oz of lead? For the red ear we did not use any weight, only a bobber and hook, but for the cats, we were trying to soak the bait, and unless we had a good deal of lead, we would have gotten spooled before we ever got bit...

[gcopple]

i've always had more luck in the deep holes and eddy's around current breaks. not as much lead needed there.

[DEVOREFLYER]

i've always had more luck in the deep holes and eddy's around current breaks. not as much lead needed there.

^^^^^^^^ Nails it. Those big kitty's are lazy and opportunists. They don't like the strong current so much and ambush prey that gets in their zone.

[riverbud55]

Yep fishing where their is little current is the best bet,, got a place I fish where the current actually runs backward or what would be called a reverse eddie,, 95% of the feeding fish will be within 25 foot of shore,,,, when fishing out of a boat going to want to fish out the back of the boat fishing for the most part straight behind the boat,, not going to be able to hold a line to the side of the boat in the current along with the problem of the river weeds catching your line, this time of the year not a ton of weeds before long their will tons of the crap coming down river after all the prop boats start cutting it up sending it down river

[riverbud55]

Yeah,. It seems like I have more adventures while fishing than most, either that or else I'm the only fool to admit it!

, I think that I will end up using my swim bait rod for the next trip!

Oh no we all have our days ,,, drove my North River jet boat up on a sand bar one morn n at sun up using the gps track from the previous year,, can tell ya them sand bars move around from month to month,, good thing about a jet no harm no foul,, she runs in inches of water but it still need some


a good flat rod set up is a mh ugly stik tiger rod top it off with Penn jigmaster 500 and you have a top notch flat set up for right at $100

[Durdy Daug]

Well I have a lot of ocean rods and reels, I am thinking of using a shimano TLD 5, with a 12 - 30 pound stick, no level wind, but it is a nice small compact reel with plenty of drag. Awesome reels from the late 80's early 90's, I got a grip of Spectra on it and I will run a 30 pound top shot. I guess that I am in need of looking with the fish finder for the deep pools on the river or perhaps look at the back water and canals for some of those hidden pools. I know from years of experience that the cats like to stay in the deeper pools, but I was listening to some of the locals that advised fishing on the edge of the fast moving river current. I had spent hours in the back water with out even a nibble. Next weekend I am planning on returning to Blythe and giving it another try. Bass Pro Shops told me yesterday that for the month of May, every Tuesday if you use your BPS credit card you will get an additional 15% off of every thing you purchase, combine that with my VIP card and I think that I can save a few dollars. I bought 4 new seats for my boat yesterday, and now I'm thinking of rebuying them, taking back the ones that I bought yesterday and then buying them at 15% off. I also am wanting to get a new fish finder for my 17' boat I currently have a Lowrance 5x, it is not working so well, so now I am thinking of getting a Hook 5 with the Chirp, down scan, and in color. There are so many other brands out there, so I need to look around for the best bang for my buck, The new one will be specifically for the bow, attached to the trolling motor. Any suggestions out there? I do not think that the 7ti is appropriate for me, as I don't want the touch screen and I also don't want to spend a lot of money on it, after all this is specifically my river boat. For the lakes I have my pro195txw, and I have the elite 5 for the bow on that boat. I was looking in the magazine at a Garmin 5" that was less expensive, and both the Lowrance and the Garmin advertised CHIRP and color screens.