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Thread: LakeMohave, where to sray?

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    hi desert
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    80

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    Quote Originally Posted by Brewcrafter View Post
    I usually hit Mohave in Oct/Nov as well. Highly recommend Cottonwood Cove. This is all part of the Lake Mead Recreation Area so it's governed by the Feds and even if you shore camp you have to pay to enter it. Good marina, rental slips with electric, hotel as well as rental mobile homes (but since we are entering the "off season" availability on the mobile homes is "iffy"). They also have a complete campground if you want to rent a site for a tent, trailer, or mobile home. There won't be a whole lot of people outside of fishermen (they have a pretty sizeable houseboat fleet, but they are pretty much done for the season - I've never seen one out this time of year - you pretty much will have the lakes and coves to yourself. On the NV side there are dirt roads that access some of the coves and canyons (Aztec Wash, Nelson's, etc) where you might see shore fisherman, but on the AZ side really the only easy access is by boat. And plenty of opportunities to shore camp. Depending on your boat and your preferences; plenty of good coves to camp or to get into out of the wind in the afternoons coming up from the south. And usually the wind will come up in the afternoon, blowing up from the south. They also have a pretty good store in the marina and the prices aren't that out of control (except on alcohol) considering how far from anywhere you are. OK selection of emergency everything from boat stuff to food stuff.
    If you are coming in from SoCal, I usually tow the boat empty, then fill up the tanks in Searchlight (it is all downhill from there; they have gas in the marina as well but obviously cheaper to buy it in Searchlight than to pay the weight penalty of towing it or buying at the marina). Side note: scrupulously follow ALL motor vehicle laws to the letter in and around Searchlight, the Nevada State Patrol uses it as a "revenue generation center" (Ha!).
    As far as permits, etc, the Nevada Department of Wildlife is a FAR CRY from what you are used to here in Cali - they are really good - go to their website and get your temporary permits online. I usually go with a 4 day permit, a CO River enhancement, and a second rod stamp (in 2016 was $52). Easier to buy them here than at the Marina; all they are going to do is have you go online there so you might as well do it here. Also need to mention that while there is internet and cell service in the Cottonwood area (it's spotty) once you leave the immediate marina area communications are iffy, at best. You should also pony up $20 for the Nevada Quagga sticker. Also, you will get a letter from Nevada DOW at the end of the year asking you for feedback and suggestions - when was the last time that happened here?
    Fishing...I like to do a lot of lead line trolling for big stripers (hence the Second Rod Stamp) and also at night or while shore camping to have a couple of catfish lines out with bait (anchovies or mackerel with dips) to keep my son entertained (it's low effort while making camp/relaxing and it only takes one good cat to blow a kids mind!). For the striper trolling I have an arsenal of Needlefish, other spoons, and some spinners, think in rainbow, or brass color patterns. "Fly Coring" with large white streamers can also be productive. For doing the "bass thing" I will say I am not a specialist, but I keep an arsenal of swimbaits, particular rainbow trout plastics. When the trout hatchery in Willow Beach was in full production they were the "go to" lure; I have caught largemouth, smallmouth, and of course striper on them.
    Other rig you will find on my boat is an ultralight with assorted gear, get into some structure with Green Sunfish and Bluegill and the kids (even us big ones) can have a blast. Important to note that they are a food source for the big predators, so getting into some of the smaller coves I have had my "crew" having a blast on the panfish with worms/grubs etc. but while they are doing that I also make it a point to throw some swimbaits at the same time - never know what is hanging around! The other lure that you will see just about everywhere (and has racked up an impressive array of BIG striper scores) is the AC Plug. I don't have one, but my fishing buddy does, and I have yet to see him outfish me with it - think basically a VERY expen$ive section of broomstick crudely painted to look like a rainbow trout. I have Marlin trollers that don't cost that much...
    On the "besides fishing" front there are areas up around Marker 26 on the AZ side where in the sandstone cliffs you can find minor fossils of simple sea creatures. The further up the lake you go the rockier and more "canyon like" the lake becomes - Willow Beach is a pretty long trek but the scenery is spectacular. Note (and this is seriously a LONG DAY and mega range) you can go beyond Willow Beach up into the canyon below Hoover Dam for scenery - BUT there are horsepower restrictions, and frankly it can be a great place to knock a prop off - you are going to be doing more boat driving than fishing once you are above Willow. But they have an good marina there if you find yourself that far up the canyon and need a "Shore break".
    One other very important note if you have not done this before - be absolutely sure to pull your plug, completely drain your boat, and drop your outdrive/motor before you leave the marina. If you can easily get into the bilge area in the back I would strongly suggest drying it out with towels before leaving. The issue is not NV, but (Welcome to People's Republic of California!) you will be pulled off to the side at the Agricultural Checkpoint outside of Yermo/Barstow and depending on their mood/the day/if the inspector had a bad date last night they will either give you a quick once over and wave you on or will give you a "10 point inspection" in the event that you are transporting radioactive quagga mussels without citizenship papers into California. I will not go into the whole quagga debate here, but the truth is you are in totally infested waters and if you get a jerk inspector (or forget to pull your plug, or have 4 inches of water in your bilge) they say they can seize and quarantine your boat and you have to come back out into the middle of nowhere after 7 days have passed to retrieve it.
    Okay, long post but I love my fall trips to Cottonwood, hope you find this helpful and enjoy your trip as much as we enjoy ours. Good luck whatever you decide (hey, that's why it is called fishing, not catching) and please, please post a follow up report so we can hear about the good time! - Brewcrafter
    Thank you I appreciate it. I hope to be going around the 9th of oct not sure with work yet. Going to fish look for big strippers. Doing alright at silverwood but want to get the kids on something that is gonna take them to the rail. Got a question what is "fly coring" haven't done it or seen it done and where do I get the flies. I have a bunch of needle fish from big bear in June so I'll try those and probably get some of the bigger ones. Mostly going for stripper but I will go out at night in hopes of some big kitties. Might just do what you said and find a cove to camp in so I can put out the lines and just hang out. Can you have fires?

    If you can post some of the lures to get ,I mean some pics I would appreciate it. I've heard it's great up there and I can't wait to see it for myself. Once again thanks for all the helpful info, if there were more people out there that would help like this ,the first trip somewhere wouldn't be so stressful. Appreciate it bro.

  2. #12

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    I have never tried to attach photos before, let's see if this works. The first photo is actually just me being trying to be funny: to my knowledge Mexican Flag trollers and leadhead squid do not work at Mohave, but then again I have never tried! I just had them laying around from my ocean trip this weekend and hadn't put them away after rinsing and drying them.
    Flycoring - "Flies" on "Leadcore". I have used it successfully at Diamond Valley and Mohave, and have seen it mentioned many times by others on the forum that probably have more experience with it than I. The approximately 4" streamers that you see (I was taught to use white, and always have) I believe look like shad or small stripers. When trolling on lead core, you do have to be careful because in my experience they run deeper than say a Needlefish, Crocodile, or spinner. It seems counter intuitive, since the streamer flies are incredibly light and spoons have real weight to them, but what I "think" happens is that any kind of lure with a "wobble" or action creates more drag - hence runs higher in the water column for the same given amount of line out. The streamers have very little added drag at the end of the line, so the leadcore can sink further as you are trolling. At least that has been my experience when I have switched lures and run through the same structure/speed and ended up dragging off the flies on the structure/bottom. But again, only a theory. For a starting point with the leadcore I usually run anywhere from 8-12 colors, depending on what the meter shows, and generally try to cruise along the sides of the channel and catch the end of the points that run out from the canyons. Not literally, although I often DO catch the end of the points when the depth suddenly climbs from 40+ to <20 I mentioned dragging off lures, right?
    And if you are going for the BIG ones, there is always any of the very realistic big $wimbait$ that mimic rainbow trout or green sunfish. You can leadcore troll (nailed a nice smallmouth 2 years ago on a trolled green sunfish lure) or use them to cast up into cuts and coves in the early morning/evening hours.

    Almost forgot, as far as where you can get the flies, the Brass Ho (Bass Pro) has them in the fly shop. And as far as fires you would be hard pressed if you camped in any coves to find ones that DON'T already have a rock fire ring of some sort that someone has constructed. But truthfully, I'm not sure about any current fire restrictions (again, you are in the Lake Mead Recreation area) and regardless if you can do a fire you will need to haul the wood. The sites in the campground all pretty much have fire pits.
    And then there is always "bait and wait"...
    Good luck!
    Last edited by Brewcrafter; 09-20-2017 at 08:39 PM.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    hi desert
    Posts
    80

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    Got it appreciate it so much. I was reading about the fly coring and they were saying something about stripping line like when you fly fish. Not exactly sure but I have seen some good fish on the method so I want to add it to the arsenal. I know what you are talking about the big $wim bait$. Lost both of my Spros at silverwood in the last month. Stuff on the bottom sneaks up quick. Oh and getting too close to the bouies don't help either. You know they chain those to the bottom��. Appreciate the time and the pics I see what I need to be working with.

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