2011-09-24: Fishing Imperial Valley

[BorregoWrangler]

I've been getting my gear together lately and been waiting for a chance to head out and try for some Flatheads around Imperial Valley. Well my chance came up yesterday so I packed up and headed out around noon. At first I didn't have any luck making bait around the Central Main Canal or All American Canal so I figured I'd head up to Calipatria to buy some goldfish but the store closes early on Saturdays. I ended up finding a nice little canal with some slackwater and managed to pull out four nice fat bluegill until an hour before sunset. Then it was time to find a spot on the Mo. Since it was my first trip and I didn't have too much time I settled for a well used spot right off the road. It was really disappointing seeing all the trash just strewn about such a nice place to fish. So after getting my bait hooked up and in the water, I cleaned up as much as I could.

Around 8pm I got a good run but he mush have spit the bait. At 9:30pm I got another and managed to bring in a 9# Flathead. That was it for the night. I fished until 1am and wanted to stay longer but knew that if I did, I would be too tired to drive home safely. There was a nice breeze and I had no problems with mosquitoes. I had a blast! Looking forward to my next trip.

Checking out Sunbeam Lake.


Central Main Canal.


There's a catfish just chillin' in the shallows.


Finally get into some Bluegill.






My fishing spot.






10/0 Khale hook and 4oz sinker.


Here fishy!




Now to deal with all the trash.


Before.


After.


My Trasharoo was full by the time I finished cleaning.


Success!


I was hoping to beat my personal best of 15 pounds, but I'll settle for this.








It was a nice night to be out. Looking forward to the next trip.

[salad_man]

Awesome fish! Im into salt water and off shore, have not done to much inshore freshwater fishing.

[gon2srf]

Nice report John. That was awfully good of you to clean up that mess, hopefully the next guy that comes along will appreciate what you did! Hope that fish made for a tasty dinner. Yum yum.

[BorregoWrangler]

Awesome fish! Im into salt water and off shore, have not done to much inshore freshwater fishing.

Thanks. What salt water species do you prefer? I enjoy drifting the bays for Halibut and Sand Bass or hitting up the kelp beds for Calicos.

Nice report John. That was awfully good of you to clean up that mess, hopefully the next guy that comes along will appreciate what you did! Hope that fish made for a tasty dinner. Yum yum.

Thanks, Scott. Actually the fish in the Alamo River are not considered safe to eat. Catch and release only. But there are some monster fish lurking in there that are fun to catch. The fish in all the other canals in the area are fine for eating, though.

[gon2srf]

Awesome fish! Im into salt water and off shore, have not done to much inshore freshwater fishing.

Thanks. What salt water species do you prefer? I enjoy drifting the bays for Halibut and Sand Bass or hitting up the kelp beds for Calicos.

Nice report John. That was awfully good of you to clean up that mess, hopefully the next guy that comes along will appreciate what you did! Hope that fish made for a tasty dinner. Yum yum.

Thanks, Scott. Actually the fish in the Alamo River are not considered safe to eat. Catch and release only. But there are some monster fish lurking in there that are fun to catch. The fish in all the other canals in the area are fine for eating, though.

What is the contamination from, pesticides?

[BorregoWrangler]

What is the contamination from, pesticides?

Yes. That's what I've heard at least from folks who say they've talked with the DFG. It does flow out of Mexico but unlike the nasty New River (which has human and industrial waste dumped into it) this river doesn't flow through any heavily populated areas. But there is agricultural run-off from the fields.

I know that I won't keep any channel catfish for food that are over 10 pounds. Its the smaller ones that taste good anyway. But since the flatheads really only eat live fish, I've heard that the bigger ones still taste good. In fact, I hear that they are the best eating catfish of all. I would like to find out one day. However, I would probably still release anything over 10 pounds. Let them get bigger to catch another day and propagate the species.

The biggest fish of any species are not only the best breeders, but many times they have superior immune systems which allow them to better avoid sickness and disease. Also, many trophy fish have the ability to grow faster and live longer than their equal counterparts. It is important to allow the trophy fish to swim again so that they can pass along their genes and keep the waters stocked full of healthy, long living, and fast growing fish.

At least I have a digital camera and a scale so I document my catches.

CPR= Catch Photo Release.

[salad_man]

Thanks. What salt water species do you prefer? I enjoy drifting the bays for Halibut and Sand Bass or hitting up the kelp beds for Calicos.

Yea I prefer the calicos and sheepshead, although when the right time and bite are on I love to go after some white sea bass

[BorregoWrangler]

Well I headed out there again yesterday and ended up fishing until 4am on the Alamo River. The only thing I ever managed to catch was baitfish. Seemed like I would get a few short runs now and then and when I checked my baits you could see where they and been bit on a little. I tried mackerel on one of my rigs for a while but only ended up feeding a turtle.

Maybe if i had stuck with my original plan to fish the canals I might have caught something! Oh well, that's just the way it goes sometimes. Still had a good time out there with all the shooting stars, bats and coyotes. Mosquitoes weren't too bad either.

That big fish may have eluded me this time, but... I shall return!