LAKE HAVASU – Striper bite is keeping consistent with the current winter weather conditions.  The best bite is at the south end of the lake near and around the Havasu Springs.  These fish are early feeders; they move up shallow with the best time for success beginning sometime after midnight.  The use of hard crankbaits such as the large Rat-L-Trap type lipless crankbaits, 6-12 foot diving 128, 100, & 78 Pointers or jerk baits (referred to as stick baits).

Best color for these baits are white, chartreuse shads, bleeding shad with red hooks, and use Table Rock Shad color in the stained water in the southern regions of the lake. For your soft plastic, believers use 4- or 5-inch straight-tailed S&P silver Bass Assassins with chartreuse tails; these are working much better than the paddle-tail type baits.
The use of live shad is very effective as well. As the sun continues to rise and daylight appears, live shad is predominantly the best producing bait!
 
The large and smallmouth bass have a typical winter bite going on….TOUGH.  It is slow and the best time for a successful catch is in the mooring hours just before sunrise.  The topwater bite is shutting down and these fish are best caught with LV 500s (lipless crankbaits) in the colors of ghost minnow, chartreuse shad. LV 500 Aurora Craw works for largemouth but the best results with it are with the smallmouth bass early in the am up in the shallower rocky shoreline waters in about 5-10 feet.  You can find these shores mostly in the main lake on the California side but there are some nice rocky shorelines in the southern end of the lake on the Arizona side above and below Sand Point Marina too.

When all else fails, drop-shotting or split shotting in the deeper waters in 15-20 feet on rocky points with soft imitation crawdad baits work well when sprayed with craw scent attractants.
 
Important notice:  Quagga mussels have been found in Lake Havasu so proper cleaning of all watercraft is critical to help prevent the spread of these invaders. Please move to the parking lot, DRAIN your live-wells and bilge where the water does not return to the lake. Drain all the water you can from your engine. Also, INSPECT your watercraft and trailer, removing any visible mussels, but also feel for any rough or gritty spots on the hull. These may be young mussels that can be hard to see.

ALAMO LAKE – Both the Big Sandy and the Santa Maria have had good runoff flows during early December and again this past week. This has helped the lake level and the nutrient loading here. The suspended nutrients, which catch the sunlight and help warm the water, could possibly set this lake up for an early spawn. That is, unless more storms and runoff change the equation. The crappie bite should kick into gear any time now, but hasn’t yet. This is also a great area to see shorebirds and waterfowl.
Following report courtesy Mark Knapp, Alamo Lake State Park. Well folks,  the good news is that the lake came up 7 inches with all the rain.  The bad news is that fishing is still pretty lousy right now.  Anglers are reporting catching one to two bass a day throwing plastics in 20 feet of water.  Crappie fishing is not much better. On a good day you might catch five to seven crappies.  The crappies are being caught in the upper end of the lake trolling with Roadrunner jigs and a minnow trailer.  The lake surface temp is about 52 degrees.  It’s got to warm up a little before things turn on.  Cat fishing is still o.k.  Anglers are catching cat fish using shrimp, and fishing the upper end of the lake as shallow as they can get.  The lake level is at 1,111 with releases of 25 cfs.  Both ramps are still in operation.  The wayside got there new building installed. There open for business and have gas sales.  We still have no clue as to when we will be moving into our new store building.  In the mean time we still sell fishing licenses, fire wood, ice, bait and limited tackle at the ranger station. Hopefully I have better news next week. In the meantime I’m to take up golfing. With all the new hardware in my neck this should be very interesting!  Take care.

Winter Outlook:

Alamo Lake:

Largemouth bass are present in all sizes and fishing is expected to be excellent to slow down throughout the winter. It looks like most bass will be entering the protected slot some time during the winter. Crappies are also doing OK and should be good throughout the winter.  Channel catfish continue to look good and fishing should be good also. There are other fish present such as bluegill, redear sunfish and carp that are a lot of fun to catch this winter.  All types of bait should work right now and as the weather cools off a shift to slowly working plastics in deeper water for bass could improve your catch.  For channel catfish any of the prepared catfish baits as well as chicken livers and anything else you can think of should work. 

Both of the boat ramps are useable at this time but if the lake elevation continues to decline launching may become a problem. The store at the lake is still closed so you need to bring everything with you. If you run short of anything you might be able to pick it up at the Wayside Inn or in Wenden. The certified scale that was located at the store is now located at the Alamo State Park Office and the park office also has live bait for the crappie fishermen.

Lake Havasu & Topock Gorge:

Largemouth bass, as well as smallmouth bass are expected to be fair. The size will range from 13 inches and up with an occasional fish greater than 4 pounds.  Striped bass will continue to be excellent for small fish (12-18 inches) with occasional fish over 8 pounds.  The lake is also full of smaller striper that will make it challenging to catch the larger fish.  Channel catfish as well as bluegill and redear sunfish will be fair to good. Flathead catfish fishing should be fair at the lower end of the lake (Bill Williams River Arm) through the fall. Sizes of flathead catfish can reach as high as 40 pounds. When fishing for them select the interior points in the coves and the areas where artificial structure has been placed.

The cooler weather causes the bite to slow down so it is important to work your lures slower and in deeper water.  Put away your topwater lures and switch to plastics, crank baits, spinner baits, jigs, cut fish, live shad, etc.  

Colorado River (Parker Strip Area):

Smallmouth bass with fish over two pounds in size are expected to be fair this winter.  In addition, redear sunfish should also be fair in the pound plus sizes. Channel and flathead catfish are always fair in this section of the Colorado River.  Below the dam, striper fishing should also be fair using live shad or anchovies this winter.

This stretch of the river will be low during the month of January so access will be limited.  The good news is that the fish will be concentrated.

Colorado River (between Palo Verde Diversion Dam and Walter’s Camp):

This area should be fair for both smallmouth bass (in the channel) and largemouth bass (in the backwaters) throughout the entire area. Channel and flathead catfish are always fair to good in this section of the Colorado River. Most of the flathead catfish will be in the 2 to 5 pound size range with an occasional fish over 30 pounds. The time for fishing for both species of catfish is in the evening to midnight.  

Colorado River (between Walter’s Camp and Picacho State Park):

This section of the Colorado River is relatively remote and can only be accessed by boat from either end. Fishing is expected to be fair to good for flathead catfish with sizes over 40 pounds. The best time for fishing for both species of catfish will be in the evening to midnight.  Largemouth bass and bluegill are also present in the various backwaters and slack water areas. Other species available in the main river are smallmouth bass, and striped bass.

Colorado River (between Picacho State Park and Imperial Dam):

This area is expected to be fair to good for largemouth bass, channel catfish, and flathead catfish. Bass and channel catfish in excess of 5 pounds are present along with flathead catfish as large as 40 pounds. Bluegills are also present in the various backwaters and an occasional striped bass will be caught in the main river channel.

Colorado River (between Laguna and Morelos dams):

This area will be fair for largemouth bass and flathead catfish. Bass in excess of 5 pounds is common and flathead catfish over 20 pounds is a good bet. In this area accessibility to the river is dependent on the amount of water being released. Usually shallow draft boats work the best. The lower end has had some dredging work done and the larger boat will be able to get on the river in that area.

With the increase in border issues and illegal activity on the lower end of this area I would away from that area (Pilot Knob to Moreles Dam).

Popularity: 14%