LAKE HAVASU - Report provided by Karen Coats at the Sandpoint Bait & Tackle Shop: Fred Tedesco of East Helena MT, got two stripers at 3 pounds each at 3 Dunes using jigs.
Dale Stanton of Sandpoint got two stripers at a total weight of 1.8 pounds at the AZ pump station using anchovies. Fred Tedesco of East Helena MT got two red ear at 2 pounds and 2.8 pounds using jigs at Dino Bay. The water temp was 60 F on March 24.

Striper bite is improving as water temps warm up into the mid 60s. Bottom fishing and trolling with anchovies during the daytime hours is producing plenty of small to medium size striper limits. Target striper schools that are moving alone the old river channel drop-off in 40 to 55 ft of water. There is a decent evening bite around Site 6 area using the good ol’ green tailed Bass Assassin and even a few fish are being taken on topwater Sammys.

Smallmouth and largemouth bass are spawning in shallows now. There are lots of fish cruising in the 2 to 10 ft. depth range. Target these fish in the early morning with spinnerbaits, Jackall squirrel or LC Pointer jerkbaits. Drop-shotting chartreuse tipped Robo Worms is very effective for catching smallmouth in the shallows.

Angler report
Where: Lake Havasu Site Six
When: 03/14/08
Caught: Striper
Technique: Live shad and anchovies
Comments: Wife and I caught six and the guy next to us snagging shad caught a stringer full of 2 pounders
Name: Dave Torres

Where:Lake Havasu
When:03/12/08
Caught: Striper
Technique: Live shad with ¼-ounce split shot or with out weight. Also, white Rat-L-Traps worked real well.
Comments: Site Six was hot. Fished all night with consistent good size fish. Early morning, big boys came out. Everyone on dock was catching 3- to 5-pound fish with an occasional 8 or 10 pounder. Exciting!!
Name: Eddie Salazar

PARKER STRIP – Fishing is really HOT right now along the Strip. Wildlife Manager Dee Pfleger said every angler she spoke with over the weekend had been catching fish. Most were catching bass, largemouth and smallmouth. They were hitting on jerk baits and plastics, green or purple worms, and even beef hot dogs. Got a report of an 8-pound striper on anchovies from a couple a weeks ago as well. Redears are starting to group up in the grassy areas and should be moving to beds shortly. Catfish are still a bit slow, but some places upriver are producing.

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 – Well folks, I’m happy to say things are picking up. Bass fishing is o.k. Senkos and spinnerbaits are the way to go right now. The bass are staging to spawn. They should be going on beds anytime now. I’m still holding my own throwing green/red flaked lizard and grubs in 0 to 12 feet of water. I’m going to mix it up a little just for grins and throw 2-inch grubs tonight. The only bummer about that is that I loose a lot of jig heads by getting stuck in brush. It’s one of those “gotta pay to play” deals.

Crappie fishing has turned on for the most part. Anglers are reporting catches of 15 to 20 daily. It’s the same old spring routine. Roadrunner jigs with a minnow trailer in the upper end of the lake, trolling in 19 to 25 foot of water. You want to get an early start because the winds have been picking up daily around noon. Once the winds pick up the crappie bite turns off. No good reports on shore fishing. No reports on cat fishing. The lake level is at 1,126 with releases of 40 cfs.

Starting next Monday there going to do a 2,000 cfs release for a day. That’s guaranteed to mess up the fishing for a few days. Fish & Wildlife likes to do mini floods so they can monitor there cottonwood trees down river. They like to do this during the spring when the cottonwoods drop there seeds. The mini floods help the seeds take root and reproduce baby cottonwoods. Besides the effect on fishing, lake level, and boat ramps, they do this during spawning season. Anyway, that’s as far as I’m going with this or I’ll get so honked off I’ll throw the keyboard out the window. The bright side of this, if you see a bright side, is that the fish are not on beds yet. So, when they start the release it will confused the fish and who knows when they will spawn. I gotta go fishing and cheer my self up. That’s all I got.

Angler report:
Where:
Alamo Lake
When:
03/21/08
Caught:
50 + Largemouth
Technique:
Working crankbaits (with rattle) along the shoreline. Casting into the reeds and retrieving it slowly, bouncing it off of as much structure as possible. The lures used were black on top, orange on the bottom, and chartreuse in the middle, with double red treble hooks
Comments:
All fishing was done from a bass boat. There were two of us fishing, we fished for three hours on Thurs night and caught 27 largemouth. We fished for four hours on Friday morning and caught another 26 largemouth between the two of us. All slot fish about 1-3 pounds. We didn’t see any bass on beds but they are close, We saw at least 20 large females cruising the shallows not interested in any lure with any presentation.
Name:
Doug Ebel

Where:
Lake Alamo
When:
03/13/08
Caught:
Bass
Technique:
Slow retrieve. Spinner bait
Comments:
Over the course of 3 days the 2 of us caught 30 to 40 bass. 3 were overs with one weighing 6 pounds. One of the best trips to Alamo in years.
Name:
Chris Massahos
SPRING OUTLOOK:

ALAMO LAKE – The lake elevation continues to be good. Largemouth bass are present in all sizes and fishing is expected to be good to excellent throughout the spring. It looks like most of the bass are in the protected slot with a fair number over the slot. Exactly what is going on with the crappie is unknown. The bite has not developed as usual but we anticipate fishing to be fair to good throughout the spring. Channel catfish will be good to excellent this spring and throughout the summer. There are other fish present such as bluegill, redear sunfish and carp that are a lot of fun to catch. All types of bait should work. As the weather warms a shift from slowly working plastics in deeper water to crank baits, spinner baits, and top-water lures for bass. For channel catfish any of the prepared catfish baits as well as chicken livers, shrimp, and anything else you can think of should work.

Both of the boat ramps are useable at this time and 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 good to excellent this spring. The size will range from 13 inches and up with an occasional fish greater than 5 pounds. Striped bass will continue to be excellent for small fish (12-18 inches) with occasional fish over 3 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 good to excellent. Flathead catfish fishing should be fair at the lower end of the lake (Bill Williams River Arm) through the spring. 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 warmer weather causes the bite to increase making crankbaits and topwater lures a good choice. Also, spinner baits, jigs, cut fish, live shad, etc. should work depending on the species you are looking for.

Take precautions to make sure your boat and equipment is clean before leaving the water to make sure you don’t spread quagga mussels to other water by accident.

COLORADO RIVER (PARKER STRIP AREA) — It is expected to be good to excellent for smallmouth bass with fish over two pounds this spring. In addition, redear sunfish should also be good to excellent in the pound plus sizes. Channel and flathead catfish fishing will be fair to good in this section of the Colorado River as the weather warms up.

Take precautions to make sure your boat and equipment is clean before leaving the water to make sure you don’t spread quagga mussels to other water by accident.

COLORADO RIVER (BETWEEN PALO VERDE DIVERSION DAM AND WALTER’S CAMP) — This area should be fair for both smallmouth bass (in the channel) up river from the I-10 Bridge 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 40 pounds. The time for fishing for both species of catfish will be late spring and throughout the summer. Generally speaking, when fishing for catfish the hotter the weather the better the fishing.

This section of the Colorado River all the way down to Yuma is where invasive species known as Giant Salvinia is located as well as quagga mussels. If using a boat make, sure the boat, live wells, engines, and trailer is clean before leaving the area. The last thing that we want to have happen is the movement of invasive species to other waters.

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 good to excellent for flathead catfish with sizes over 40 pounds. The best time will be late spring and on into the summer (the hotter the better). The various backwaters will be good for largemouth bass and other sunfish (bluegill & redear). Other species available in the main river are smallmouth bass, channel catfish, and striped bass.

This section of the Colorado River all the way down to Yuma is where invasive species known as Giant Salvinia is located as well as quagga mussels. If using a boat make, sure the boat, live wells, engines, and trailer is clean before leaving the area. The last thing that we want to have happen is the movement of invasive species to other waters.

COLORADO RIVER (BETWEEN PICACHO STATE PARK AND IMPERIAL DAM) –
This area is expected to be good to excellent 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. Other sunfish such as bluegill and redear are also present in the various backwaters as well as an occasional striped bass will be caught in the backwaters and main river channel.

This section of the Colorado River all the way down to Yuma is where invasive species known as Giant Salvinia is located as well as quagga mussels. If using a boat make, sure the boat, live wells, engines, and trailer is clean before leaving the area. The last thing that we want to have happen is the movement of invasive species to other waters.

COLORADO RIVER (BETWEEN LAGUNA AND MORELOS DAMS) — This area will be good 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 are a must. The lower end has had some dredging work done and the larger boat will be able to get on the river in that area.

This section of the Colorado River all the way down to Yuma is where invasive species known as Giant Salvinia is located as well as quagga mussels. If using a boat make, sure the boat, live wells, engines, and trailer is clean before leaving the area. The last thing that we want to have happen is the movement of invasive species to other waters.

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 Morelos Dam).
REGIONAL HOT SPOTS:

Alamo Lake will be the hot spot for Largemouth bass and channel catfish. Since there appears to be more fish in the lake at the present time I recommend keeping as many of the smaller bass as you can legally possess in order to try and reduce the population a little. Next choice would be Lake Havasu for striped bass, Parker Strip for smallmouth bass and redear sunfish, and the Colorado River below Walter’s Camp for flathead catfish.

If you need any additional information or additional don’t hesitate to contact the Yuma Regional office at (928) 341-4051 and I will be happy to accommodate you.