Put these fishing tips to use on your next outing

Whenever you find bait and other small fish around docks and other structures in the water, you’ll also find bass. The deeper the water in such areas, the better. The trick is to sidearm your lure up and under the dock. Plastic worms, jigs and spinnerbaits and crankbaits are all good lure choices.

Riprap and rocks of all types also attract bass — try using jigs and crankbaits. Surface plugs near shallow rocky areas when water is cool like it is now work well. And try shorelines where the bottom has a gradual drop-off with a lot of cover. Plastic worms and jigs work well here as well.

If you’re not having luck fishing for channel catfish, put away that oversized line and heavy-duty tackle and go light on everything. Try a six-foot light or ultra-light rod with an ultralight spinning or spin-cast reel. Stick with two-to six-pound test line — it’s less visible. • When you change the line, remember to remove all fishing line from the water and shore. Birds, especially eagles, and small-size animals can get tangled and trapped in the line and die. Take discarded line and other debris home with you for proper disposal.

If you aren’t an allnight catfisherman, try 5-9 p.m. For the all night fishing spree, there is a lot of feeding activity as the sun comes up early morning because fish are grabbing their last meal until night comes again. Try fishing sometimes with a bare hook — rumor has it a catfish doesn’t know or care what a hook is. If you’re fishing with minnows, small bait fish, grasshoppers, stinkbait (the stinkier the better) or pieces of cut fish, try leaving the tip exposed after you hook the bait. Yet, another idea is to wrap chicken livers or blood bait in a square of cheese cloth or nylon stocking. Thread the hook through the corners and leave the point uncovered. You may lose more hooks by leaving them exposed, but you’ll gain extra catfish.

Fishing clubs

• Desert Bass Anglers “A Fun Way to Fish”: Mac McDermott reports it was Chamber of Commerce weather at their latest tournament with 40 boats taking part in the fishing fun. Husband and wife team James and Krista Gerber enjoyed 1st place with their 17.78 total of fish weighed in as well as 2nd place Big Fish with a 5.05 pound bass. Second place was taken by Robert Murray who teamed with Billy Clothier weighing in their 16.82 total followed by Curtis Cernic/Ernie Melcher in 3rd place with 16.35 as well as the #1 Big Fish weighing 5.07 pounds. The team of Tim Price/ Lynn Domby came in 4th place with their 16.03, while just out of the money and earning the lube & oil change (donated by Yuma’s FDS) was the team of Kalib Lund/Brian Valesquez with 16.01. The Junk Fish option was taken by John Borghoff/ Ed Reeder with their 6.47 carp. With warmer weather heading our way and fishing bound to improve a bit, stay in practice for the next Bass Team tournment on the river on March 3. Questions? Call Mac or Bobbi McDermott at 726-1984. I’ll have sign up information soon for the March competition. Mac suggests, to prevent damage to your boat and motor in any way, it’s a very good idea to use ‘extreme caution’ whenever trailering your boat out after fishing when water levels are on the low side.

• American Bass — Yuma Division: Jeff Woods, Director of ABA, also suggests being extra careful whenever loading or unloading your boat from the water when there are issues at the launch ramp because of low water levels. Best be extra careful to prevent damage to fiberglass and rudders, etc.

Jeff Woods reports, “The young guns started the bout early at the latest tournament just held in the Yuma area launching out of Fisher’s Landing.” The team of Jeff Lenard/ Erich Cline set the bar at 19.15 for a five fish limit. Normally, such an outstanding weight, anchored by a Big Fish of 4.67 would have been money you could take to the bank. Not today however, as another young team, Trevor Reis/Klye Georgi would step up to drop 19.60 on the scales, including a big fish topping out at 5.18. But if you’ve fished Yuma before you know the old saying, “it ain’t over till the fat leady sings” always applies when the scales are waiting for some of the older, “more seasoned” teams to weigh. Veteran father and son team Keith and Jacob Lute, stepped up and smashed the big fish weight with a 7.44 pound beauty. Seasoned river fishermen, their monster pre-spawn female had everyone, including the Directors, wondering if the 8-pound pot was going to go down. While it missed the 8 pounds, it ended up as Big Fish for the tourney and would set the stage for the first five fish bag limit to break the 20-pound mark as they locked in at a whopping 21.85 lbs. Yet, there was still one more of those “crusty, older, seasoned” teams waiting to weigh in and make it official. With big fish matching that of Reis and Georgi at 5.18 there was no way John Turner and Jim Waits could challenge the 21.85 bag the Lutes had just weighed, Right? After pulling monster after monster from their bag, ABA Yuma had their biggest bag of the year, a whopping five fish limit for 22.02 lbs. which was Turner/Waits being crowned as champions in our 4th event of the year. Their pattern, all too familiar, caught a solid limit from the backwaters on blades and cranks and then flip the current to cull through to their winning weight. 2nd Big Fish for the tournament at 5.28 went to the team of Tim Price/ Lynn Domby who had 19.02 which was only good enough for 5th place. Most teams reported an excellent crank bite in the backwaters over the grass and a decen flip bite on the main current as fish are on the move feeding up for the spawn. A big thank you to our sponsors, especially FTS Franklin Tire & Service whose $100 gift certificates went to our 4th pl. team Jeff Lenard/Erich Cline while the Lute’s grabbed extra pocket money from the Directors Award. The next ABA tournament for Yuma will be 3/17 launching out of Fisher’s Landing. Call Jeff Woods at (951) 824-0553 to fish with American Bass Association — Yuma Division.

Contact Jean Wilson at jeanrenegade@ gmail.com or call 247-4450.