Good fishing on the Colorado River, local lakes and ponds

Now that our weather is beginning to cool down slightly, fishing enjoys a good share of decent results at local waters along the Colorado River, as well as local lakes and ponds — truly a great time to toss in a line and enjoy the time spent away from the stresses of busy schedules. It’s great therapy and can bring in a good dinner to boot.

Try flippin’ and pitchin’ imitation frogs along the edge of the tulies and bulrushes, especially in the amazing backwaters. But don’t overlook open water — take along some poppers or a topwater stickbait and first run the edge of the tulies, then cast into deeper open water; especially if there are pockets of submerged vegetation where a buzzbait or spinnerbait combination might also be worth putting to work. There are some huge bass hanging out above Imperial Dam as well as monster flathead catfish. It’s always a ball to “skip a gitget” or plastic worm under docks at Martinez Lake, also home to lunker bass. And don’t forget it’s legal to chum in Arizona — that comes in mighty handy at times. Channel catfish are also still in residence at Yuma West Wetlands and Fortuna Pond, with more being planted between Monday and the Sept. 29 at Fortuna, West Wetlands, Redondo and the new PAAC Pond as well as in Somerton at the Council Avenue Pond. Tasty bluegill galore are also at most of our local waters, including canals in and around Yuma. If you’d ever enjoy sharing your fishing successes, feel free to give me a holler.

With our days getting shorter and nights longer, along with water temperatures beginning to drop a bit, you may experience dramatic results at the surface when predator fish encounter large balls of shad.

If you’d like to learn where all the good fishing spots are in and around Yuma, pick up a copy of “Yuma Area Fishing Holes” at Game and Fish that includes information and a location map — handy to have on hand when heading to the water for that fishing fun. Game and fish also has a new webmap for the best 150 fishing areas in Arizona at gis.azgfd.gov/fishandboat. Check it out!

Another thought on fishing is to visit the new location of Sportsman’s Hideaway that has moved from behind Baron’s Fuel down 16th Street headed east to where Mitch’s Bait Shop had been in years past. Check out all the new lures and such and talk fishing — they know what they’re doing in the fishing world and may just share some tips and tricks of the trade. Also getting together with local fishing clubs is also a winner with a lot of club members willing to share their knowledge with others.

Fishing clubs

• Desert Bass Anglers “The Fun Way to Fish”: I boo-boo’d big time with some typos in my last column with a couple of latest club tournament results. The second place team of Cody Benton/Josh Hodges total weight was 17.21 rather than the 17.32 I reported. Also, the biggest fish first place winner was still Bill Clothier, but his big bass weighed 6.88 pounds rather than the 6.99. Sorry about that, guys — I’ll do my best to be more careful after this. I do want to remind you to get in on the next tournament on Oct. 6 on the river. Call Mac or Bobbi McDermott at 726-1984 with questions or for starting time and other details.

Note: In the September newsletter, a report about a new invasive snail was included. They look like kernels on a corn cob on the tulies but are bright pink in color and above the water line. Knock them into the water!

The club reminds each of us to keep our livewell in good condition — check it often so those fish will be kept in good shape after weigh-in to be returned to the water for catching another time. Keeping you cool as well is also a necessity when fishing so you can come back another time. Note from Mac & Bobbi: Because of the early summer hours of tournaments this time of year, lights are now required at launch to prevent close calls at the boat ramp. Don’t violate the light rule — we’d like to maintain our no accidents or injuries record.

• Desert Draw Series Pro/Am Bass Fishing Club: Hope you were able to get in on Saturday’s Bass Tournament that launched out of Fisher’s Landing. Watch for results in my next column or Call Obney at (928) 750-7081 with questions and suggestions. He’ll be glad to hear. Important note: Michael Obney is encouraging non-boaters to sign up for tournaments as well as boaters. In essence, that is what the idea behind the draw is: pair non-boaters with boaters to exchange ideas. Note: There have been date changes to tournaments coming up on Oct. 27 as well as Nov. 10, they’ll still launch out of Fisher’s Landing.

• Yuma Valley Rod and Gun Club: All of this year’s bass competitions are done, as are all the scheduled catfish derby’s. But something good to look forward to is not only the many, many bass derby’s in 2019, but several catfish tournaments as well. hat should get us all out to try our hand at the catching followed by some great eating. I’ll keep you posted when the new schedule is put together so you’ll know what to look forward to or come to a meeting at 7 p.m. on the 1st Wednesday of each month at American Legion Post 19, 2575 S. Virginia Drive, with dinner at 6:30 p.m.

• Yuma High School Bass Fishing Club: A great way for any high schooler to learn all about fishing for bass. Members of both the Yuma Valley Rod and Gun Club and Desert Bass Anglers assist the kids in providing them with boats and equipment as well as guiding the youngsters, both guys and gals, in gaining a share of fishing know-how’s. Call Terry Hurt, school sponsor, at 580-6567 or visit StudentAnglerFoundation.com to get started. Any interested high school student will be a part of an exciting year for our next generation of anglers at Fisher’s Landing/Martinez Lake.

Hunt happenings

• Become a hunting mentor trivia, pint night: From 4 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 29 in Phoenix, hosted by the National Wild Turkey Federation with support from Cabela’s Outdoor Fund. Learn first-hand from experienced mentors about why and how to get involved. You’ll get to test your hunting knowledge, watch great videos and hunting stories, Connect with local hunt organizations, pay it forward to the next generation and be a part of something great. Appetizers and dinner are free along with two free drinks and trivia prizes. Who knows, you might win a Canyon 55 Cooler. Registration required by Sept. 27 at register-ed.com/events/ view/129251. For details, call Ryan Conat at (920) 250-2647, with the event partnered with the Hunting and Angling Heritage Work Group and the Outdoor Skills Network at a local brewery in central Phoenix (specific address available upon registration).

• Yuma Friends of NRA banquet, auction Sept. 29. (Now you’ll really have to make a choice — Stay in town or drive to Phoenix for the mentor event): The Yuma banquet hosted by Friends of NRA will be held at the Hilton Pivot Point Conference Center, 301 N. Madison Ave., in Yuma, with doors open for social hour, fun and games at 4:30 p.m. with a dinner included with the $75 ticket. Get in on the live and silent auctions, special drawings, NRA limited edition firearms, custom knives, NRA commissioned and collectible framed art. To become an event sponsor or to donate merchandise, call Chairman Tene Miller at (928) 941-1001 or elmail:dr10a@outlook.com or visit www.Friendsofnra.org/az.

• CCW concealed carry class: Call Sprague’s Sports at 726-0022 to sign up for the next CCW class.

• Youth quail, small game camp: The camp is hosted by Yuma Valley Rod and Gun Club. Check with chairman Thom at CMCustomsigns@ gmail.com for information and directions to the camp. Get signed up beforehand by visiting Facebook at YVRGC/quail and small game camp or sign-up at the Yuma Region IV Arizona Game and Fish office. Come to the 7 p.m. Oct. 3 YVRGC meeting with dinner at 6:30 p.m., at the American Legion Post 19, 2575 S. Virginia Drive, to learn all about it. If your youngsters would like to learn about camping and hunting in the outdoors as well as quail and small game animals, plan to camp out that weekend for a great time with safety always first.

• The Cibola youth waterfowl camp Dec. 7-9: Camp is hosted by the Arizona Outdoor Sports, Friends of Cibola NWR, USFWS and AZGFD to have your youngsters learn how to waterfowl hunt with an experienced mentor. Activities for the whole family include trap shooting, 3D archery, decoys and calling clinic, Dutch oven cooking and wildlife watching at the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge in the Cibola/Blythe area. Call the Yuma office of Game and Fish at (928) 342-0091 or getoutsideaz@gmail. com for details.

• Check next week’s column for more about the Humane Society of the U.S.: Why management of our wildlife species, in particular the mountain lion in Arizona, should stay in the good hands of the Arizona Game and Fish Department rather than being un-managed with HSUS.

Shooting sports

• 4-H Shooting Sports: The Yuma County 4-H training schedule for shooting sports has started, open to any 4-H youth ages 9-19 that are a member of a Yuma County 4-H Community Club. Training will take place at the Yuma County Fairgrounds with archery and air rifle, then in December move to the Dome Valley Shooting Range at Ware Farm. After the first of next year, they will add black powder, small bore .22 and shotgun with a training camp-out in January and end of the year competition in March. Call the Yuma 4-H office at 726-3904 or Stan Gourley at 344-0740 with questions.

Contact Jean Wilson at jeanrenegade@ gmail.com or call 928 247-4450.