San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Spent the first 3 weeks of vacation camped at Cottonwood AZ. Took day trips to the Grand Canyon, Tuzigoot, Montezuma Castle and all the surrounding monuments and towns. I never did locate a good spot to launch my tube so I didn't fish for 3 weeks.

The DTs started to set in. Uncontrollable shaking, casting and reeling in fitful sleep. You know...withdrawals. We finally moved to Bullhead City over the weekend for the last week of vacation. The Colorado River runs right behind our campsite.

Its been averaging over 100° here in the daytime. Fortunately Mohave Lake is right up the road and there are no limits to the hours that one is allowed to fish, so I've been getting in the water between 3-4 am the last couple of nights and fishing till around 9 am. After that it's just too hot for my pasty Irish ass.

I've been averaging a half dozen largemouth per day, and this morning I got my first ever smallie, so it's been fun, but I'm not gonna lie...looking at all your pics make me anxious to get back home!

He's Back =D Congratulations on the first SMB! Now you know how much harder they fight pound for pound. Keep live it up my man!

Great report glad you’re having fun on vacation and back on the water again. Congratulations on your first Smallie! I bet that was exciting. It must be pretty peaceful fishing early in the morning like that and getting off the water before you melt.
Thanks for sharing and soon you’ll be back in
San Diego holding up bass from our waters that
you catch. For now enjoy your final days on vacation and tight lines always buddy.

KillinTime wrote: Tue Jun 24, 2025 12:29 pm He's Back =D Congratulations on the first SMB! Now you know how much harder they fight pound for pound. Keep live it up my man!

It really did fight harder lol. I've been hoping for a striper too, but to be honest, I have no idea how to fish for them so .... But who knows right? Maybe a striped bass is in my BFS future too before my vacation is over.

Been wondering when we would hear from you! Looks like fun! Fished Many hot days in Mohave when we go out to play in the water. Caught stripers on bread chummed with cheese puffs. I meant cheese it's.

Dannicus wrote: Tue Jun 24, 2025 3:08 pm

KillinTime wrote: Tue Jun 24, 2025 12:29 pm He's Back =D Congratulations on the first SMB! Now you know how much harder they fight pound for pound. Keep live it up my man!

It really did fight harder lol. I've been hoping for a striper too, but to be honest, I have no idea how to fish for them so .... But who knows right? Maybe a striped bass is in my BFS future too before my vacation is over.

Stop by Parker right below Havasu on your way back coming down the 95. It has some of the most epic Small Mouth fishing. The current rips towards the north, so you may have to do shore up there. The south has much less current and there are some good eddies and inlets you can tube.

Havasu and Mohave have good small mouth fishing too. At Havasu you can launch from the State Park "Cat Tail Cove".

I have always done better on the smallies in the more rockyer areas.

Thanks brother! Unfortunately vacay is over tomorrow. I'll be back though. Hopefully a little earlier in the year when it's a bit cooler.

KillinTime wrote: Wed Jun 25, 2025 11:26 am

Dannicus wrote: Tue Jun 24, 2025 3:08 pm

KillinTime wrote: Tue Jun 24, 2025 12:29 pm He's Back =D Congratulations on the first SMB! Now you know how much harder they fight pound for pound. Keep live it up my man!

It really did fight harder lol. I've been hoping for a striper too, but to be honest, I have no idea how to fish for them so .... But who knows right? Maybe a striped bass is in my BFS future too before my vacation is over.

Stop by Parker right below Havasu on your way back coming down the 95. It has some of the most epic Small Mouth fishing. The current rips towards the north, so you may have to do shore up there. The south has much less current and there are some good eddies and inlets you can tube.

Havasu and Mohave have good small mouth fishing too. At Havasu you can launch from the State Park "Cat Tail Cove".

I have always done better on the smallies in the more rockyer areas.

Agree! I had a place in Parker for 40 years, watched the smallies go from nonexistent to lots of 3-4lbers! The rocky areas are best, but they also like hanging out around docks. In the spring, they can be found on the flats and rocky sandbags. Unfortunately, it seems like they've taken over some of the largemouth habitat...less largemouth than there use to be!

You might consider wearing a light colored shirt, thin sun gloves and a wider brimmed hat. Dip hat and sleeves in the water, drape a wet towel around the neck and splash water on your thighs. Roll waders down if you are wearing them. At Barrett, those things keep me comfortable to at least 100 degrees on the float tube and I have gone there during heat advisories. I also have bicycle water bottle cages (2) mounted on my DIY rod holder that put the bottoms of the bottles in the water. A sleeve made from an old sock wicks water up the side of the bottle and keeps it cool. Evaporative cooling works.

Smallmouth bass are a blast to catch. I would take them over largemouth any day.

I wear SPF or UPF fishing shirts similar to this: https://www.columbia.com/p/mens-pfg-tam ... _color=100

If it is really hot, I wear pure white. Solar constant at sea level is 880W/m^2 so it doesn't take much dark clothing to really heat you up.

Gotfish? wrote: Thu Jun 26, 2025 8:12 pm You might consider wearing a light colored shirt, thin sun gloves and a wider brimmed hat. Dip hat and sleeves in the water, drape a wet towel around the neck and splash water on your thighs. Roll waders down if you are wearing them. At Barrett, those things keep me comfortable to at least 100 degrees on the float tube and I have gone there during heat advisories. I also have bicycle water bottle cages (2) mounted on my DIY rod holder that put the bottoms of the bottles in the water. A sleeve made from an old sock wicks water up the side of the bottle and keeps it cool. Evaporative cooling works.

Smallmouth bass are a blast to catch. I would take them over largemouth any day.

Great tips mate!! What gloves do you wear?

Dannicus wrote: Thu Jun 26, 2025 11:41 pm

Gotfish? wrote: Thu Jun 26, 2025 8:12 pm You might consider wearing a light colored shirt, thin sun gloves and a wider brimmed hat. Dip hat and sleeves in the water, drape a wet towel around the neck and splash water on your thighs. Roll waders down if you are wearing them. At Barrett, those things keep me comfortable to at least 100 degrees on the float tube and I have gone there during heat advisories. I also have bicycle water bottle cages (2) mounted on my DIY rod holder that put the bottoms of the bottles in the water. A sleeve made from an old sock wicks water up the side of the bottle and keeps it cool. Evaporative cooling works.

Smallmouth bass are a blast to catch. I would take them over largemouth any day.

Great tips mate!! What gloves do you wear?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FYM9QNR?re ... tle_2&th=1 Really thin but plenty of sun protection. And long enough to protect the wrists from sun burn.

I wear slightly thicker gloves when it is not hot. And will wear ragg wool fingerless gloves if it is really cold. Never get the backs of my hands sun burned or my hands cut by gill plates of fish.