03-11-2005, 02:26 AM
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]I took a buddy (a newbie) fishing where the Agua Fria river runs into Lake Pleasant (about 45 minutes northwest of downtown Phoenix). I had been told that the white bass were starting to run up the river and that an occasional striper could be found with them. Since I’m new to the area I got some guidance from Tubedude and went out to explore some new fishing grounds. [/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]We didn’t get there until around 2pm and even though it was a Wednesday afternoon, there were already several trucks pulled off the dirt road. We picked up our stuff and walked across the river (about waste deep) to get away from the other fishermen. After walking about 1/4 mile downstream to where the river enters the lake proper we picked a good looking spot on a sand bar next to some flooded brush. Even though we were on the main lake, there was still a slight current and the channel was only about 50 yards wide. A couple of hours later a small raft came downstream past us. The guy had a fish finder and he informed us that the water was only about 5 feet deep in front of us and was 67 degrees.[/size][/font][size 1]
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[/size][font "Times New Roman"][size 3]I got two whites right off the bat and thought we were going to see some fast action all afternoon. When we went another 30 minutes without a strike we decided that we might as well hurry and take a quick picture, just in case we didn’t get any more fish. That’s the first photo that I’ve got attached at the bottom (note the wildflowers in the background…we’ve had so much rain down here this winter that the WHOLE desert is covered in them…everything is carpeted in grass that reaches 3 feet high in areas). [/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]After switching from 3” chartreuse grubs to brass and chart spinner, I started catching fish again. Those little spinners the ticket, they didn’t seem to want much else. The action would go in spurts whenever a good school would come through, but we had strikes often enough to keep our interest. In all, I ended up catching 24 white bass and my buddy got 2 whites, 1 small striper, and 1 small LMB. We did far better than anyone else that we could see.[/size][/font][size 1]
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[/size][font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The photo at bottom shows the 16 whites that we kept. The 10 that we let go all fell within the same size ranges. The longest was just under 19 inches and weighed 2 lbs and the largest was 18.5” and was a few ozs heavier (female with eggs). The smallest was just under 14”. Of all the fish you see, only ONE was a female. I’m hoping that this means that the spawn is just getting under way and that I can catch some more next week. [/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]We didn’t get there until around 2pm and even though it was a Wednesday afternoon, there were already several trucks pulled off the dirt road. We picked up our stuff and walked across the river (about waste deep) to get away from the other fishermen. After walking about 1/4 mile downstream to where the river enters the lake proper we picked a good looking spot on a sand bar next to some flooded brush. Even though we were on the main lake, there was still a slight current and the channel was only about 50 yards wide. A couple of hours later a small raft came downstream past us. The guy had a fish finder and he informed us that the water was only about 5 feet deep in front of us and was 67 degrees.[/size][/font][size 1]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[/size][font "Times New Roman"][size 3]I got two whites right off the bat and thought we were going to see some fast action all afternoon. When we went another 30 minutes without a strike we decided that we might as well hurry and take a quick picture, just in case we didn’t get any more fish. That’s the first photo that I’ve got attached at the bottom (note the wildflowers in the background…we’ve had so much rain down here this winter that the WHOLE desert is covered in them…everything is carpeted in grass that reaches 3 feet high in areas). [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]After switching from 3” chartreuse grubs to brass and chart spinner, I started catching fish again. Those little spinners the ticket, they didn’t seem to want much else. The action would go in spurts whenever a good school would come through, but we had strikes often enough to keep our interest. In all, I ended up catching 24 white bass and my buddy got 2 whites, 1 small striper, and 1 small LMB. We did far better than anyone else that we could see.[/size][/font][size 1]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[/size][font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The photo at bottom shows the 16 whites that we kept. The 10 that we let go all fell within the same size ranges. The longest was just under 19 inches and weighed 2 lbs and the largest was 18.5” and was a few ozs heavier (female with eggs). The smallest was just under 14”. Of all the fish you see, only ONE was a female. I’m hoping that this means that the spawn is just getting under way and that I can catch some more next week. [/size][/font]
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