5/16/03

OUTDOORS REPORT

Dual corvina tournaments a success

By AL KALIN

Staff Columnist

The wind cooperated Saturday and boaters were able to launch boats from Red Hill Marina and participate in both the Holtville Athletic Club's Take a Kid Fishing Contest as well as the Calipatria Chamber of Commerce Corvina Tournament.

The winner of the Holtville Athletic Club tournament was Donald Walker of El Centro, who came to the scales with a 5.1 pound corvina and took home $500. Jenae Thompson from San Dimas took $250 for second place with a 4.4 pound corvina. The third-place fish, worth $125, was caught by Kyle Kortsen of Westmorland. Kortsen's fish weighed in at 4.3 pounds.

In the Calipatria chamber tournament, Kurt Nakano from Las Palmas won all the marbles with both the largest corvina, which tipped the scales at 6.1 pounds, and the largest boat average. Nakano came away with $750 in prize money for his morning's fishing effort.

The majority of the fish were caught from shore with mudsuckers.

OUTDOORS REPORT, Al Kalin 5/9/03

Two corvina tournaments Saturday

Wind still continues to plague Salton Sea fisherman as the date nears for the two corvina tournaments slated for Saturday on the sea.

Boaters fishing the Calipatria Chamber of Commerce tournament must be registered before starting. The tournament is headquartered at the Calipatria Inn. Entry fee is $30 per fisherman. Entrants will receive a T-shirt and assorted donations, including all the lures necessary to win the tournament.

Anglers must be back at the tournament headquarters and ready to weigh their heaviest fish by 2 p.m. The angler who catches the first-place fish will be awarded $500 while the heaviest boat average will take home $250.

Boaters fishing in the Holtville Athletic Club "Take a Kid Fishing Contest" can sign up the morning of the tournament at Red Hill Marina. The entrants also must be back at the Calipatria Inn by 2 p.m. for the official weigh-in, which will be conducted in conjunction with the Calipatria chamber tournament. Entrants also will receive generous gifts from the local businesses. The person with the heaviest fish will receive $500, second heaviest fish, $250; and third heaviest fish, $125. A free lunch will be served to each child entered in the Holtville club's tournament.

Anglers in both tournaments don't have to fish from boats. Shore fishing is allowed for both contests and may be the only way to catch a fish if the wind is blowing and the boats can't get out on the water.

OUTDOOR TALES

By Al Kalin 5/2/03

Two corvina tournaments

slated for next week

The Calipatria Chamber of Commerce and the Holtville Athletic Club will stage two corvina tournaments jointly May 10. Headquarters for both events will be the Calipatria Inn off Highway 111 at the north end of town.

Each adult who would like to enter the HAC's tournament is required to bring a child to fish with. The entry fee is $20 for each adult and an Imperial Valley sponsor will pay the child's fee of $5.

This is an excellent opportunity to teach youngsters the art of fishing. Each year the average age of fishermen in California has been increasing, meaning fewer youngsters are taking up the hobby. If just a few children become interested in fishing as a result of the HAC tournament, the endeavor will have been well worth the effort.

A prize of $500 will be paid to the fisherman with the largest corvina, $250 will be paid for the second-largest corvina and $125 for the third-largest corvina. A free lunch will be furnished for each child after the weigh-in at the official headquarters at the Calipatria Inn.

Derby check-in for the tournament runs from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. at Red Hill Marina and contestants can fish from either a boat or shore anywhere on the Salton Sea.

The tournament will begin at 6 a.m. and all anglers must be back in Calipatria for the weigh-in at the Calipatria Inn. Contestants must be standing in line at the Calipatria Inn with their biggest fish by 2 p.m. Anglers who miss the deadline will not be allowed to weigh their fish.

After the weigh-in there will be a raffle for the participants with chances to win prizes donated by many Imperial Valley businesses.

For more information about the HAC's Take a Child Fishing Tournament call 455-1401 or 356-2781. The Calipatria chamber is hosting the other tournament at the same time from the same location. For those who can't come up with a child to fish with, this is the tournament for you.

The prize for the largest corvina is $500 and a $250 prize will be awarded for the largest boat average. The boat average will be computed by adding together the largest corvina of each angler in the boat and dividing by the number of fishermen.

To compete in the Calipatria chamber tournament all anglers are required to complete and sign the tournament entry and liability/release waiver. Applications are available at Calipatria Inn or by calling Denny Lang at 348-7770 or George Widman at 348-5064.

The tournament starts at 4:30 a.m. Saturday, with boats launching from Red Hill Marina, Johnson's Landing or Salton Sea Beach Marina. No boats will be allowed in the water until their live wells and coolers have been inspected by tournament personnel stationed at the three participating launch ramps.

You can fish anywhere in the Salton Sea, including from shore, but must be back at the landing by 1 p.m. and at the weigh-in at Calipatria Inn by 2 p.m. to qualify.

The entry fee is $30 per fisherman and all occupants of the boat must be entered in the tournament. A tackle pack and T-shirt will be given to each contestant.

KSSB 100.9 FM radio will be doing a remote broadcast live from the tournament headquarters all day during the tournament.

Immediately following the awards ceremony a raffle will be staged for prizes donated by the sponsors of the event.

The Latin American Club of Calipatria will be on hand to prepare a great barbecue after the weigh-in and members from the 12 Stones men's home will be set up to flush outboard motors as well as wash boats and cars.

Sponsors of the two events include Rio Tel, KSSB 100.9 FM, Coca-Cola, Imperial Irrigation District, Salton Sea Authority, Zendejas True Value Hardware, Rockwood Chemical, Home Depot, Leon's Other Place in Mecca, Calipatria Inn & Suites, Kalin Lures, KXO Radio and Budweiser.

Fishermen can enter both tournaments, although the same fish cannot be used for both tournaments at the weigh-in.

Merrill Inglis, head ranger at Red Hill County Park, reports that anglers limited out last weekend while fishing for corvina off Black Rock and Red Hill, so if the wind cooperates it looks like there may be plenty of fish to weigh in.

Live mudsuckers, Lunker Grubs, Swimbaits and Rat-L-Traps are all top producers in the Salton Sea.

Anglers need to be aware of the danger associated with high winds on the Salton Sea and come prepared to follow the correct safety procedures.

>> Outdoor Tales columnist Al Kalin may be reached by e-mail at akalin@quix.net

Compiled by MIKE BENNETT, JIM MATTHES and PHIL FRIEDMAN The Outdoor News Service 5/1/03

SALTON SEA: The corvina bite has been fair if you can locate the fish. Catches of the fish are widely scattered with no definite pattern of behavior. Tilapia, mudsuckers and Fish Trap swimbaits accounted for most fish. Live mudsuckers are available at many locations now for bait. Tilapia and croaker are still very slow.

April 30, 2003

OUTDOORS REPORT

By Al Kalin

Birding opportunities are excellent

High winds continue to keep corvina fishermen off the Salton Sea but bird watching has been excellent.

The rare anhinga is still at Ramer Lake. In addition, birders visiting Ramer Lake also spotted a Franklin’s gull, a blue-winged Teal, two males and one female western tanager in the cottonwood trees at the check-in station.

At the north end of Garst Road there was an adult yellow-footed gull and a pair

of snowy plovers. Birders also spotted four flamingos on a sand bar at the northwest point of the Alamo River Delta.

At the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge there was a Nashville warbler, a Lucy warbler and a black-headed grosbeak in the parking lot area. Two gull-billed terns were spotted flying overhead. A male rufous hummingbird was feeding on red flowers along the walkway to the visitor center.

A solitary sandpiper was spotted off the levee that runs north into Obsidian Butte.

A great horned owl with young can be seen in the dead eucalyptus tree on Gentry Road a hundred yards north of Bowles Road.

At the pig farm on the northwest corner of Sperry and Eddins roads, a Lewis’ woodpecker and Eurasian collared doves were present along with an Inca dove. Common ground doves were seen, but no ruddy ground doves were, as has been the case for the last few months.

Here in the Valley, Eurasian collared doves are building in population. It seems that a day doesn’t go by that I don’t see one while driving to and from work.

Local birding expert Bob Miller found three lesser nighthawks in the tamarisks at the entrance to Finney. He also reported a pair of black-tailed gnatcatchers feeding fledglings and a talkative crissal thrasher at the back way out of the lakes.

Miller also reported an adult male red-breasted merganser in full breeding plumage plus yellow-headed blackbirds near Calexico. Take Highway 111 south to Cole Road and go left. Go left again on Bowker and then go left on the north bank of the (large) Central Main Canal. The merganser will be on the canal between Bowker and the Highway 111 frontage road.

At Wister a pine siskin and two American redstarts were spotted.

A male blue-winged teal, several stilt sandpipers and a peregrine falcon were seen at the end of Pound Road.

At the Imperial Wetlands at Forrester Road on Weinert Road there are increasing numbers of yellow-headed blackbirds. In addition, Virginia rails and soras are easy to spot.

Update: 4/24/03

MIKE BENNETT, JIM MATTHEWS and PHIL FRIEDMAN

The corvina bite has remained spotty to fair as fish from 7-0 to 10-0 have been landed the past week at the State park jetty (North Shore) and Salt Creek on the east side of the sea. Live mudsuckers are available at many locations now for bait. Tilapia and croaker are still very slow.

UPDATE:

Al Kalin

High winds have kept fishermen off the Salton Sea. The small number of fishermen who have ventured out when the winds abated report little success. The few fish that have been caught are reported to be skinny as a result of the small amount of baitfish in the sea.

Update: 4/17/03

MIKE BENNETT, JIM MATTHEWS and PHIL FRIEDMAN

The fish report is weekly. Its accuracy depends on marina operators and local fishermen we contact.

The corvina bite has been kicking into gear, in spite of the weather. There were good catches of corvina from 9-0 to 11-0 reported from the state park jetty (North Shore) and down to Salt Creek on the east side of the sea. The Black Rock area on the south was less consistent, but also produced some fish between the wind and rain. Live mudsuckers are available at many locations now for bait.

Updated fish reports: 4/13/03

from Jeff Sipos and Jim Penn Jeff Sipos

Caught a 19lbs. on Thursday (4-11) between Mecca and Corvina Beach in very brown water about 500 yards from shore.

Jeff

Fish report for Friday, April the whatever it was, 12th?

Had a big group of seven and me and we fished hard all day for two fish? Both caught on mudsuckers just doing long drifts. fished red hill again from alamo point over to lack road. Conditions looked good but no sign of croaker or tialpia. Most of the fish have been real skinny and I believe we have a problem with forage at the sea for the corvina. Still similar to last year and maybe it will be an OK year.

Jim

Update: 4/9/03

By Jim Penn of Penns Guide Service

fish report for today 4-9-03. Fished red hill with clients for one fish and one lost hookup. fished until twoish. Went back out solo and had a pretty good bite from four to five at the old jetty for seven fish. Water looked good temp was 69-79. A few other fish were caught, maybe it is starting to happen a little. Looking in my log from last year I had eleven fish on this date last year, and that was my first decent day last year. I will try to keep the reports coming if I can figure this damn internet stuff out. Tight lines

Jim

P.s If you want to see Wendy Toshihara and I catch nothing on tv It will be on espn 2 later this month I don' t have the exact time right now but I believe it will air three times starting April 24th at i think 11:30 am. I will post exact times later.

March 28, 2003

Outdoors Report by Al Kalin

Salton Sea fishing picks up

Fishermen began catching more corvina this past week during lulls in the strong winds.

Tommy Keaton from Brawley caught a 11 pound corvina from the dike at the end of Lack Road. Steve Horvath, from Westmorland, caught corvina using a white bucktail jig. Other fishermen had luck using the white bucktail jigs as well as white Rat-L-Traps.

Tuesday afternoon I visited the dike on Lack Road and found three fishermen chucking lures. Nobody had caught a thing in the past few hours. I hooked a small corvina on my second cast using a Rat-L-Trap. Then I beat the water to a froth for two more hours and never had a nibble. That’s what makes fishing so interesting.

At the other end of he Salton Sea there second hand rumors that a few corvina were being caught near the Dome north of Johnson’s Landing.

Warm weather is waking up the catfish and they are becoming more active. I’ve checked fishermen wetting their lines in canals around the valley. Most had more than one catfish on their stringer. Worms and stink bait seem to be the favorite bait.

Update: 3/14/03

High wind kills the corvina bite By AL KALIN, Outdoors Writer

Fishermen were starting to catch multiple corvina before the latest storm moved in with high winds and rain and shut off the bite. However, the added rain should sweeten the water. The Salton Sea has received more than 2 inches of rain since the first of the year.

This time of the year, when predominant winds are coming from the northwest, the west shore is the best place to fish. Johnson’s Landing at the north end of Salton City is an excellent place to launch for fishermen wanting to fish the dome area north of Johnson’s Landing or the Navy base south of Johnson’s Landing.

Salton Sea guide Ray Garnett is available to guide fishermen to all the popular hot spots. Garnett also is available to take groups, including bird watchers, around the sea to enjoy the beautiful sights. The capacity of his boat is eight and he is a fully licensed guide and is insured.

This is a beautiful time of the year, on calm days, to experience the Salton Sea first hand and Garnett, who has been guiding on the sea for more than 40 years, is a wealth of information. Garnett’s phone number is 395-5883.

Be sure to tell him I suggested you call.

Update: 3/15/03

Corvina fishing improves

By AL KALIN

The good news is that the corvina have started biting. Even better news is that the California Mid-Winter Fair & Fiesta is over so maybe the wind won't stop anglers from pursuing the great fighting fish.

Early this week there were reports from the north shore area of the Salton Sea that multiple limits of corvina were being taken by boaters using swimbaits, mogambo grubs and Rat-L-Traps.

Red Hill Marina resident ranger, Merrill Inglis, also reported fishermen doing well while fishing around the old mile-long Red Hill rock jetty that juts out into the Salton Sea.

Fishermen tossing swimbaits and Rat-L-Traps also were catching multiple corvina off the rock dike at the end of Lack Road.

The fact that fish are being caught all over the Salton Sea is a good sign. Let's hope we don't get any major wind events that would stop the action.

March 10, 2003

Wind blows, slows activity

By AL KALIN

Outdoors Writer

This is really weird folks. The California Mid-Winter Fair & Fiesta has started and the wind has started blowing just like it does every year during the fair.

That’s normal and expected. It happens every year like clockwork. What isn’t normal is that die-hard corvina fisherman and forward scout Allen Martin of Westmorland reports catching two corvina from the dike at the end of Lack Road.

As usual, Martin was pitching a Rat-L-Trap in chrome/blue back. I hope he doesn’t get washed off the rocks as the breakers pound the dikes. I’d hate to lose one of my best sources of Salton Sea fishing information.

Update: 3/1/02

OUTDOORS REPORT, By AL KALIN

This week, things are slow

There's too much foul weather at the Salton Sea for the fish to be biting, and with the fair about to start, so will the wind if history repeats itself. Corvina fishing may have to be put on hold for a couple more weeks

Update: 2/21/03 Patrick Durante

We got to Johnson's at about 6:00am, and the wind was blowing 18 to 20 knots. After a couple of hours, it was still blowing, so we went to get breakfast at the restaurant at Johnson's. We had our choice of biscuits and gravy, or gravy and biscuits. Short menu, but it was good. After breakfast, the wind was starting to lie down, so we launched and fished the area in front of Johnson's for about an hour. No bites, no fish on the meter. We fished our way down to the Target and the Navy Base for nada. The water temp. Was 60 in the morning and warmed up to 68 in the afternoon. The watercolor was red. We did meter some fish at the Target, but couldn't get them to bite. We also tried Sandy Point, the Keys, and Freebee, but we never got bit. I think my next shot at the Sea will be in mid-March.

UPDATE: 2/19/03

By Jim Penn of Penns Guide Service

hesitate to report but here it is. Fished thursday and friday from johnsons to navy base for nothing. fished a little from red hill sturday and sunday for nothing. Water was very green at red hill. fished monday at state park for nothing. water was red or dirty brown there. water was better at johnsons but no fish. Looks like last years feb. all over again. On the bright side weather was great, no wind. thats the story. I did hear of a couple fish caught off the jetty at state park on nightcrawlers. Jim

UPDATE: 2/09/03

By Jim Penn of Penns Guide Service

Fish report for Sunday 2-09, I fished out of Johnson's landing from around noon till 4 in the afternoon. Ended up with two fish caught south of sandy point in four feet of water. both fish on the troll, one on a rat l trap, one on a swim bait. There were about eight carcasses in the fish cleaning booth that I believe were caught the previous Saturday. water was 59 - 64, air about 70 and no wind. Hope springs eternal! Tight Lines Jim

UPDATE: 2/05/03

By Jim Penn of Penns Guide Service

I fished yesterday from 11-4 for no fish, no bites,etc. etc. etc. Red hill water was green all the way to lack road. Went to navy base, water was better and fished to the cones and of course the target. Water temp was 62-68, air 75, no wind, nice day.

UPDATE: 2/03/03

By Jim Penn of Penns Guide Service

fishing has been spotty over the last few weeks. some fish have been caught out of red hill, at black rock, and at the end of lack road. the guys from shore at lack road will sometimes catch limits and sometimes the skunk. also fish have been caught up at the state park from time to time. Navy base also had fish as it usually does all year but especially in the winter when nowhere else seems to have any.

January 29, 2003

Update:

By AL KALIN

Staff Columnist

Fishermen are still catching corvina on soft plastic swimbaits and Rat-L-Trap lures from the dike at the end of Lack Road. Biggest fish of the week was reported by Allen Martin, who nailed a 16-pounder while fishing with a Rat-L-Trap at the end of Lack Road. Rangers at the Salton Sea State Park reported fishermen caught five corvina.

UPDATE: 1/28/03

I called around today to all my contacts down at the Sea. What I found out is promising. It seems that some fish have started showing in the Bombay Beach area, on night crawlers and cut bait. Down near the Red Hill area there were several fish caught at Black Rock over the weekend. According to the folks down at Johnson's Landing things have been warming up and they expect the fish to take of anytime.

The bait situation is not real good this time of the year. There are not enough orders from around the Sea to warrant a delivery of Mud Suckers, and the nights are still to cool for the Tilipia to be delivered because they will die overnight. So the general consensus is that by mid February things could be in full swing.

Poor Richards seems to get bait the earliest so as soon as they do, that will be a great sign.

January 24, 2003

Update:

By AL KALIN

Staff Columnist

Fishermen are still catching corvina on soft plastic swimbaits and Rat-L-Trap lures from the dike at the end of Lack Road. Biggest fish of the week was reported by Allen Martin, who nailed a 16-pounder while fishing with a Rat-L-Trap at the end of Lack Road. Rangers at the Salton Sea State Park reported fishermen caught five corvina.

Outdoors Report

by Al Kalin 1/17/03

Corvina fishermen continue to nail the big croakers on soft plastic swimbaits and Rat-L-Trap lures. Bill Yates from El Centro caught and released seven corvina this past weekend. Yates was fishing off the dike at the end of Lack Road using ¾ and 1 ounce Rat- L-Traps. The largest fish weighed 10 ½ pounds. Darrell Ramey from Brawley, and Allen Martin from Westmorland also did well casting Rat-L-Traps. The corvina are hitting best early in the morning from 6:30 am to 9:30 am. Fishermen at the north end of the sea also are catching corvina casting soft plastics and trolling. Be sure all you fishermen remember to get a new fishing license before you venture out. The fine for being caught without a license is $675.

January 2, 2003

Corvina action continues after winds

By AL KALIN

Staff columnist

Corvina fishing, which was red hot before the storm moved in and high winds shut off the bite, has resumed.

Salton Sea guide Ray Garnett reports corvina being caught at the north end of the sea near the state park. At the south end of the Salton Sea fishermen are starting to find the hot action from the previous week slowly returning.

December 20, 2002

Hot corvina action killed by wind

By AL KALIN, Staff Columnist

Corvina fishing was red hot earlier this week until the storm moved in and high winds shut off the bite.

Darrell Ramey of Brawley caught limits on numerous days, including a husky 20-pounder caught with a Rat-L-Trap off the dike at the end of Lack Road. When the storm moves through and things calm down, I’m hoping the corvina bite resumes

1/10/03 Some corvina showing around the Navy Pier. The fish are 13 to 20-feet deep and are hitting the smaller four-inch fish Traps. Fish from 4-0 to 9-0 have been landed.

October 25, 2002

OUTDOORS REPORT:

By AL KALIN, Staff Columnist

Corvina fishing continues to remain slow in the Salton Sea. However, world class silhouette pistol shooter Darrell Ramey of Brawley reported catching corvina last week from the dike at the end of Lack Road. Ramey was using a Rat-L-Trap lure. Not only is “Dead-eye Darrell” a world class pistol shot, he also holds the distinction of being the first person to catch a limit of corvina from the Salton Sea back in the ’50s, according to California Fish and Game records.

UPDATE: Al Kalin 10/11/02

Very little has been happening. A few Corvina have been caught from shore on the south end of the Sea including some croaker, which is a first for this year, but overall fishing has been pretty dismal. I talked with Ray Garnet last week and he hadn't had any luck.

During the last full moon record numbers of pile worms left the bottom and floated to the surface to mate. This abundance of food shut the bite off.

There's another tremendous food source, the saltmarsh water boatman. These little swimming insects are so thick this year, from lack of tilapia that usually feed on them, the sonar units on fish finders used by fishermen can't penetrate their heavy concentrations.

All species of fish currently being netted by California Fish & Game biologists are plugged with the little water boatman.

UPDATE: Michael Burk 8/27/02

I took my 11 year old son and his friend (and dad) down to Bobmay Beach. We arrived about 5:30 pm. Temps were close to 110 degrees. I was surprised to see the shoreline along Bombay Beach filled with fishermen. I usually float tube, but I've always been curious about whether corvina would bite at night. After a fruitless attempt at float tubing, I flipped the bail over and made my way back to shore. We built a fire, and we laid out the sleeping bags.

It wasn't until 9:30 PM that we had our first run. We missed the fish, but it did give us some hope. An hour later, sleep was interrupted again by the sound of the drag screaming. Night sky was filled with stars and an almost full moon.

Water gently lapped on to the shore, and when all was said and done...we had seven corvina and had missed at least that many of them.

The secret was that the fish were not within casting distance...I will definitely do this again....what a great way to make a memory with my son and friend!!!

I enjoyed the sunset and sunrise and was impressed by the friendly group of shore fishermen at Bombay Beach.

One local complained that this area was experiencing a red tide (and that was why fishing was off).

Well, I'm tired but wanted to give you an update. Fishing around the sea seemed to be overall slow, but hopefully it will break open soon!

UPDATE: Michael Burk 8/14/02

I had fair fishing in the Bombay area on Wensday. The fish bit well on the storm golden mullet swim bait early in the morning. The best area I found was in front of what I think was the old Niland marina just south of Bombay Beach in 5 to 8 feet of water.

Shore anglers were doing well Tuesday night on live tilapia and mudsuckers.

I fish off a paddleboard and don't have live bait but I did catch one fish on a fresh frozen sargo. I did catch and release 2 of the smallest corvina I have seen this year. They were about 22 inches long, and while legal, sure looked tiny next to the fish I usually see out there.

One of the larger fish I cleaned that day had a small corvina in its stomach. This fish was about 8 inches long. Its good to know there are still some little units around these days.

Also the tilapia are thick like flys all around the rock jetty at Bombay. I'll bring a dip net next time.

Michael Burk

Hubbs-Sea World Research Institut

Update 8/13/02 by Bill Koster

Arrived at Bombay Beach as the sun was coming up. The three of us launched our float tubes and within minutes my friend Alan was hooked up.

Most of the action came within the first hour. Storm baits seemed to be the secret again. Fishing was very slow, so we decided to head down to Black Rock.

Water was green and after driving around for awhile, we decided to head back to Bombay Beach. Caught a few more fish, but overall I would say that fishing was slow, for the Salton Sea...still, all in all, a fun time!

Update 8/1/02 by Bill Koster

My friend and I float tubed down at Bombay Beach this morning. I wouldn't say that the fishing was wide open, but we did manage to catch about 15 very nice corvina. Caught my first fish right as it was getting light. Storm fish traps seemed to be what worked best, but I did catch several other fish on a chartruse rattle trap. Fish were just off the rocks...my guess in five feet of water. As the day progressed fish seemed to settle in the seven foot range. Slow steady retrieves with occasional stops to rattle the bait on or near the bottom. The corvina were inhaling the baits, and I only caught one average sized fish, the rest were very nice....biggest was 17 pounds....I also wanted to thank you for this web site. My friend and I have fished the sea hard for the last several years, and information is very hard to come by. We live in Corona/Norco area....so it's valuable to narrow the search down to an area of the sea, and to know the water clarity is excellent. The water by Bombay Beach looked great. Very few people fishing. Saw one pontoon boat around 1:30 pm....and a few shore anglers.

Update: 7/27/02 by Peter Corselli

We caught our own tilapia first thing in the morning took about an hour to get enough for the day so we didn't start fishing until 7 am. Drifting out in front of Bombay we caught two fish on our first drift a six and about a fourteen. I caught another on a swim bait about an hour later and then it was tough fishing for quite a while. We drifted tilapia and cast lures until one for a couple more fish and a hook up here and there. Everybody else had gone in by then so we were by ourselves. We had intended to call it a day at one but elected for one more drift. Put five more on in short order on that last drift, bite was fast and furious. I'm sure we could have done it faster but we didn't have a net so each fish had to be landed by hand which meant abandoning your rods to help. All fish were in beautiful condition about half were the 6-9 pounders and the other half were the 12-14 variety. I am also sure we could have caught many more but it was late, we had limits, and they just don't do well when you exhaust them, especially in the warm (90) water.

Update: 6/30/01 by Stefan Orebo

Folks I put a quickie trip together with boat co-owner Taz/Billy down to the Salton Sea for another whack at the orangemouths. We headed out of San Pedro at 12 noon and arrived at Bombay at 4 pm, after talking to Walt about how slow the fishing was we decided to charge over to Red Hill and hopefully the fish were in the same pattern they were in last saturday.

We got to Red Hill a little after 5 pm and withing 5 mins we started hanging them, as Triggerfish reported the smaller fish were 8 lbs up to 14 or so. We hung 14 fish in a little over a hour and for the first time since the late 80's I kept some fish to give out to friends that were asking me for them. We headed back to Bombay and started cutting and cleaning and made it back to the condo at 10:30 pm.

Saturday morning we decided to tow the boat to Redhill as the fish were close to the ramp and hopefully ready to chew. We fished the same area as the night before and in 2 hours we hung 4 fish and dumped 3, ouch. So my 6 yr old son begged me to move the boat over to Black Rock got his wish and we were off, we started trolling and within 5 mins we got bit, KC. jr got the fish close to the boat only to have it spit the hook. We hung and lost a few more, I hung a fat one on 30 lb. Jinkai line and it flat kicked my @#$.This was the first Corvina I've ever hooked that I couldn't slow down, when the line broke it sounded like a 22 going off, oh well. We headed in about 12 pm for the long drive back, we decided to sleep in sunday as we had enough.

UPDATE: by Berry Turley 6/28/02

My Friend Ken called today saying Salton Sea Beach Marina phone was disconnected. I called Lucky, who told me the gal who owned it (or the lease on it) had died last week. He mentioned a problem with the state, county, or DFG, etc. Said they really don't want i(the campground) open.

Also, Ray brought his pontoon home yesterday from Bombay Beach. Obviously, the bite has really stopped there, and he is repositioning. The only good report he had was black rock. Shore guys were doing good there, as well as boaters. He recommends concentrating on red hill and surrounding areas, such as Black Rock. He noted that the bite at Desert shores and northward, such as the snag area never really took off this year as they did the last few.

On a bright note, some of the reported fish dieoffs were of fingerling Corvina. Don't want to lose them, but at least they are there to lose.

A post on the board asked about eggs in fish. I had Well developed egg sacs in both the Corvina I cleaned last week. We may still be poised for a good spawn, and may have already had one last month.

This was my first fishing trip to the Salton Sea and this place rocks! I'm always game for new species and new horizons in sportfishing and the Salton Sea did not let me down. Short report: C&R'd 20+ fish Saturday afternoon on swimbaits at Red Hill. Largest went 14 lbs and the average was 12 lbs. Caught 5 fish on Sunday near Black Rocks, all on swimbaits and the largest went 14 lbs.

Long report: Albacore reports were crap and the sea conditions were worse, so that idea was scratched. Kid Creole calls and asks if I'm still on for the Salton Sea. Heck yeah! Only question was whether to leave Friday night and sleep a few hours at the Bombay ramp, or get a few hours at home and hit it at 2:30 AM. A quick check of the weather showed 31 mph winds at Indio, so we slept on it and left at 8:00 AM the next morning.

We put in at Bombay around noon and headed north to Salt Creak, working swimbaits in along the way. Rig was Kid's Mako 20 center console with t-top, fat boy Evinrude 200 carbureted two stroke, Garmin GPS Plotter, Furuno 667 sounder and a cool lean post built around a Kodiak bait tank with particulary cool pedestals supporting it. Twas a nice ride. We tried to hail P Wynn on the vhf to no avail. It was looking slow around Bombay, so we headed to Red Hill. On the run over there were sporadic dead corvina on the surface, some dead for quite a while, others somewhat fresher looking. We went through a section of obviously green water and it wasn't looking like a good move. As we approached Red Hill, Kid sees pelicans diving and there's a group of boats around an old submerged jetty. We pull up and at least one boat had fish on a stringer. Practically first cast out and wham, I'm on. Wow, this fish turns and runs laterally and the line is smoking the water like a wahoo or a dorado can do. Then it jumps. So the stories are real. I turn around to tell Stef that this is the S H I T and he's on. Both are 12+ lb fish. Nice. In short order we whack like 7 fish on the swimbaits and the boat filled with people and with the stringer of a couple fish yells "MAN, YOU BOYS ARE ON FIRE! WHAT ARE YOU THROWING?" Well they were throwing live bait, but not for long. The fish would come through following the jetty and we'd get into another round of hook ups. This went on for a couple hours.

These corvina are very similar in appearance to White Sea Bass. However, the fight they possess puts the White Sea Bass to shame. These fish have much better endurance and they've got an aerial repertoire. Plus, they're not spooked by sound. The guys with the stringer would yank the stringer and cause the fish to croak as they believe this would attract more fish. The croaking sound is similar to a long flapping fart on a vinyl seat (I'm sure the women would have a different description ). Some guys leave their motor running because they believe it attracts the fish.

We tried Black Rocks for nothing and called it a day. We spent the night at Triggerfish's condo in Rancho Mirage and hit it early Sunday morning, joined by Robert Gangi (Triggerfish/Marsh Brother/Heckler Extraordinaire) and his 80 year old father-in-law, Sam. We went straight to Red Hill and it was dead. Looked up at the Red Hill ramp parking lot filled with rigs and no boats off Red Hill, not good. Moved over to Black Rocks and there were more boats and even a boat hooked up. No concentrations of fish though, so we trolled the swimbaits. Right off the black rock reef we hook up and then a few drifts produced fish on casted swimbaits. Other boats started moving in. Robert hooks a nice 14 lb fish on a large injection molded orange with black painted back and white sides. He says he bought the thing 20 years ago with the intent of fishing Salton Sea, but this was his first time. The funky old swimbait did the trick as Robert gets bit on a nice fish in 2' of water and it puts on a nice show. The bite slowed down at Black Rock so we made our way back to Bombay. One guy at the ramp said he got 14 fish just east of Bombay on live bait and the fish would not touch the plastics. We tried the area for nothing and pulled the boat.

Was a great trip and a great introduction to the fishing at Salton Sea. Thanks Stef for the intro and thank Robert for putting us up at the Condo.

SALTON SEA: The corvina bite remains good early and late in the day. The fish are showing all around the sea, but the east shoreline from North Shore to Bombay Beach has been the best area. The fish are from 8-0 to 16-0, occasionally bigger, and showing on live tilapia, mudsuckers, and swimbaits. The fish have mostly been shallow, in five to eight feet of water. Preston Dungey, Salton Sea Beach, landed a 14-11 corvina using tilapia as bait. Rick Hogeland, Mike Taix, and Art Stanman, all Burbank, had limits of corvina to 15-0 fishing off Mecca Beach and Salt Creek on swimbaits. Harold Henriksen, Riverside, had a limit of corvina to 15-0 fishing from a float tube at Salt Creek with swimbaits. For current fishing information, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755), Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760-354-1231), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

The fishing at Bombay Beach has been excellent for the last three days. Today is the 13th and many limits were taken today off the boats and off the shore. I also saw my first Sargo caught off the shore today! Live bait(mudsuckers, tiliapia) have been the ticket though plastics (Fishtraps, Storm Wildeyes) have been holding their own as well. I am about out of Mudsuckers today but I am expecting more by the weekend. I do have Fishtraps and Storm swimbaits available also.

I am getting my tilapia tank this weekend and hope to have tilapia minnows by the 21st of June.

Stren is putting on a photo contest so if you bring in your best fishing photo of the Salton Sea you will get a free Stren logo hat!!

For up to the minute info about the Bombay Beach area please call Walt at (760)354-4049. As always good fishing and tight lines to all!!!

Fishing at Bombay Beach has been good to excellent. Many limits were caught over the weekend with the largest being a 5 fish limit wieghing in at a total of 90lbs.!!! Most fish on the boats are being caught with live bait, wildeye storm swimbaits, and Fishtraps.

While nightcrawlers, shrimp, and squid have been working real well from the shore.

UPDATE 5/30/02, this is info i gathered, not just a posted Jim Matthews fish report

According to Bombay Beach Marina, fishing has been kinda slow for boat anglers. But the shore anglers are doing pretty well in the morning on nightcrawlers and shrimp.

Over at Salton Sea Beach Marina, they said that fishing has been pretty good south at the dome and north at the Avenue 81 area. With the biggest fish being a 16lb 15oz hog coming from the Ave 81 area. That fish won the derby last weekend.

Down at Johnsons they say that the fish are all over, with the word being out 7 miles and in 30 foot of water. They told me to make sure I bring plenty of bait. They also said that the fish cleaning station has been full everyday.

Called over to Red Hill and they said that fishing has bee really slow lately. They had 4 boats out today and he does no think a fish was caught.

I was unable to get an answer at the State Park.

So my overview of fishing for this weekend would be to fish the south side of the lake. A discussion will have to be made to either go north or south; it would be really difficult to do both in on day. For us folks coming from the Inland Empire/LA area this might be a great time to head down there. It is not to often that the fish are biting so well at the north end of the lake.

Remember to have plenty of live bait that is what I hear they are slamming right now.

1/03/03 Very slow fishing all around the sea. A few corvina are showing from deep water at the Target, but very few.

12/27/02Very slow fishing all around the sea. A few corvina are showing from deep water at the Target, but very few.

12/20/02 Slow fishing overall, but a few corvina are showing at the dome area on drifted tilapia.

12/13/02 Slow fishing with only one or two fish weighed in at the state park this past week

12/06/02 Fishing is poor again around the sea. The bright side, the water is changing colors so look for action to take off.

11/29/02 Very little pressure, but there were some reports of corvina at the state park jetty this past week.

11/22/02 Poor fishing has been reported from all over the sea.

11/07/02 Slow fishing has continued at the sea this past week. Weather has been cooling but it still isn't helping the fishing. A few croaker have been landed in the Red Hill area.

11/01/02 Slow fishing has continued at the sea this past week. Weather has been cooling but it still isn't helping the fishing. A few croaker have been landed by the Dean Marine/ Red Hill area.

10/24/02 Slow corvina fishing has continued at the sea this past week. Weather has been cooling but it still isn't helping the fishing. Slow croaker action.

10/17/02 Slow corvina fishing has continued at the sea this past week. Weather has been cooling but it still isn't helping the fishing. Slow croaker action.

10/11/02 Slow corvina fishing all over the sea right now. Weather has been starting to cool. Slow croaker action.

10/4/02 Slow corvina fishing all over the sea right now. Weather has been starting to cool. Slow croaker action.

9/27/02 Slow fishing all over the sea right now. Weather has been starting to cool. Slow croaker action.

9/20/02 Slow fishing all over the sea right now. Weather has been starting to cool. Slow croaker action.

9/13/02 Slow corvina fishing all over the sea right now. Weather has been extremely hot. Slow croaker action.

9/6/02 Real slow fishing all over the sea right now. If you're going to give it a try bring plenty of water and sunscreen as it has been HOT. Slow croaker action.

8/30/02 Hit and miss corvina bite off the bank by Obsidian Butte, fair at best. Most fish coming on live bait and a few on plastics. Slow croaker action.

8/23/02 Fair corvina bite at Bombay Beach and Salt Creek early mornings and evenings using live bait. Slow croaker action

8/16/02 Good corvina bite at Bombay Beach and Salt Creek during the mornings and late evenings using live bait, with some on plastics. Fair action at many other locations for anglers willing to brave the heat. Lots of 12 to 15-pound fish showing up and even the "small" fish are 6-0 to 8-0. Slow croaker, tilapia action.

Corvina bite near Red Hill

By AL KALIN, Staff Columnist 8/9/02

Corvina are continuing to be caught near Bombay Beach and the old Niland marina as well as points north, especially at Corvina Estates, according to state Game Warden Brad Straatman.

However, the hot news for this week is that corvina also are biting at the south end of the Salton Sea as well.

Allen Marten of Westmorland reports catching one to two fish every morning at the end of Lack Road while casting storm shad.

Sunday morning I caught three corvina off Lack Road casting 6-inch swimmers.

Gary Chacon from Brawley landed a nice 15-pounder while fishing with a storm shad.

Boaters fishing areas near Red Hill also have had good luck this week.

Great Report by Jim 8/2/02

My 77 year old father and I chartered guide Ray Garnet and went fishing yesterday (8-2-02). We launched out of the State Park right at dawn and our first drift was right outside the marina. Nothing doing there and we started moving south stopping every once in a while for a drift. Ray hooked a fish on a Fire Tiger 5" fish trap around 7:00 am and we caught two on bait (live talipia) between then and 11:30. By this time we were off salt creek and we started picking a fish or two on every drift. We would start off in 14 feet of water and drift toward shore until we were in 3 feet. Then out again for another drift. It never got wide open but we did have one double hook up. We fished until 1:00 and we were one fish short of limits. Ray has a nice setup with a pontoon boat and large awning. He did a great job helping my father catch his fish. The weather was never uncomfortable on the water even with heat over 100 for most of the day. Ray's awing and a nice breeze took care of that. Fish were very nice sized with only two under 8 pounds and the 3 largest at 14#'s.

It was a really special day for me because my father has been really ill lately and has early Alzsheimers disease. He can't remember how to do a lot of the things he's been doing daily for most of his life and it was real tough for him to remember to pull on the fish and reel at the same time. I let him catch do most of the fishing because he was having soooo much fun. Probably a lot like me when I was 5 and and he was teaching me tolove fishing. You know the old saying "what goes around, comes around" and it was a real pleasure to let this day come back to me. I only wish he could've remembered how to clean the da*n fish. Anyway, a teriffic day and one that will always be in my heart.

OUTDOORS REPORT

By AL KALIN, Staff Columnist 8/02/02

According to Salton Sea guide Ray Garnet, the corvina bite at Bombay Beach is still going strong, although there are some days his customers aren't catching full limits.

Garnett has been guiding customers in the area between Salt Creek and the old Niland marina for the past four weeks while launching from Bombay Beach.

"For some reason," Garnett said, "the fish aren't biting as far north as the State Park."

Garnett did note, though, that many fishermen are catching good-sized corvina from shore in the same area he is fishing.

The corvina are biting live tilapia and plastic lures in seven to 14 feet of water while drifting. Garnett is continuing to catch and release undersized corvina and thinks this is proof the fish are still spawning.

At the south end of the Salton Sea, my son, Michael Kalin of Brawley, hooked a limit of large corvina this week while fishing from a small rowboat off the west point of Obsidian Butte in seven to 12 feet of water. Kalin was fly lining live tilapia without any weight. He reported the corvina hit as fast as he could bait his hook, starting at 6 a.m. in the morning. He said he had to quit when the combination of wind and fish moved his boat into deeper water too rough for the small rowboat.

Bombay Beach is still hot

By AL KALIN

Staff Columnist 7/26/02

Bombay Beach is still the only place on the Salton Sea where fishermen are having any luck catching corvina, according to Salton Sea guide Ray Garnett.

Garnett has been guiding customers to limits while fishing the area between Salt Creek and the old Niland marina for the past three weeks while launching from Bombay Beach.

The corvina are biting live tilapia and plastic lures in 7 to 14 feet of water. On days when there is no drift, Garnett is slowly trolling until he finds the school of fish and then casting soft plastic swimbaits or live tilapia.

Garnett also reports that he and his customers are catching as many as four undersized corvina per day that are less than 18 inches long. Undersized corvina must be released if they don't measure up.

The presence of small fish is good news and means there has been a successful spawn for the past two years.

OUTDOORS REPORT

By AL KALIN, Staff Columnist 7/19/02

Algae blooms have created green water and corvina have stopped biting all over the Salton Sea, with the exception of Bombay Beach where fishing has been good, according to Salton Sea guide Ray Garnett.

Garnett, who has been guiding customers to limits at Bombay Beach for more than two weeks, says the fishing action continues to be good.

"I'm usually back home by 10 a.m.," Garnett reported when asked just how good the fishing really was. The Salton Sea guide lives on the other side of the sea and must trailer his boat around the north end to reach home. That means he's getting limits for customers by 8 a.m. every morning.

Garnett is finding the corvina in 7 to 14 feet of water and drifting live tilapia until he finds the school. Customers are then switching to soft plastic lures or continue to use live bait to boat their limits.

The secret to Garnett's success is the proper rigging of a drift rig. Garnett rigs a very light sliding sinker like an egg sinker or worm sinker ranging from 1/8 ounce up to 3/8 ounce in front of a barrel swivel. He then attaches a 24-inch leader with a live bait hook that matches the size of his tilapia to the other end of the barrel swivel.

"You don't want the bait on the bottom in warm water," Garnett emphasized. "Instead, use just enough weight, depending on the wind and current, to keep the bait drifting one or two feet below the surface."

UPDATE: from Jim Penn of Penns Guide Service 7/14/02

Fish report for thurday-sat. 7-11-7-13 from penns guide service. Fished red hill Thursday from 7 till 1 for o fish and o bites. Green streaky water was prominent everywhere we went which included the sunken barge on the South and the basketball courts to the North. Went to Bombay after a rumor of some fish and more green water and no fish. Friday saw a carbon copy of Thursday with another trip to Bombay for nothing. Fishing was reported to be good in the morning at Bombay so the die hard clients said lets do it again on Saturday. Went to Bombay early sat. morning and finally caught five fish and lost three. Still tough fishing but at least some bites. It was over by ten am as we did not hook another fish when we left at three. Very similar to last year at this time as the fishing was very hit and miss with more miss than hit. No tilapia or croaker to be found still.

OUTDOORS REPORT: Corvina fishing grinds to a halt

By AL KALIN, Staff Columnist 7/12/02

So far this week corvina are hiding from the fishermen. Few fish are being caught even though there seems to be adequate areas of oxygen-rich brown water.

Red Hill Marina resident ranger Merrill Inglis reported very few boats were catching fish. Inglis told me one boat stayed out all day and came in at dark with only one corvina to show for 14 solid hours of fishing. Inglis also reported many fishermen are reporting finding large schools of corvina on their sonar units but the fish are not willing to bite.

Salton Sea guide Ray Garnett reports the only place he has been able to catch any corvina is at Bombay Beach fishing in 7 to 14 feet of water drifting live tilapia and casting soft plastic baits.

Garnett told me he is seeing an increasing number of salt marsh water boatman, an aquatic insect. In the past, according to Garnett, the water boatmen have become so thick in the Salton Sea his depth finder has been rendered useless as the sonar beam was unable to reach the bottom.

Salt marsh water boatmen have long "oar-like" legs that they use to propel themselves through the water in search of food. They feed on brine shrimp and algae. The water boatman does not have gills like brine shrimp. Instead, it must come to the surface where it captures a bubble of air under its wing to supply it with air while swimming and feeding under the water.

Some old-timers claim the appearance of boatman means poor fishing on the horizon while others think it's a good sign. In reality it probably signifies a lack of tilapia and croaker, which usually keep the boatman numbers in check.

July 05, 2002

OUTDOORS REPORT: More fish die in the Salton Sea

By AL KALIN, Staff columnist

Algae blooms continue to claim more fish. Last week Larry McGowan, assistant manager of the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge at the south end of the Salton Sea, told me there had been a large die-off of fingerling croaker.

Because of the lack of croaker and tilapia in the Salton Sea this year, pelican numbers are way down compared to previous years.

“During our weekly shore patrols we have not found one sick pelican yet,” explained McGowan.

Fishermen continue to land fish, although limits are few and far between from boats as well as from shore, and oxygen-rich brown water is hard to find. Swim Baits and live bait continue to be the top producers.

UPDATE: from Jim Penn of Penns Guide Service 7/3/02

Saturday saw good conditions and no wind out of red hill. Fished all day for 19 fish landed and as many lost. It was pretty good fishing off the observation tower and black rock and some fish at the old jetty. Sunday saw conditions deteriorate as the water was not the right color all the way from red hill to the new river. Fished the basketball courts around 1 and the water was definitely better there but only four fish on the day with four lost. Hope it gets good again as the last two weekends had over forty fish each day.

By AL KALIN, Staff Columnist 6/28/02

Despite algae blooms killing large corvina all around the Salton Sea, fishing continues to be good for fishermen who know where to look.

The top bait for fisherman this week has been live tilapia, when they can be found, and swim baits.

Large areas of green water have meant fishermen have had to drive around looking for the oxygen-rich brown-colored water before they can catch any fish.

Shore fishermen continue to do well while fishing early in the morning from the dikes at the end of Lack Road. Swim baits, wild-eye shad and swimmers continue to be top producers. Small baitfish near the shore seem to be holding the large corvina in the area.

It's thrilling to watch corvina push the baitfish to the surface, after which pelicans dive on the small baitfish pushing them back down to the corvina. More birds seem to be arriving daily to feed on the small fish.

Large croaker and tilapia are still absent from the scene as fishermen continue to wonder if they will ever make an appearance.

Fishermen launching from Red Hill Marina are doing well and many are boating limits while fishing off the old Red Hill jetty with swim baits, live tilapia and frozen mudsuckers.

While driving along the Lack Road dikes near shallow water less than 2 feet deep, I noticed large boils as huge corvina feed on smaller fish in the shallows. On Saturday I stopped and cast to where I saw a corvina boil and was rewarded with a vicious strike and a run of at least 145 yards. I know it was at least that long because that was how much line my reel held as the gigantic corvina spooled me and headed for Palm Springs. Many fishermen don't realize these big monsters will feed in water so shallow their backs stick out of the water at times.

If you would like to report your day afield, Al Kalin can be reached on the Internet at akalin@quix.net

June 21, 2002 By AL KALIN, Staff Columnist

Great fishing continued this past week at key points on the south end of the Salton Sea.

Early this week fishermen did well at the end of Lack Road casting wild eye shad, swim baits and mogambo grubs. Fish from 11 to 16 pounds hit best early in the morning.

During the hot bite pelicans could be seen diving on small bait fish. It was unknown if these were tilapia or croaker. However fisherman are now starting to catch croaker from the south end of the Salton Sea.

So far no tilapia are being taken and concern grows as fishermen wonder if they died off during this past winter when the water temperature dropped below 49 degrees Fahrenheit for a week.

Tuesday morning Allen Martin from Westmorland reported more than 25 large corvina caught from the end of Lack Road by fishermen casting wild eye shad in the mullet pattern. Martin hooked six of the large corvina but was only able to land two of them.

“The big corvina were swallowing the lures all the way down and cutting the fishing line with their teeth,” Martin said. “I finally retied with a steel leader and was able to land two of the monsters before the bite quit.”

Salton Sea fishing guides continue to do well at the northwest end of the Salton Sea, but fishermen from shore have been challenged by green tides along the shoreline.

If you would like to hire a guide for a day of fishing, three are now working from the north end of the Salton Sea. They are Ray Garnett at 395-5883, Richard Ordonez at 395-5755 and Penn’s Guide Service at 561-0043.

>> If you would like to report your day afield, Al Kalin can be reached on the Internet at akalin@quix.net

Corvina bite red hot at Obsidian Butte

By AL KALIN, Staff Columnist 6/14/02

Obsidian Butte was red hot last weekend as fishermen landed literally hundreds of large corvina casting live mudsuckers and soft plastic lures. Many of the anglers limited out by wading out to armpit-deep water to cast into deeper water, where the lunker corvina were holding. Other anglers reached the hot spot casting from shore. One fisherman was seen fishing from a surfboard while another was continually hooked up and being towed around while fishing from a belly-boat.

The key to using live mudsuckers is to use a fishing rig with a light egg sinker. After casting out, the fishermen should slowly retrieve the mudsucker along the bottom until a corvina picks up the bait and runs with it.

Salton Sea fishing guide Ray Garnett had a good week while guiding customers along the west side of the Salton Sea from the Navy Base, all the way north to Sandy Point as well as along the east side of the Salton Sea near the Salton Sea State Park. Garnett reported anglers catching limits of corvina using mudsuckers, tilapia and Mogambo grubs.

Garnett reported big patches of green water over parts of the Salton Sea and some fish die-offs. Garnett had to go looking for fish producing brown water on many mornings this past week.

Although average weight has been around 10 pounds, Garnett also reports catching numerous corvina down to 1 pound, which is good news to anglers wondering if the spawn was successful last year. The bad news is no croaker or tilapia are being caught or even spotted.

>> If you would like to report your day afield, Al Kalin can be reached on the Internet at akalin@quix.net

By AL KALIN, Staff Columnist 6/7/02

OUTDOORS REPORT: Corvina bite picks up all over Salton Sea

Salton Sea fishing guide Ray Garnett reported great catches last week while guiding customers along the west side of the Salton Sea from the Navy Base all the way north to Avenue 81. Garnett reported anglers catching limits of five big corvina each while out using mudsuckers, tilapia and swim baits.

Boats fishing out of Red Hill last week had a few bad days but strong currents brought in good water and limits were being caught early in the week by anglers fishing near Obsidian Butte, the Stick, at the end of the old Red Hill jetty, and the mouth of the Alamo. Anglers were using swim baits and mudsuckers to limit out.

Obsidian Butte was the hot spot early in the week as multiple anglers limited flinging mudsuckers and swim baits. Action off the dikes at the end of Lack Road and Young Road was fair with fishermen only reporting one or two fish each.

>> If you would like to report your day afield, Al Kalin can be reached on the Internet at akalin@quix.net

7/05/02: The corvina bite remains good from early morning until approximately 11 a.m. The fish are showing all around the sea, but good action along the whole east shoreline and down into the south end. Bombay Beach, Salt Creek, and Black Rock all good bets. The fish are from 8-0 to 15-0 with some occasionally bigger fish. Best bite on live tilapia and mudsuckers. Slow croaker action. For current fishing information, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755), Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760-354-1231), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

July 05, 2002

OUTDOORS REPORT: More fish die in the Salton Sea By AL KALIN, Staff columnist

Algae blooms continue to claim more fish. Last week Larry McGowan, assistant manager of the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge at the south end of the Salton Sea, told me there had been a large die-off of fingerling croaker.

Because of the lack of croaker and tilapia in the Salton Sea this year, pelican numbers are way down compared to previous years.

“During our weekly shore patrols we have not found one sick pelican yet,” explained McGowan. Fishermen continue to land fish, although limits are few and far between from boats as well as from shore, and oxygen-rich brown water is hard to find. Swim Baits and live bait continue to be the top producers.

6/28/02: Good corvina action north of Bombay Beach during the mornings and evenings. The fish are also showing along the shore at Salt Creek and the jetty area at state park headquarters headquarters. Good quality fish ranging from 8-0 to 10-0 are biting on mudsuckers, nightcrawlers, and plastic baits. Few croakers are showing along the shoreline mornings and late evenings. Best bite are on nightcrawlers and shrimp. For current fishing information, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755), Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760-354-1231), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

OUTDOORS REPORT

By AL KALIN, Staff Columnist

Despite algae blooms killing large corvina all around the Salton Sea, fishing continues to be good for fishermen who know where to look

. The top bait for fisherman this week has been live tilapia, when they can be found, and swim baits. Large areas of green water have meant fishermen have had to drive around looking for the oxygen-rich brown-colored water before they can catch any fish.

Shore fishermen continue to do well while fishing early in the morning from the dikes at the end of Lack Road. Swim baits, wild-eye shad and swimmers continue to be top producers. Small baitfish near the shore seem to be holding the large corvina in the area.

It’s thrilling to watch corvina push the baitfish to the surface, after which pelicans dive on the small baitfish pushing them back down to the corvina. More birds seem to be arriving daily to feed on the small fish.

Large croaker and tilapia are still absent from the scene as fishermen continue to wonder if they will ever make an appearance.

Fishermen launching from Red Hill Marina are doing well and many are boating limits while fishing off the old Red Hill jetty with swim baits, live tilapia and frozen mudsuckers.

While driving along the Lack Road dikes near shallow water less than 2 feet deep, I noticed large boils as huge corvina feed on smaller fish in the shallows. On Saturday I stopped and cast to where I saw a corvina boil and was rewarded with a vicious strike and a run of at least 145 yards. I know it was at least that long because that was how much line my reel held as the gigantic corvina spooled me and headed for Palm Springs. Many fishermen don’t realize these big monsters will feed in water so shallow their backs stick out of the water at times.

6/21/02: The corvina bite remains good early and late in the day. The fish are showing all around the sea, but the east shoreline from North Shore to Bombay Beach has been the best area. The fish are from 8-0 to 16-0, occasionally bigger, and showing on live tilapia, mudsuckers, and swimbaits. The fish have mostly been shallow, in five to eight feet of water. Preston Dungey, Salton Sea Beach, landed a 14-11 corvina using tilapia as bait. Rick Hogeland, Mike Taix, and Art Stanman, all Burbank, had limits of corvina to 15-0 fishing off Mecca Beach and Salt Creek on swimbaits. Harold Henriksen, Riverside, had a limit of corvina to 15-0 fishing from a float tube at Salt Creek with swimbaits. For current fishing information, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755), Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760-354-1231), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

June 21, 2002 OUTDOORS REPORT

By AL KALIN, Staff Columnist Great fishing continued this past week at key points on the south end of the Salton Sea. Early this week fishermen did well at the end of Lack Road casting wild eye shad, swim baits and mogambo grubs. Fish from 11 to 16 pounds hit best early in the morning.

During the hot bite pelicans could be seen diving on small bait fish. It was unknown if these were tilapia or croaker. However fisherman are now starting to catch croaker from the south end of the Salton Sea. So far no tilapia are being taken and concern grows as fishermen wonder if they died off during this past winter when the water temperature dropped below 49 degrees Fahrenheit for a week. Tuesday morning Allen Martin from Westmorland reported more than 25 large corvina caught from the end of Lack Road by fishermen casting wild eye shad in the mullet pattern. Martin hooked six of the large corvina but was only able to land two of them.

“The big corvina were swallowing the lures all the way down and cutting the fishing line with their teeth,” Martin said. “I finally retied with a steel leader and was able to land two of the monsters before the bite quit.” Salton Sea fishing guides continue to do well at the northwest end of the Salton Sea, but fishermen from shore have been challenged by green tides along the shoreline.

If you would like to hire a guide for a day of fishing, three are now working from the north end of the Salton Sea. They are Ray Garnett at 395-5883, Richard Ordonez at 395-5755 and Penn’s Guide Service at 561-0043.

6/14/02: Good action on corvina. The action has been best all over the sea, but especially the Highway 111 side. The action has been an early morning, afternoon event, and the fish are still mostly quality -- running from 8-0 to 15-0 on average, with some to 30-0 again this week. Live bait, such as mudsuckers and tilapia, have been best, but worms and swimbaits are also good. Improving action on croaker and tilapia all around the sea, but still well below normal. Wayne Meyer, San Bernardino, caught a 12-0 corvina out of Salton Sea Beach. For current fishing information, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755), Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760-354-1231), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

June 14, 2002

Corvina bite red hot at Obsidian Butte

By AL KALIN, Staff Columnist

Obsidian Butte was red hot last weekend as fishermen landed literally hundreds of large corvina casting live mudsuckers and soft plastic lures. Many of the anglers limited out by wading out to armpit-deep water to cast into deeper water, where the lunker corvina were holding. Other anglers reached the hot spot casting from shore. One fisherman was seen fishing from a surfboard while another was continually hooked up and being towed around while fishing from a belly-boat.

The key to using live mudsuckers is to use a fishing rig with a light egg sinker. After casting out, the fishermen should slowly retrieve the mudsucker along the bottom until a corvina picks up the bait and runs with it. Salton Sea fishing guide Ray Garnett had a good week while guiding customers along the west side of the Salton Sea from the Navy Base, all the way north to Sandy Point as well as along the east side of the Salton Sea near the Salton Sea State Park. Garnett reported anglers catching limits of corvina using mudsuckers, tilapia and Mogambo grubs.

Garnett reported big patches of green water over parts of the Salton Sea and some fish die-offs. Garnett had to go looking for fish producing brown water on many mornings this past week.

Although average weight has been around 10 pounds, Garnett also reports catching numerous corvina down to 1 pound, which is good news to anglers wondering if the spawn was successful last year. The bad news is no croaker or tilapia are being caught or even spotted.

5/30/02First 100-plus temperature day was Wednesday this week, and the corvina bite has been good much of the past week. Not huge stringers of fish, but the quality has been exceptional this year. Few reports of fish under 8-0 and a lot 12- to 16-pounders. In the Salton Sea Beach Corvina Derby, 92 anglers fished the event which was won by a 16-15 caught by Rick Otto, San Bernardino. Steve Roberts, Upland, was in second with a 16-12. The best action off the west side of the sea has been up in the Avenues area around the snags and off Johnson's Landing. On the east side, there have been good reports from the North Shore Jetty to Bombay Beach, where there was a pretty good bite at first light on Wednesday. Lots of 15 to 18 pounders reported, and there was a report of a 30-pounder at Mecca Beach over the weekend. Red Hill has been fair, but nothing under 10 pounds has been reported. Best action has been on live tilapia, mudsuckers (when available), Fish Trap swim baits, and the new Storm Wild Eye bait in golden mullet or bluegill colors. Gary Luker, Calimesa, caught a 20-pound corvina at Bombay Beach along with three croaker. The croaker bite is starting to improve in many areas, but still just fair, at best. No reports of tilapia or sargo this week. The North Shore marina is currently closed for construction work. For current fishing information, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755), Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760-354-1231), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

5/10/02 The corvina action has continued fair to good this past week, but not as good as the previous week. Many of the corvina being caught are still quality fish from 10-0 to 15-0, but the bite has been more sporadic. Best spots have been Salt Creek on the east side, the mouth of the New River in the south, and off Johnson's Landing on the west. Tilapia and mudsuckers (which were first delivered to bait shops this past weekend) are the best baits, but tilapia-like swim baits and the new Storm Lure are also good. Croaker and tilapia are still very slow, but a few sargo are showing. The North Shore marina is currently closed for construction work. For current fishing information, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755), Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760-354-1231), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

5/3/02 The corvina action has continued good over much of the sea with many anglers getting limits of 8-0 to 15-0 fish, mostly on live tilapia, nightcrawlers, or the new Storm lures. Boat anglers have been having much better success than shore fishermen. David Sena, San Bernardino, and Steve Park, Redlands, caught limits of corvina, keeping no fish under 8-0. The pair were slow-trolling rainbow trout-pattern Storm lures off North Shore. There have been good reports this week from North Shore, off Desert Shores and Salton City to Bombay Beach. One first-time sea angler had a 66-pound limit out of Bombay. Sargo, croaker, and tilapia are all slow. The North Shore marina is currently closed for construction work. For current fishing information, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755), Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760-354-1231), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

4/26/02 The corvina action really took off over the weekend with excellent catches reported from a number of locations around the sea. David Humphrey, Ontario, and Gary Wiederspan, Pedley, had 10 fish Saturday that weighed just over 100 pounds, including a 16-pounder and four over 14 pounds. The pair were fishing from Bombay Beach up to Salt Creek trolling swimbaits in six to eight feet of water. Humphrey went back Monday with Rick Oulett, Ontario, and the pair had eight fish. Humphrey's five fish weighed 66 pounds and included fish at 20-0, 15-0, 14-8, 8-8 and 8-0. Steve Park, Redlands, and David Sena, San Bernardino, limited out in two fishing off North Shore in the 12-foot cartopper boat using the new Storm lures in golden mullet color. The 10 fish weighed up to 12 pounds, and the pair released anything 7-0 or under. There have been reports from the North Shore jetty of corvina up to 25 pounds caught. On the west side, the best action has been from Bombay Beach to the Dome with anglers using tilapia minnows or nightcrawlers for fish to 18 pounds. Few anglers reporting many fish under six pounds. Still slowish fishing for croaker, tilapia, and sargo, but some improvement over last week. The North Shore marina is currently closed for construction work. For current fishing information, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755), Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760-354-1231), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

4/19/02 Just fair action through the weekend on corvina, and winds on the east and south ends early this week shut down the bite. But on Wednesday, the action was back on, especially in the south off Bombay Beach and along the west shore from Salton Sea Beach to Desert shores. Several anglers reported limits, and most fish are 9-0 to 12-0. The best bite has been on tilapia minnows and the new Storm lure that looks like a tilapia. Tim Schroeder and his brother fished Red Hill and caught corvina at 12-0, 9-0, 7-0, 7-0, and 6-0 fish over the weekend in a fair bite. Still slow fishing for croaker, tilapia, and sargo. The North Shore marina is currently closed for construction work. For current fishing information, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755), Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760-354-1231), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

4/11/02 There has been a general improvement in the corvina action all around the sea this week. The action is not wide open, but there have been sporadic good bites. For example, on Tuesday, two anglers fishing off the Salton Sea Beach marina jetty caught 12 fish from 6-0 to 8-0 on nightcrawlers in an afternoon bite. On Wednesday, Jose Yonfong, La Quinta, landed a 11-12 corvina off the North Shore jetty at the state park, and he lost two others while fishing with spoons. At Bombay Beach, both jetty and boat anglers are getting a few fish from 7 to 16 pounds. At Red Hill, there has been a few fish showing since Monday when six boats reported taking 24 fish. Only five fish were reported for six boats Wednesday, however. All of the fish are quality corvina mostly from 8 to 18 pounds. Thinfins, Hopkins spoons, and live tilapia minnows are the best baits. The tilapia, croaker, and sargo bites are all still slow, but a few croaker were reported this week for shore anglers off the state park and Salton Sea Beach area. The North Shore marina is currently closed for construction work. For current fishing information, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755), Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760-354-1231), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

4/5/02 The corvina started to show last Friday off Bombay Beach with some fish across at the Target for boat anglers, and by Saturday and Sunday the bite was pretty good for both boat and shore anglers in the Bombay area fishing mudsuckers, nightcrawlers and Thinfins. But by Monday, the bite seemed to dry up and there hasn't bee a lot of action since. Most of the corvina caught were from nine to 16 pounds. Warming weather is bound to kick this bite into gear again. The croaker, tilapia, and sargo bites are also dead still. The North Shore marina is currently closed for construction work. For current fishing information on this bite, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212) or Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). Other good sources include, Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760-354-1231), Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

4/1/02 Winds and cold weather dropped the water temperature throughout the sea and kept the corvina bite to nothing this past week. The croaker and tilapia bites are also dead still. The North Shore marina is currently closed for construction work. For current fishing information on this bite, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212) or Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). Other good sources include, Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231, Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

3/22/02 Winds and cold weather dropped the water temperature throughout the sea and kept the corvina bite to nothing this past week. The croaker and tilapia bites are also dead still. But it was nearly 90 degrees on Wednesday and a few days of those temperatures will warm up the sea quickly and things should kick into gear again. For current fishing information on this bite, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212) or Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). Other good sources include, Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231, Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

3/15/02 The corvina action has remained slow this past week with blustery, windy weather at mid-week. Water temperatures are still low even with the warm days. It's just a matter of time before the bite breaks open again. For current fishing information on this bite, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212) or Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). Other good sources include, Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231, Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

3/7/02 The corvina action has remained slow this past week. Water temperatures are still low even with the warm days. It's just a matter of time before the bite breaks open again. For current fishing information on this bite, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212) or Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). Other good sources include, Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231, Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

3/1/02 The corvina action has remained slow this past week. Water temperatures are still low even with the warm days. It's just a matter of time before the bite breaks open again. For current fishing information on this bite, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212) or Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). Other good sources include, Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231, Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

2/22/02 The corvina action has remained slow this past week. But with the warmer weather and improving moon phase, that simply can't last much longer. There have been some reports of boat anglers seeing a little action on trolled lures off the Target area, but most anglers have had very slow fishing. For current fishing information on this bite, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212) or Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). Other good sources include, Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231, Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

2/15/02 The corvina action has remained slow this past week. Last week's cool, windy weather chilled the bite and it has just not come back on even with the nice weather and the new moon early this week. All other bites are also slow. The last time the corvina action was good, the bite was all on trolled large red Thinfins from the Dome toward Salton City with most of the fish over 10 pounds, but it has been over two weeks since that bite was popping. For current fishing information on this bite, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212) or Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). Other good sources include, Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231, Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

2/8/02 The corvina action has remained off much of the past week. Blame with winds last week and the moon phase this week. Weather permitting, most locals believe the bite will turn back on off the west shoreline as we head into next Wednesday's new moon. This bite has been good for anglers trolling large red Thinfins from the Dome toward Salton City with most of the fish over 10 pounds. Other species and other locations have remained very slow. For current fishing information on this bite, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212) or Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). Other good sources include, Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231, Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

2/2/02 High winds Tuesday and Wednesday shut down the corvina action on the west shoreline, but the bite had been good until the recent storm front pushed through. The best bite has been for anglers trolling large red Thinfins down from Dome toward Salton City. The fish have been averaging 12 to 13 pounds with a lot of fish in the 15-pound range and some bigger. Other species and other locations are slow, however. For current fishing information on this bite, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212) or Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). Other good sources include, Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231, Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

1/25/02 The corvina bite is very good for anglers trolling large red Thinfins down from Dome toward Salton City. The fish have been averaging 12 to 13 pounds with a lot of fish in the 15-pound range and some bigger. With good weather, this bite should continue through the full moon on Monday. Lots of limits reported in the past few days. Other species and other locations are slow, however. For current fishing information on this bite, call Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212) or Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). Other good sources include, Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180, Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231, Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), and the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

1/18/02 The corvina bite improved again this past week for anglers trolling Thinfins at the Dome between Salton City and Salton Sea Beach. But there continues to be light fishing pressure and few reports. Shore anglers are not reporting any success. For current fishing information, call Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180 or Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231. You can also check with one of the marinas: Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052), Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), and Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

12/28/01 There was a downturn in the corvina action over the weekend, but the bite has been improving again this week, and several boats out of Johnson's Landing reported getting some corvina while trolling Thinfins off the west shoreline of the sea. The action had been pretty good off Salton Sea Beach, Salton City, Desert Shores and out of Johnson Landing, but the pressure was light in recent days. Slow shore action, and few reports on other species. For current fishing information, call Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180 or Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231. You can also check with one of the marinas: Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052), Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), and Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

12/14/01 The corvina bite broke this past week for anglers trolling Thinfins off Johnson's Landing between the old yacht club and the golf course. With light fishing pressure, it has been tough to get reports, but this bite has been consistent for several days on fish in the 28- to 30-inch range. It has been described as "wide open." No reports from other areas. For current fishing information, call Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180 or Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231. You can also check with one of the marinas: Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052), Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), and Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.

12/11/01 While there have been very few anglers fishing this past week, most of the reports point to much slower fishing. Locals expected the action to improve with the nicer weather and the new moon, but that hadn't materialized by Wednesday. Prior to the downturn there had been a fair to good bite for anglers trolling Thinfins between the Dome and Salton City with fish to 17-0 reported. For current fishing information, call Poor Richard's in Mecca at (760) 396-2180 or Dean Marine in Bombay Beach at (760) 354-1231. You can also check with one of the marinas: Red Hill Marina (760-348-2310), Bombay Beach Marina (760-354-4049), the Salton Sea State Recreation Area (760-393-3059 or 760-393-3052), Salton Sea Beach Marina (760-395-5212), and Johnson's Landing (760-394-4755). For weather information, call (760) 352-3360 for a recording, or the Coachella Valley Water District's weather forecast at (760) 398-7211. Anglers fishing the sea use Citizen Band (CB) radios and tune to Channel 1.