Any info on the Sea would be greatly appreciated. Conditions to expect? Water temp? Best Moon phase? Baits? Locations to try? Time of Day? Is early morning, as in dark, generally ok? Is it worth leaving at 2am to get there a couple hours before sunrise?....

Thanks, Amish Ed
You Can't Catch it again if
it's Dead!

Amish Ed
You can't catch it again if it's dead!

Hey Amished,

I've fished salton sea twice in the last week, and here is all of the dope i can pass on. As far as baits are concerned, there are a couple of colors that are working REALLY well, the number one producer has been something similar to the chartreuse grunion of big hammer fame, except with a reddish orange belly. I don't know if you have ever heard of MC swimbaits but they have this color (my buddy proceeded to outfish me and another guy 2 to 1 using this color). The salton sea special has worked, as well as the generic brown baits with red bellys. I also caught some of my larger fish on the BH silver sardine as well. As far as the natural baits are concerned the baby tilapia warranted quite a few bites, but just a heads up, I was talking to the game warden and she said that you can net baby tilapia, and use them for bait, but you are not allowed to catch them and then proceed to use them for bait (go figure). Don't be afraid to try rattletraps, krocodiles, and the storm lures that are available at wal-mart, shoot for the ones that look like little tilapia, basically be experimental. Fishing is tough at the sea, yesterday it was about 95 or so, and that can be a drag.........I would say that we averaged 1 fish for 35 or so casts.

As far as fishing in the dark is concerned, I'm not sure if that would be productive or not, there has been many a day where i have fished the grey lite bite, with pretty good results. But from recent experience the afternoon bite is quite a hot one, with some of the bigger units waking up to play (15-17lb fish). The fish in the morning are all pretty much carbon copies of one another 8-10lbs and mean.

As far as the as the water is concerned we look for the chocolate brown water, the lighter green stuff es no bueno. We have been traveling to the 111 side namely salton sea state beach, (the entry fee is two bucks), after entry you turn left and go down about a quater mile turn right and head towards a puny little rock jetty (you ought to see a few people standing on it, feel free to squeeze right in :) ). If you're going to fish from the yak, i'd probably try the same area, because there were also some boats in the area making it look pretty easy.

I also responded to your response to my original post, sorry it took so long but I don't check this site every day, its usaully every two days or thereabouts.


Good Luck if you go....

Thanks for all the info. Any idea what the water temp is? When, and from what direction the wind predominates from? Thanks again.

Amish Ed
You Can't Catch it again if
it's Dead!

Amish Ed
You can't catch it again if it's dead!

I went to the sea again yesterday (04/24) and I would guess that the water temp is about 70 degrees or better, that's just my guess, as far as the wind is concerned yesterday it blew from the north, but it also rained yesterday (although that had no effect on the fishing :). But on regular days the wind seems to blow out of the south-south west. If you have'nt gotten out there yet go!!!! its a total blast, i won't bore you with the details but i scored 12 fish yesterday to 14-8.


Well I hope this helps.


Tight Lines...........

These corvina sound like a lot of fun. You mentioned generic brown baits with reddish bellies along with orange being another good color. Have you tried the Big Hammer Red Calico Hunter II (#52)? It is a brown bait with a red flake belly but has an "orangish" middle stripe.

Hey leapin bass,


I have not tried that specific color but the "gold orange flash" #33, and the purple brown bait #50 were the hot baits yesterday... the gold orange flash is very similar to the Red Calico color you suggested and I'm sure it will "git bit", I'll give it a shot on the next trip I make out there... As far as the corvina are concerned, IMO they are the most fun fish I have EVER caught, I guess one would compare their acrobatics to snook or tarpon, they are one tough fish...Nothing much compares to their violent reaction after being hooked....


Tight lines............

I love acrobatic fish - I've had a couple seabass get airborne but no halibut yet :)

Thanks guys. My friend had to backout on the trip (bummer), but I'm still hitting it. I'll post afterwards.

Amish Ed
You Can't Catch it again if
it's Dead!

Amish Ed
You can't catch it again if it's dead!