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Back in the early 80s, I transferred for the company I worked for to Blythe Calif.
Got to know the couple across the street pretty well and Smitty introduced me to bass fishing {and Diawa thumb burners, Ugly Sticks and never passing up a new lure} . He had a boat and we had many good fishing trips on the Colorado and it's back waters. The one trip that stands out was in a backwater down by Cibola, a ways to go from Blythe but always worth it. Smitty cast just to the edge of the cattails and his lure was hit with an explosion. I reeled in my line and watched for a few seconds until Smitty's lure hit the side of the boat. Smitty told me to cast my lure to the same spot . It was hit within a second of touching the water with the same force as Smitty's was nailed. He was giving me directions as to how much to pull/not pull/keep the rod tip up/lower it a bit etc until my lure hit the side of the boat. Smitty had tied on a new lure {never, never use snap swivels , they break and bend Smitty used to say}, and he cast to the last spot the fish was known to be. I looked at my lure and the treble hook had two of the hooks bent straight. I looked at the lure Smitty had been using and it had one of the hooks bent the same way. Smitty fought that fish while I tied another lure on and I waited for just a bit until his line went limp. I then cast to the last known location af the fish{?} with no results. Smitty's lure was gone. We cast back and forth all around the spot for a half hour with no results. Went back a week later and caught some fish but nothing of size to speak of {3# is a nice large mouth around there}. Talking to the guys around the bait shop nearest Cibola, it seems every once in a while a stripper will find it's way into a backwater and just hang out and live on the easy prey it finds there. The biggest stripper I saw {from the Colorado} was a 36 pounder. There are some big flathead catfish in the river too {50+lbs} so it could have been one. The last time I talked to Smitty, he had gone back there a dozen or so times and never even got a nibble within twenty yards of that spot.
Got to know the couple across the street pretty well and Smitty introduced me to bass fishing {and Diawa thumb burners, Ugly Sticks and never passing up a new lure} . He had a boat and we had many good fishing trips on the Colorado and it's back waters. The one trip that stands out was in a backwater down by Cibola, a ways to go from Blythe but always worth it. Smitty cast just to the edge of the cattails and his lure was hit with an explosion. I reeled in my line and watched for a few seconds until Smitty's lure hit the side of the boat. Smitty told me to cast my lure to the same spot . It was hit within a second of touching the water with the same force as Smitty's was nailed. He was giving me directions as to how much to pull/not pull/keep the rod tip up/lower it a bit etc until my lure hit the side of the boat. Smitty had tied on a new lure {never, never use snap swivels , they break and bend Smitty used to say}, and he cast to the last spot the fish was known to be. I looked at my lure and the treble hook had two of the hooks bent straight. I looked at the lure Smitty had been using and it had one of the hooks bent the same way. Smitty fought that fish while I tied another lure on and I waited for just a bit until his line went limp. I then cast to the last known location af the fish{?} with no results. Smitty's lure was gone. We cast back and forth all around the spot for a half hour with no results. Went back a week later and caught some fish but nothing of size to speak of {3# is a nice large mouth around there}. Talking to the guys around the bait shop nearest Cibola, it seems every once in a while a stripper will find it's way into a backwater and just hang out and live on the easy prey it finds there. The biggest stripper I saw {from the Colorado} was a 36 pounder. There are some big flathead catfish in the river too {50+lbs} so it could have been one. The last time I talked to Smitty, he had gone back there a dozen or so times and never even got a nibble within twenty yards of that spot.
Bob
