An actual salton sea report 4/3/12
 

I took my girls to visit my mom in AZ and on the way back, kind for for old times sake, I stopped by the salton sea. I haven't been out there in like 10 years, basicly since the orange mouth corvina died out. Every one says that place is dead and a cess pool, yadda yadda. We went to the state park head quarters near North Shore and fished off the jetty. It wasn't wide open but the tilapia were on. I just kept baiting hooks and casting out and letting my 10 and 12 year olds do the landing. The fish were maybe 1/2 to a bit over 1 lb and just fish tank pretty. Every thing that can make the sea nasty was absent. 85 degrees, light wind, no smell, no flys, nice fishing biting, and maybe 10 species of fish eating birds all getting thier share. 5$ bucks for day use and $20 to camp. I spoke with a regular that had read the recent fish and game report on the sea. Sadly there are only tilapia left but the estimate is there are 33 million of them in there. No pics-girls ran my camera battery dead before we got there. I know its a long report but I do love that wierd ass place. Mike

Still sounds like it was a blast for them
Sad how that lake has gone down though

I took my son out there as is first fishing experience. I did not want him to get skunked the first time out.

it is a sad sight out there, it was weird walking the beach stepping on dried out fish bodies everywhere..

He still have a good time though.http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._7808944_n.jpg

priceless
 

thanks for report:reel:

wow the good old days.....hot dry winds, sewer smell, torns, fishbones, and scotching heat, but paradise when you land 20lb+ corvina :) still remember the time I gave my 7year old nephew an ultra light setup so he can fish them tilipia. Uncle Uncle I caught a rock can you unstuck it for me. Sure....as soon as he handed it to me sucker spooled me. That thing took off like a yellowfin.

That's cool! Shoot, a stringer full of 1/2 - 1lb'ers would make a good BBQ!

Love that place, Still has some real good duck and goose hunting on the south end.

I went there last year about this time with the kayaks and caught a bunch of those tilapia...and whudya know they're really not that bad...they actually tasted good! It's not halibut or tuna but it they were surprisingly not disgusting!

As far as fishing went, I found that the further you got away from shore the less fish there seem to be. Seemed like all the fish were in really shallow, up real tight to the beach. I was thinking we would probably kill'em if we paddled out a little but we just ended up catching nothing until we got close to shore.

Hotter than hell out there!!!! But beautiful....in a post apocalyptic way!

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMGP0296.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMGP0298.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMGP0297.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMGP0300.jpg

theres some monster flatheads in there too. not the main lake but the south end where the river comes in.

Flatheads??

Catfish. AKA Shovelheads.

flatheads, shovelheads, yellowcat. whatever they call them were your from. Flathead and channel catfish feed on the tilapia at the river mouth and just below the spillway where the water is fresh/brakish. thats one of the spots im going to hit this summer. i know some over 60lbs have come from that off shoot of the river.

I would release those flat heads your talking about, the new river and the alamo river come from mexico. The only 2 rivers in the US that flow from south to north. Hit the High line canal if you want cats to eat.

I am not a geography nerd, but I believe the Monongahela River flows south to north emptying into the Ohio River. Don't ask why I know this, someone once told me "its the only river in the US that flows south to north"! I must be bored!

Guess you better not eat those tilapia either . Pretty sure it flows out of the canal though. Google maps is your friend.

Good to hear it's clean now....I was there 5yrs ago and it sewer stunk....dead fish on the beach so I didn't fish.
I did steal some Medjool dates off the palms...so delicious.

went there same time last year.. it was hot as hell. no smell yet. but the tilapia were starting to die off. i saw HUGE boils and casted into them for nothing. chased down the schools later on and found out it was just a bunch of dying tilapia gasping for air.

That's so sad I remember so many years ago I would always read great fish reports from there and now you never hear anything but death sickness
it's just like the the reeper has walked across that water

i guess thats what happens to man made waterways that don't get properly taken care of. if they (dont really know who "they are" dredged it and pumped more water from the duct in there and designated a run off, maybe transplanted some type of aquatic plant to create oxygen and get the cycle going that place could boom in about 3 years.

Heading out to the Salton Sea tomorrow with the crew. Fishing both shore & kayaks.

Should be a fun time. Hopefully the bigger Talapias are out to play with light line.

Let us know how it goes out there im thinkn about heading out there again soon myself. Good luck!

One of the main reasons (established by numerous studies) for the poor conditions of salton sea is the fertelizer and pestecide runoff from the surrunding farming activity.

Ask yourself where your cheap ass vegetables come from? They got no business farming in the middle of the desert. Yes, they do get three crop rotations a year but its at the cost of very expensive water and high runoff.

That place used to rock, even had some guide services that would slam some huge corvina.

Have fun out there. Stay cool.:D

Aside from the fertilizer over load the Sea also has not outlet. It is a couple 100 feet below sealevel after all. Slightly salty ag runoff goes in and the only way water can leave is through evaporation. The salt stays behind and the salinity rises. Think the dead sea and the great salt lake. It's a matter of time. Adding more water will postpone the hyper salinity but the only way to save the Sea would be to remove the salt. Not likely. They stocked sargo, mullet, corvina, gulf croaker, and eveidently they even tried totoava. The tilapia were put in to the ag run off creeks to eat plants and insects. That may be why they are the only fish left. During years when the sea is in bad condition there is a always a population up in the creeks. When things improve they can recolonize the sea. With about unlimited space and food and thier crazey reproductive rate they can really boom in there. Mike

Just got back from the good ol Salton Sea.

WFO Talapia most of the afternoon.

1/2-1lb fishes.

Super fun light tackle fishing on the yaks thats for sure!

Small split shot + drift was the key on the yaks.

Cool! ......aww common....no pictures????:confused: Thanks for the report though!!! :luxhello: Good to hear those tilapia are still biting!!!

Barely took any pics, sorry guys. Didnt want the electronics to catch salt. My avatar pic is from the trip though haha.

King, where were you? I'd like to find some fish on the west side of the sea and not have to drive around to the east side. Mike

We fished the North Shore. If you google "Salton Sea Recreational State Park" youll find the address and itll take you to that spot. After going thru the SSRSP gate youll make a left. Then go all the way straight down till the end of the road and make a right. You cant miss it.

I'm think'n of jamm'n out to the desert this weekend probably on sunday....we'll see about those tilapia....I'll make sure to take some pictures for everyones entertainment...!:D

I might be out there this Sunday as well, not bringing the yaks though :'(