Imperial Valley catfishing

[blb]

The Flathead fishery in the Imperial Valley is pretty much untapped.
There are hundred and hundreds of big beautiful catfish holes that have never had a bait dropped in them.

Here is one my 85 year old Dad pulled out of a drain not long ago.

55lbs

[Captain Morgan]

Nice Cat!

[lewisclan]

Nice flatty

[pura vida]

Nice fish, and Thank you for releasing her

[Aggro]

I just go by what the regulations say (see upthread)....some people say you can only use them in the body of water in which they were caught...but the reg doesn't say that, except about using carp for bait, which it specifically calls out. If it specifies that about carp, it would specify it about the other fish as well. Also, there are a couple of stores down here that sell live goldfish and shiners for bait and have the DFG permits to do so. If they can sell bait that comes from suppliers in the Sierra Nevada's, I have a hard time understanding why one couldn't use bait caught in local waters. And finally, being as how every single drop of water in the Imperial Valley comes from the Colorado River, I would argue that it's ALL the same body of water, just different branches....

Looks like they changed it in 2010. Stupid reg to begin with as sunnies make great bait for just about anything. Some bodies of water have so many they are stunted.

[gonefshng]

great job, thanks!

[Werfless]

I definitely prefer using carp, either live, strip or chunk.. big fish can be had out there on a 12 inch live carp..