Salton Sea morning Hunt

Big Jim

Active Member
Aug 6, 2015
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Had a great time, first trip this season to the good ol mud pond. ended up with 7 by 11am. spooney and Lesser Scaup. heck I was shooting more than wister.
 

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Nice work big , Big Jim . Its good to think outside the refuge . Now is Salton sea open for ducks all over , or just a few spots ?
 
I have been hunting the red hill area for 30 plus years, im not sure about the rest of the sea but i do know know the area off of pound is good to hunt, pretty shallow but the area i hunt is to the left of the hazard unit over the Alamo river bridge, the pond on the left is all fresh water surrounded by toolies, loaded with carp, over the years we have built a few blinds on it. its really shallow, i have a jon boat with a long shaft mud motor which scoots me pretty good. i was the only hunter there on Saturday.
 
here's the area by red hill. a boat is a must. mud is too deep to retrieve a downed bird and in my opinion not to dog friendly. I do see guys there with dogs I just prefer not to let mine go in it.
 

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If you look close you can see the dam we built! It's holding water, it's up 3" more this season! :)

Big Jim you stay at Red Hill?
 
Not lately since the launch is gone, I stay right by the old timmer and his motorhome on the jetty road, I have a 29' motorhome but Saturday I drove down for the day. and yes the dam is working well, I looked at it on Saturday, almost didn't need my mud motor, my buddy was able get on plane with his outboard for the first time. next time you go down to work on the dam call me 951-970-9240 and I would love to help. on another note I drove by the big blind to the right of the jetty launch, the water is up as you said 3 to 4", his drive under garage is now so low he will have a hard time getting into it.
 
The old timer is Ron great guy. Only work now is smashing toolies around the blinds, will be doing that on Saturday and goose hunting on Sunday! :)
 
I met his hunting partner Jerry on Saturday, they fell in love with my boat, you may have seen it, a 10' jon boat with palm prawns surrounding it, long shaft mud skipper on it, im pretty much a floating bush. lol
 
Yeah, I met Jerry, He has a Hobbie pro angler kayak he hunts out of. Seen him the last 2 openers, he hunted one of the blinds I built last years opener.

What kind of motor do you have on your jon boat? California mud motor? How many horses?

Have seen some younger guys out the last couple of times in a boat you are describing. Drive a white ford or chevy lifted 4x4.
 
My motor is a predator 212cc with a mud skipper long shaft kit. it does pretty ok with 2 guys in the boat. pretty much an over sized lawn mower with a 7" prop, equal to a 7HP. you can see the motor in the back ground of my selfie.
 

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I met an old guy down ther named captain Ron. See him every year. Probably same guy.
 
Great pictures . Now in the lake photo it looks like 3 lakes 2 small 1 large . Is that all public . And a no ticket area , parking cool ? Camping ok ? That looks like your own private Idaho !!! Do duck boats need a CF number . I have a small boat , would the lake be too big to row around in or push with a pole , Big lake looks too large .
 
Slayersmith said:
The old timer is Ron great guy. Only work now is smashing toolies around the blinds, will be doing that on Saturday and goose hunting on Sunday! :)

Ron from Alaska....................... ;D


ps...........I love "Spoonie Bay".......... ;)
 
Slayersmith said:
Yeah, I met Jerry, He has a Hobbie pro angler kayak he hunts out of. Seen him the last 2 openers, he hunted one of the blinds I built last years opener.

What kind of motor do you have on your jon boat? California mud motor? How many horses?

Have seen some younger guys out the last couple of times in a boat you are describing. Drive a white ford or chevy lifted 4x4.
I hope you don't mind me butting in to your thread, but the hobie pro caught my ear. I know a lot of guys who ocean fish from them and from what I have heard they do require a little skill to maneuver. I was considering getting one as a cross platform vessel for fishing and hunting, but am not sure how difficult it would be to hunt from them. Do you know if it is difficult? I am a big guy (6ft 270) and don't have great balance. I know there are not a lot of big guys fishing from them. Can you get good cover with them, or just rely on pass shooting? It is either get that or a beavertail, not sure if you are familiar with those. The beavertail won't do the ocean though so it would be nice to have only one boat if possible.
 
Big Jim will keep an eye out for you and say hi when I see you. Perfect little set up for the back bay.

Dhun48 all public, free camping, any boat with a motor needs CF # even trolling motors...nobody checks at the sea though :) Lots of old blinds not being used, bring brush up material and hunt. If you see a brushed up blind it will probably be hunted on the weekend for sure!

Steve...yep Ron From Alaska. Not as many spoonies in the bay last few years, they pretty much stay on the sea now.

Masterblaster get a boat :) The PA is great for fishing in the ocean and maybe brush it up for sneaking up on the geese rafting up on the sea stealth mode. Pretty hard to tip it over, go to OEX and demo one before you buy. I have an Ocean Kayak called the ambush I will sell you $350.00 google it. Basically a 2 man kayak that you can put a trolling motor on, real stable you will fall out before you flip it over.
 
Aaron,

I've noticed that too about the spoonies......The water in the old "Spoonie Bay" was very brackish and would have 1000's of birds on it.....Now that it is mostly fresh water, hardly a bird.....Don't get it..... ???
 

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Steve,

Not sure why either. Guys on the sea still shoot lots of them. Thinking the new red hill bay restoration ponds will hold lots of spoons with the mixed sea water and Alamo river water.

Teal are the main bird in the back bay now.
 
I remember 15 to 20 years ago spoonies and teal were thick when it was sea fed, now days you never know what you will find, I was excited to see the divers in there Saturday, saw roughly 50 redheads that wouldn't cooperate and the teal were non existent, a few snows came over at 50+ yards, just watched them fly by. my 2-3/4 wasn't quite enough so there was no since in maybe wounding a beautiful bird.
 
dhntr48 said:
Great pictures . Now in the lake photo it looks like 3 lakes 2 small 1 large . Is that all public . And a no ticket area , parking cool ? Camping ok ? That looks like your own private Idaho !!! Do duck boats need a CF number . I have a small boat , would the lake be too big to row around in or push with a pole , Big lake looks too large .

Be careful and go with a friend that mud is no joke. if your not, before you know it you'll be up to your chest.
 
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