Photo courtesy of Richard Alden Bean.

Flipping a plastic worm into tiny pockets at the base of the shoreline cover on the Colorado River is just about as good as it gets, if it’s a largemouth or smallmouth bass you’re after.

Want to get away from it all? I know a place where that’s actually possible.

From the California border town of Blythe south to the city of Yuma, Ariz., the weedy back bays, meandering side channels and tule-ringed pothole lakes off the main channel of the Colorado River give access to some of Arizona’s best bass fishing.

In 1935, when the Imperial Dam just north of Yuma was finished, the Colorado flooded into desert canyons and gullies, creating hundreds of winding channels, hidden potholes and seep ponds. Most are not really lakes, but simply openings in the vast network of plant life where water depth stops their growth.

Most are connected, and fish can swim through the tule, also called bulrushes, to reach the main river and other potholes. Landlocked fish were usually hand-stocked by earlier generations of anglers. Smaller potholes in the dense tules are best fished with a float tube, pram or johnboat.

Excursions up- or downriver usually mean renting or bringing a powerboat. A good way to fish the area is to go in a group, rent or bring a pontoon boat to serve as a floating base, and use float tubes in your search for a big Arizona largemouth.

THIS PLACE IS DIFFERENT
Most backwater bass angling takes place within 30 miles or so of the Colorado above Imperial Dam. The Imperial National Wildlife Refuge takes up a big chunk of this portion of the river. The hub of angling activity is found at the resort of Martinez Lake on the Arizona side of the river.

First-time anglers at Martinez may feel a bit strange when they find themselves fishing all day long without seeing another angler -- yet still being able to hear the sounds of boat traffic and voices from other anglers and water-skiers, often just a few yards away on the main river.

In the last few years, there have been a number of dredging projects aimed at opening up silted areas of these backwaters, both on the Arizona and California sides of the Colorado. These have increased the water flow through large sections of the brush-filled, shallow backwaters and, by all accounts, have improved an already very good fishery.

Chris Hayes, a tournament-level bass angler and fishery biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game, said the projects were a success, and they are looking into more of the same in the future.

First-time visitors may also find it strange to be awakened by the thump of heavy artillery, or the rattlesnake snarl of a 25mm chain gun in the distance. Martinez Lake is accessed through the Army’s Yuma Proving Grounds, and such sounds are common during weekdays.

TACKLE & TECHNIQUES
Since there are both tiny potholes and big, open areas, almost all bass- fishing lures and tactics will work somewhere in the lakes, potholes or river. However, most anglers opt for soft-plastics or jigs. The dense tules and brush ringing the shores of all these lakes make accurate casting a must. Pinpoint presentations of plastic worms or crayfish imitations into small openings in the brush and tules are often the best bet for bass lurking in the shade of the shoreline.