[cdaq]

So it looks like my move to Vegas is a go. I will be by myself for a few months until wife gets a job and kids finish school. In an attempt to stay away from the card tables I plan ontaking advantage of southern Nevada's outdoor opportunities. Since I don't have a boat, what are my best options for setting up a camp on Friday night or Saturday morning and fishing for bass and catfish?

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by cdaq

So it looks like my move to Vegas is a go. I will be by myself for a few months until wife gets a job and kids finish school. In an attempt to stay away from the card tables I plan on taking advantage of southern Nevada's outdoor opportunities. Since I don't have a boat, what are my best options for setting up a camp on Friday night or Saturday morning and fishing for bass and catfish?

I've never camped at Lake Mead (on land), but I've fished there all night from the shore before, so that's like camping I guess. I'm sure there are still many places to camp since there are over 500 miles of shoreline, but you'll just have to Google Lake Mead National Rec Area to find them. The rules may be more restrictive now as the Feds are more anal.

I believe there are still large and small mouth bass in the lake, but it is mostly striped bass, and the best way to fish for them is rent a boat. Being on the shore of a cove early in the AM, you can catch a few, but then they move on to follow the shad. So you need to be able to move with them.

There are catfish in Lake Mead, but the heaviest concentrations used to mostly be up around Overton Landing. The landing was closed and the boat rentals moved elsewhere when the water level dropped, but you can still get there. There are good sized crappies up in that area too. But nobody tells the fish where to be.

Haven't fished Lake Mead for a long time, and as I say, things change. Lake Mojave, downstream from Hoover Dam, is a good spot for camping and fishing. I prefer to go over on the Arizona side to Willow Beach and fish for trout.

There are three urban pond areas in Las Vegas where you can go for catfish, and a few bass, but not a lot of catfish or bass fishing in the desert like you are probably used to. Although, every now and then I see a pic in the paper of a record bass or catfish caught locally. Most people in these parts fish for stripers or trout. Since it's too warm for trout to spawn in this part of Nevada, the state stocks just about all local waters.

You probably would really enjoy some of our trout lakes up north of here. Eagle Valley is the most popular, but there are small lakes Las Vegans go to such as near Caliente, or in Central Nevada, and also, maybe even more so, in southern Utah.

Here's the site that will tell you everything you need to know about fishing in Nevada: NDOW - Fishing

Here's info on fishing in Utah: Southern Utah Fishing Waters

We used to go up on Friday night after work and find a camping spot to be ready to fish Saturday morning. Or we'd send a couple to find one, and the rest of us would join them on Saturday. But there are spots close enough for day fishing. If you like to be comfortable when you're roughing it, get a hotel room on the river in Laughlin and fish in style.

[cdaq]

Thanks Buzz, awesome info.

[mntonv]

One great place to go is Willow Beach, AZ. It's about 15 miles south of the Hoover Dam. They have a fishing pier and you can rent a boat if you'd like. There's a campground right there with full shower facilities available.

It's right by a fish hatchery so if you find out when they do their releases, it's really good fishing!

Here are a couple links:

Willow Beach Marina & Campground | Colorado River

Pictures and information about Willow Beach Harbor, Colorado River.

[NLVgal]

You don't even have to camp if you don't want to. They stock the lake at Tule Springs and at Lorenzi park. Be careful at Lorenzi, that's a sketchy neighborhood.

[Buzz123]

Bass magazine recognizes Lakes Mead, Mohave - Sports - ReviewJournal.com