Arizona Lake Fishing

Canyon Lake is looking good right now at 89% capacity.

For the best fishing at Canyon Lake go out to the Boulder Recreation area and fish off the pier. Here you will find a fishing pond within the lake where boats are not allowed. You an catch bluegill, largemouth bass, walleye and channel catfish.

The bass are hitting on plastic worms like Robo Worms on a drop shot. Look for overhanging vegetation.

The walleye prefer a chunk of night crawler on a jig. They also hang out near the steep, shaded submerged rocks.

The bluegills are in the back coves and are biting on worms.

The catfish are hitting the plastic worms as well but also try their favorites like hot dogs and chicken liver.

Apache Lake is around 90% full, the fishing is good and more anglers are getting out there.

Channel cats are hanging in the marina, Hackberry Cove and Goat Ledge. Try hot dogs, chicken liver and stink bait.

Yellow bass are where the substrate levels off. Use silver. Silver spinners, cranks, what have you.

Small mouth and largemouth bass are biting on plastic worms like Robo Worms. Put them on a drop shot around overhanging vegetation, boulders or ridges.

Carp are biting on yellow canned corn.

Lake Pleasant is currently 75% full with large concentrations of shad along the shore. These large numbers of shad make for great bass fishing whether it’s along the shore with the largemouth or in open water with the stripers.

Look for boils. There will be a lot of them but they don’t last long and are unpredictable so be ready to strike at any moment.

Anglers are catching stripers around 4 pounds down lake. The stripers in the coves are hungrier and more aggressive but a little smaller. Use anchovies and shad.

Hit the drop shot for those largemouth bass. They are feisty but small. No use working the cranks.

Roosevelt Lake is 94% full with an elevation of 2100 feet.

Night anglers are catching a bunch of largemouth bass, some reported up to 40 fish. One angler caught 20 and all were in the slot. Even though the bite is slow, the action is not. The water temp is at 84 degrees in the morning and water clarity is around 8-10 feet.

For best results: Use the drop shot method with plastics. The Texas and Carolina rigs are working well. If you are seeing boils which are more common in the mornings, try crankbaits and topwater lures.

Bartlett Lake has an elevation of 1789 ft making it 87% full.

Anglers are reporting that fishing is good out at Bartlett Lake. The largemouth bass are biting on crank baits, and drop shot with plastics. Bluegills are biting mealworms, crickets or small portions of earthworms on a small hook with a bobber.

For best results: To catch largemouth, try fishing the points at about 20 feet of water. Using the drop shot with plastics seems to be working best. For the bluegills, try shore fishing around rocky areas. They seem to be more aggressive in these areas. Live bait seems to be working best but if you’re not a fan of live bait, try 1/32 oz or smaller jigs, grubs or spinnerbaits.

Tempe Town Lake fishing is good.

Largemouth bass are in spring spawn and are hitting on spinner bait.

For best results: Go to the east side of the lake and fish by structure. Look for shad boils. Use spinner bait, white/white trailer or green or plastics on drop shot.

Catfish are also biting. Use worms for best results.

Trout fishing should be good following the stocking. Brook trout were stocked in September and rainbows earlier this month and are scheduled to be stocked again in November.

Brooks are expected to be in good catching size in spring.

A few bass are being caught and stocking from the past 2 years is begining to pay off this year. Use plastic worms, plastic grubs, and small spinner baits.

Catfish were stocked in June along with 200 pounds of bluegill in March. Use worms or mealworms on a bobber.

The striped bass boils are being spotted in the middle coves at Lake Havasu. Anglers have reported pods scattered in the basin of the lake and at the shorelines near Windsor Beach.

If fishing the boils, the R2S Rover 128 in Okie Shad, Chrome black or chartreuse shad are working well as is the bone-colored Vixen, and the Okie shad and bone-colored Zara Spooks. From the shore use Rat-L-Trap type baits like the R2S tungsten vibe in chartreuse shad, chrome/black or similar crankbaits in chrome/blue that can be ripped and retrieved quickly through the grass beds. If using bait, try using anchovies in the deeper water.

Smallmouth and largemouth bass are being caught throughout theday with the early morning bite being the best.

Use topwater baits like bone-colored Vixens, bone-colored Zara Spooks, or small Storm Chug Bugs in chrome blue and phantom chartreuse.

After the early morning use small plastics with a slip shot or drop shot in and on the outside edges of the weed beds or along rocky points in the main basin at 15 - 20 feet. The 4 inch straight tail Robo Worm in bold blue gill are working the best.

drop shot – A tackle rigging technique employing a hook tied to the line from four-inches to four-feet above the sinker. The hook is attached using a Palomar knot and the weight is attached to the tag line from the knot. The hook is set at a 90-degree angle to the line, typically with the hook point pointing upward toward the pole. Typical drop shot baits are small, usually 4-inches or less.