Arizona Lake Fishing

After a long summer and hundreds of anglers throwing in spinners, the bass get wise and a jig could be just enough to land that big one. Swimming a jig takes a little fineness and technique to get the presentation just right for a strike but after reading this post you’ll be casting it in like a pro.

The key to swimming a jig for a big bite is all about presentation and how to attract a bite. You want to pay attention to color, the bite (if you’re getting any), your retrieval speed and most importantly setting the hook.

Jig Swimming Tips: Pay attention to the bite.

1. If the bass is inhaling the jig, make no adjustments and keep hauling them in.
2. If they seem to be just nipping at the end of the jig, make a change with your trailer. It’s possible you could be getting the wrong action from your jig.
3. If they are following your jig but not striking, make a complete change in color. If you’re using a dark jig, switch to a bright color with a flash.

Jig Swimming Tips: Pay attention to presentation.

1. Hold your rod tip at about 10 o’clock.
2. Vary your speeds by dropping and ripping through cover.
3. Be sure to set the hook properly. Once you feel that bass on your line give it a good rip back and set the hook before he even knows what hit him. Make it one smooth motion.

Using a drop shot can be tricky at times especially when you don’t know when or where to use it. But a drop shot can be one of the most effective rigs in your tackle box when used properly. Here in Arizona, our fishing lakes can be pure rock bed, making using a drop shot rig a little difficult but we have some tips for this as well.

Once you learn the ways of rigging a drop shot, you’ve won half the battle.

Where to Use a Drop Shot Rig Fishing Arizona Lakes

• Drop shot works best in deep water where the fish are suspended just off the bottom. Look for deep points, beds, and humps with a smooth surface work best.
• You can also work a drop shot in shallow rockpiles, around docks and artificial habitats, so popular in our Arizona lakes.
• Also try weedy areas. Just be sure to rig your line with a weedless hook.
• The key is to focus on where you think fish will be holding.

When to Use a Drop Shot Rig Fishing Arizona Lakes

• The drop shot works best when bass are suspended because you can vary the length of the leader and put your bait right in front of them.
• The best times of year for suspended bass is during the fall and spring spawn.
• If the bass seem spooky from a lot of fishing action, give them a drop shot. This may cause interest with a different approach.

How to Use a Drop Shot Rig Fishing Arizona Lakes

• Use a slow presentation. The longer you can keep that bait in front of them the more likely they are to strike.
• Use the drop shot in deeper water. This allows you to drop the bait right in front of them.
• Give the bait a little wiggle action. Just give your rod tip a little shake. This is more effective than any other rig.
• When using in shallow water, keep your rod tip high to bring the bait further off the bottom. The higher the angle, the more distance between the bait and the bottom.

Spinners can be used to catch bass in just about any weather or water temp or time of year. Tournaments can be won fishing a spinner. They’re a great lure for spring and fall when the bass are feeding heavily as well as in winter when the water is cold. You can also fish them in the warmer waters of summer and just buzz them by the fish to entice them to bite.

It’s a good idea to keep several spinners in your box and keep spare blades and skirts on hand so you can test the waters and see what’s biting. But the go-to spinner in my box is always a 3/8th ounce spinnerbait with a #5 willowleaf and #3 Colorado blade. Have one of each in gold and silver. A chartreuse and white skirt and a 3″ white curly tail trailer.

Spinners in Warm Water

Warm water, at and above 60 degrees, means fast retrievals. When the water is warm, run the bait just under the surface fairly quickly until the blade just brakes the water. Then slow down and let the skirt flare.

When the water is warmer, and the feeding is slower, speed up your retrieval and try for reaction strikes by buzzing it right by the bass and letting it brake the water’s surface.

Spinners in Cool Waters

Cool waters, bellow 60 degrees, you want to slow it down. Use a heavier spinner, around 1/2 once. Get heavier and slower as the water gets colder. The added weight will allow you to fish deeper and slower.

Tips for Using Spinners

1. The clearness of the water will tell how quickly to run your lure. In clearer waters you can run it fairly fast but slow it down in murky waters.
2. Try bigger blades. Up to a #7 blade has caught fish and was a popular method a few years ago and still catches fish.
3. Try different colors of skirts and trailers if the fish aren’t biting.
4. Attach the lure with a clip and swivel to allow for quick and easy changing.

Spinners are one of my favorite lures. They are easy to use, easy to fish and you almost never lose a fish on one. The big hook seems to keep them on the hook effectively.

It’s that time of year again and you should know what I’m talking about. It’s time for spinner baits and the big bass. It’s time to roll those big 1oz. spinners off the edges and over the humps. And we have some tips to get you started and on your way to catching the big one.

Tips for Using Spinner Baits

1. Rigging is most important. The best, is to rig a spinner on a medium-to-medium light tip rod.
2. Use braided line to help control the action and the line to hook the fish.
3. Look for shad chasing your spinner. If you do, you know you’re in the right place. If not, move on.
4. Use angles when fishing a spinner.
5. If you have shad but no bites, try changing your angle of presentation.

Worms, earthworms, night crawlers are the tried-and-true fish bait that you can’t go fishing without. If your an avid angler, you’re probably in need of worms constantly. Bellow we’ll describe how to locate and catch your own worms straight from your yard.

Harvesting Earthworms from Your Yard

There are several ways to collect worms from flooding your yard with the hose, waiting till after it rains to even using laundry detergent (this is not recommended, detergent can be harsh on grass and other plants). Bellow we list some popular techniques and tips used for gathering worms. Most you’ve probably heard of or even tried yourself but maybe there will be one or two new ones you might want to try as well.

• Water your lawn or wait till it rains After a good soaking, your lawn will be popping with worms. Look under leaves, rocks and other debris they might hide under.
• Enclose a small area of your yard off with a box. This only needs to be a few feet wide. Stick something flat in the ground on 4 sides to seal it off so the worms can’t escape. With the left half of the box soak it with water. Leave the right side dry. This is the side you will dig up to find your worms.
• Use old coffee grounds. Dump the grounds in one place in your yard and wet it down. Then at night go out and gather your worms.
• Use a 6 Volt battery With a metal rod, wire and a 6 volt battery you can give the worms a mild shock to get then to come up to the surface. With one end of the wire tie it to the top of the metal rod. With the other, tie it to the battery. Stick the bottom of the metal rod into the ground and wait for you worms to come up. This works best at night. This technique does have problems and has been known to damage the worm’s nervous system which eventually kills the worm.

Tips to Catching Worms

• Best time to hunt for worms is at night. Especially after it rains. Go out with a flashlight, be very quiet and pluck them from your yard.
• Use a red light Worms can’t see red light so you won’t scare them back into the ground when your hunting them at night.
• Pull them from the ground gently The worm will typically be half in and half out of the ground. To get them to release from the soil just give them a gentle pull and they should come out.

Once you have all the worms you want or need, it’s a good time to start a worm farm.

When you come across the occasional rock or stump while fishing it would be worth your time to give it a shot and see if the big one is hanging around. These rocks and stumps are perfect shelter for the fish in between a feeding area and major cover.

Tip #1: Sneak Up To It

The last thing you want to do is scare all the fish away from this tiny amount of cover by bursting into the scene with your loud boat. So cut your engine and just drift into the area.

Tip #2: Cast Just Beyond the Target

A plop into the water from your lure can actually make these skittish fish take off. Remember they are a little vulnerable in these locations and will be easier to scare off. Plus you want to give your lure sometime to get to the right depth. So launch your lure, I prefer a crankbait, just past your target and run it back as close as you can to the rock/stump.

Tip #3: Try a Jig

Throw a plastic worm, lizard or grub up real close and drift it deep. Then twitch it back to you real slow. If a bass is there they can’t resist.

Keeping hydrated in Arizona is a challenge when you’re outside all day. Here are a few tips to help you keep hydrated before, during and after a day of fishing in Arizona.

1. Make sure you are drinking enough water leading up to your fishing trip.
2. The night before try to drink a little more than normal. This will help you maintain hydration during the fishing day.
3. The night before fill a 1 gallon personal water cooler half full and put it in the freezer. In the morning before you leave fill it up with water. Also fill and freeze smaller water bottles. You can put these in the cooler to help keep food cold. As it melts, you’re supplied with more water.
4. Take a camleback full of water, 1 per person.
5. Fill a second water cooler and leave it in you vehicle while fishing. This is for the end of the day or for emergencies.

Regular summer rain showers aren’t much to talk about but when the summer monsoons come rolling, now that’s a different story.

When the monsoon thunderstorms start building in the mountains, the barometer drops causing the insects to fly low in the sky, prompting the trout to feed actively.

The most active trout will be near the surface catching those unlucky bugs that have either fallen into the water or flying just above the water.

In these conditions most traditional trout fishing techniques will work. However, the best technique will be to mimic the environment. Fly anglers can easily take advantage of this situation but you don’t need a fly rod to mimic flying insects.

For best results try using a casting bubble with a tapered fly line attached with a fly on the hook. You can find the tackle for this rig at any fly fishing tackle shop. It really is a fun technique. Often you will see a trout jump out of the water and strike your fly in the air.

To cast your new rig, just throw it out with the leader and fly attached. Then slowly reel it in with a stop-and-go action. You’ll need to experiment to get the timing right. Sometimes little flicks of the wrist to make the fly dart will prompt a striker reaction from the trout.

Also try live insects such as grasshoppers or cicadas.

Once the thunderstorm opens up; seek shelter. All the new graphite fishing poles make for great lightning rods. So put away the pole and wait for the storm to pass. This is a great time to animal watch. The cooling rain brings out deer and other wildlife.

For spin anglers, that’s ultra-light rods or lightweight rods, use night crawlers with a little or no weight. Cast slightly upstream into the ripples. Let the current carry the bait downstream to a deep pond or back eddy.

Also try small spinners like a casting spoon. Cast perpendicular to the flow of the current and maintain tension on the spinner by slowly reeling in as the current sweeps the lure downstream.

Typically, once the spinner lure gets at 45 to 60 degree angle from you downstream, the lure will spin with an increased action. The extra action causes the trout to hit.

The cooler weather causes the bite to slow so it is important to work your lures slower and in deeper water.

Put away your top water lures adn switch to plastics, crank baits, spinner baits, and jigs.