Arizona Lake Fishing

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.

Lake Pleasant is 75% full, at just over 1600 feet in elevation.

Mornings are best before 9am. There is some fish activity but the shad boils don’t last too long and after 9am, the shad boils drying up. Some anglers are seeing the activity taper as early as 7am.

Striped bass, white bass and largemouth bass are all biting now in varying numbers. Most are being caught in the north coves of the lake, as well as Scorpion Point.

For best results: Get there early; before dawn. Try topwater lures for the stripers and whities. Specifically, the Diawa diving topwater lure works really well in the northern coves.

Water elevation is 1,692 feet, which is 89-percent full.

Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, white bass, striped bass and crappie are all biting at Lake Pleasant. Morning bite lasting until around 10:30 a.m. and evening picking up around 6 p.m.

For largemouth use drop shot and a shad looking swim bait.

For small mouth use minnows.

For striped bass use frozen anchovies with a little or no weight.

Best results: Go to the middle coves and look for schools of bait fish. Use Texas-rigged worms and brush hogs. The biggs (18 - 19 inch) are hitting on top water Spooks along the brush line.

Water elevation is 1,648 ft which is 46% full

Fishing is off this week due to temperature changes but is expected to pick up when the water temp stabilizes.

Weather is also a key factor. High pressure is usually when fish are bitting.

Water elevation is at 1,640 ft (43-percent full)

Catfish are biting at Lake Pleasant. Reports are saying there are good boils at first light and then tapering off rapidly as the sun rises. Others say they have had good action all morning. It may depend on location.

Try using poppers, stick baits, jerkbaits at dawn. Then move to spinners or curly tails especially for stripers and whites.

After the surface action wanes, try drop shots, Texas-rigged plastics, or Carolia-rigged plastics.

Stay in the northern portion near the “fingers” until late morning.

white bass – A type of true bass that is only found at Lake Pleasant in Arizona. White bass are related to striped bass and yellow bass. None of these bass are native Arizona fish.

Summer fishing at Lake Pleasant can get hot with average temps in triple digits. The heat pushes the fish into deeper water and are best accessed by boat.

For best odds at catching largemouth bass, try night fishing in the coves. Use watermelon colored plastic lizards or worms at 20 to 40 feet deep. If night fishing isn’t your idea of fun try top water lures in the very early mornings or late evenings.

The white bass and striped bass have moved to deeper water but you can get at them in the coves as well with a boat. Live shad seem to work the best but live minnows, small deep diving crank baits or trolling spinners have also worked well.

During these hot summer months the catfish are most active at night and are also in the coves. Small mackerel seem to work best.

Spring is the best time to hit the water at Lake Pleasant, Arizona. This time of year the water is high, the temperatures are cool and all the fish are biting.

The largemouth bass are in spawn this time of year and migrate to the shallows. First introduced in 1897, the largemouth bass is a carnivorous fish that will bite on live and artificial bait alike. For live bait try waterdogs. For artificial try plastic worms, plastic lizards, top water lures or shad looking crank baits. Largemouth bass are warm water fish that prefer clear water with structure and cover.

White bass, a non-native fish only found in Imperial Reservoir on the Colorado River and Lake Pleasant, are also biting and looking for shad schools. The best lures for white bass are spinners, jigs, spoons, and shad crank baits. IF you prefer live bait try catching your own live shads and minnows.

Striped bass are a non-native fish introduced in 1959 and can reach a weight of over 59 pounds. They are found throughout the Colorado River from Lake Powell to the Mexican border and most recently in Lake Pleasant. Effective lures include spoons, plugs, jigs, crank baits, and streamer flies. For live bait try anchovies or shad.

The catfish are feeding at this time of year. Try the muddy or sandy coves with liver, mackerel, night crawlers or stink baits. Crappie and blue gill are active in shallow water. Try live minnows and a bobber.

The beautiful weather in sunny Arizona makes fishing at Lake Pleasant available to every angler all year round. Whether you prefer to fish alone on the shore, go along with a fishing guide or get involved with various fishing clubs; it’s all available at Lake Pleasant.

Clubs and organizations schedule amateur to pro-national events each year. Including the Arizona Anglers Family Fishing Club, the oldest fishing club in Arizona, established in 1974. They schedule 11 fishing derbies each year with a final “Fish Off” at the end of the year.

Lake Pleasant offers more than 8 species of fish to catch ranging from common fish like large and small mouth bass to exotic fish like Tilapia; an imported fish from Africa.

Everyone from the casual fisherman to the die-hard angler can find excitement in fishing Lake Pleasant. Spring is best when the water is high with a slow down in winter but each season is open to all anglers.

Lake Pleasant, Arizona

Lake Pleasant is one of the most scenic water recreation areas in the “Valley of the Sun”. The Lake Pleasant Regional Park has over 23,600 acres and offers visitors many activities such as camping, boating, fishing, swimming, hiking, picnicking, and wildlife viewing.

Lake Pleasant, created by Waddell Dam in 1993, offers more than 10,000 acres of crystal clear water for recreational boating, water skiing, jet skiing, sailing and fishing.

At the Lake Pleasant Visitor Center, guests learn about the history of the area, Waddell Dam and desert wildlife. The visitor center features a step out balcony that wraps around the center for guests to take in the beautiful view of Lake Pleasant and an up-close view of Waddell Dam.

Lake Pleasant is a great place to relax and get away, whether it’s by boat or a nice shoreline picnic.