Arizona Lake Fishing

Bass are predator fish and they follow schools of baitfish to prey on. So, if you can find the schools of baitfish, chances are pretty good that the bass are close by. But how do you locate the baitfish?

How to locate the baitfish and intern the big bass

1. Easiest to spot are the small minnows jumping out of the water and if your lucky swirls of bigger fish swimming close behind. If you see these tiny jumping fish, there is a school of baitfish swimming around just under them.
2. Loons also love baitfish. They feed on them regularly. The benefit of seeing loons feeding on fish is that they are easier to spot from a distance than jumping minnows. Follow the loons to the baitfish and the baitfish to the bass.
3. Gulls also prey on fish. You’ll often see them circling in one spot. This is a good place to head out and fish.
4. Herons are another bird species that prey on fish and are easy to spot in the air or on the shore.
5. If you see small dimples on the surface of the water chances are there is a school of shad near the surface. These dimples might look like little raindrops falling over a small are of water.
6. Use a depthfinder. On a depthfinder, a school of fish will look like a ball of solid mass.
7. And finally, when you see a group of boats fishing in one area, it’s probably a good spot to fish. Man also likes to prey on fish and they are very easy to spot in their boats with fishing poles.

So now you found the baitfish, what do you do?

Tips to use the baitfish to your advantage

• For your lure or bait selection, try to match the size and shape of the baitfish swimming around.
• Vary your depth to find the feeding fish (largemouth bass but also crappie, walleye, muskie, hybrids, white bass, striped bass)
• Get as close to the food source as possible to increase your odds of catching the fish you set out to catch.

Water levels continue to rise for Lake Mohave but the fishing has slowed considerably, especially for striped bass.

If your trying to catch largemouth bass and crappie look for them near and around the newly installed fish habitats in Carp Cove and Box Cove. With the aquatic vegetation dying off these artificial structures provide them with much needed shelter. Also try in and around brush and submerged trees.

Katherine’s landing seems to be a hot spot for a few 5-15 pound stripers.

Water levels are up at Lake Mead but the fishing is only fair.

The stripers are relativly quiet but you might hook one with anchovies and if you fish bellow 40feet. The stripers that are being caught are a nice size and healthy.

Some largemouth bass are biting along with crappie.

Night fishing is a popular sport at Lake Mead, especially for striped bass. Get out on the lake at about 5pm with artificial lights.

Fishing at Lake Pleasant is relatively good. Striped bass and largemouth bass are all biting as well as some white bass. Fishign tends to be best in the morning form 6am to noon.

Striped Bass are Biting

Even though we are a few months away from the striper spawn, with the high flowing Agua Fria River poring into the lake providing fresh nutrients and oxygen, the stirpers are biting nicely. The bite is hanging on from around 7 am to 10 – 10:30 am. Use anchovy chunks and chum about every 5-10 minutes.

Some Laregemouth Bass are available too

The largemouth bite is good from about 9am to noon. Use a topwater like a Zappa Puppy or a Texas rigged worms (Oxblood). Try the North Coves with jerk baits and shallow cranks.

Willow Beach is a good trout lake for Arizona, especially since it is stocked with trout every Friday.

The new pier seems to be the new hot spot for anglers and trout alike. Get out early, best opportunities to catch trout at Willow Beach is before 7 am. Use green Power Bait, Power Worms or salmon eggs.

Willow Beach also has striped bass and the fishing has been fair for this species.

Lake Mead is a popular destination for anglers looking to catch some nice sized striped bass. However, even though the water levels have risen, fishing has slowed.

Night fishing is a popular sport at Lake Mead, especially for striped bass. Get out on the lake at about 5pm with artificial lights.

Lake Powell has risen 45 feet this year providing an optimal habitat for all it’s aquatic life. Food is abundant, shelter is easily found and the angler is left a little frustrated. This season the fish are fat and happy and are less likely to strike a bait when their stomachs are full.

If you’re lucky to find a striper boil, you will probably leave for the day with you full catch in hand. However, most of us aren’t quite as lucky. But not all is lost and Lake Powell is still one of the best freshwater fishing lakes in Arizona.

Lake Powell fishing tips

• Trolling is working great for anglers down around the inflows where abundant shad are hanging out.
• You can also get out to the Hite or San Juan and use a diving lure down to about 20 feet.
• Early morning use surface lures around shad schools. During the day try drop shots at about 25 feet.
• If you’re shad looking lure is not working, try a bright colored lure like a fire tiger crankbait. This might trigger the striper into striking out of frustration.

We can expect 2009 fishing season to be excellent as the fish continue to eat to their fill and live relatively safe in all the new shelter created by the rising waters.

Lake Havasu is an excellent bass lake for Arizona anglers. With the cooler weather the bite has slowed but this just means you need to work your lures a little slower and deeper than normal. Use plastics, cranks, spinners and jigs. The fish are deep this time of year so topwaters and other floating baits you can put away until spring.

Sizes are ranging from 13 inches and up for largemouth bass. The skilled angler could hall in a 4 pounder. Smallmouth bass are also abundant in Lake Havasu, as well as striped bass. Stripers are in the size range of about 12-18 inches with an occasional 8 pounder waiting to be caught.

Bass aren’t the only species to be caught in Lake Havasu, channel cats are also a popular catch among Arizona anglers. Cats are ranging in the sizes or 3 – 10 pounds and are biting on anchovies, spam and mackerel.

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 Mead water levels have held strong through the summer and the water elevation is around 1100 feet.

Night fishing for stripers seems to be the best option right now. Anglers are using artificial lights and are catching as many stripers as they want to clean, most ranging in the 12-18 inches.

The lights are also helping anglers catch catfish, use anchovies.

For best results: Get out on the lake in the evening with some artificial lights.