Arizona Lake Fishing

The water temp is getting warmer in the basin of Lake Havasu and the larger fish are beginning to move into the cooler water at Willow Beach.

The trout stocking takes place every Friday giving shore fisherman a 50/50 shot at going home happy. But most of the success has been around the new pier. Try Power Bait, green Power Worms, or salmon eggs.
For best results: Get out on the water early. The action seems to be dieing off by 7:30am. Use green Power Bait on a hook with a small sinker about 2-3 feet above the hook.

The bite from stripers has been picking up as well.

Lees Ferry is hands down one of my favorite places to fish and I think many anglers will agree. Not only does it have some of the largest wild trout in the state but it is also a beautiful area.

The fish seem to be moving into the deeper water but the trout are looking healthy and the river is thriving. The spawn this year was 10x normal with a lot of fry and small trout in the river.

The Cicada hatch began in June and by July the trout were starting to jump on them. Here in August the cicada hatch is just about over and it seemed to be any normal hatch not like the “bumper crop” of last year.

Fly fishing on Lees Ferry try a 12′ to 14′ nymph rig with a lot of split shot and indicator from the boat drift. Also carry some scuds and midge patterns.

There isn’t much action for the walk in fisherman but it is better in the morning hours than any other time of the day.

Spin fishing is getting good results right now. Try an egg pattern in the drift or black and olive marabou jigs.

For best results: Get out on a cloudy or overcast day and use cicadas on your line.

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.

Stocking the urban lakes with fish will be paused for the summer. As the water temp reaches 90 degrees and the air temps are over 100 it becomes impractical to haul live fish into Arizona’s urban lakes.

The last catfish stocking was June 28. No urban lake fish stocking will take place during the months of July, August and the first half of September. Fall catfish stocking will resume in mid-September when the lake and weather conditions improve enough to safely transport and stock fish again.

Anglers can still fish for catfish, bass and bluegill.

This is the tail end of the trout fishing season along the Lower Salt River near Phoenix.

This desert river is stocked in winter and spring but right now, the bite is all over by full sun. To catch anything you must be out and ready for first light. By the time the sun is up, it’s over.

Just think of it as saving you a lot of gasoline. You’re just in and out. But let’s face it … we are all diggin’ a full day of fishing. So this section of the river is better left until fall.

Reports are saying that the Monkey hole area is getting bites of stripers. Try crank baits.

Trout are stocked every Friday and shore fishing is really good right after the stocking. Try spinners, spoons, or power bait on a hook.

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.

Lake elevation is 1,909 feet (95-percent full).

Channel catfish, largemouth bass, crappie, trout and small mouth bass are all being caught at Apache right now.

Go to the coves for the catfish or try Alder Creek.

For trout, try the cooler water near Horse Mesa Dam or by the fish habitat. Use power eggs.

Small mouth bass can be found near rocky shores.

Walleye were stocked at the end of April; 2.4 million walleye sac fry, to be exact. Walleye are biting the best. Try trolling with shad-patterned crank baits just off Bronco Creek.

Trout fishing is good to excellent at Green Valley Lakes in Payson. Reports are saying there are some nice 1 – 3 pound rainbows available.

For trout try Power Bait, worms and salmon eggs.

Go for the largemouth bass with spinner bait, spoons or try plastics with a drop shot. The bass are actively in their spring spawn period and are aggressive and biting. AZ Game and Fish are asking that we practice catch and release during the spawn.

Bluegills are also in their spring spawn.

This is a great lake for kids and beginning anglers.

Trout stockings will take place through mid May.

Spring fishing is HOT! HOT! HOT!

Don’t wait another day to go fishing. Fishing activity at Urban Fishing Program lakes and ponds is excellent with anglers reporting nice stringers of catfish, aggressive bluegill and hybrid sunfish, some nice bass and a few remaining trout.

Fish have been stocked three weeks in a row with channel catfish and hybrid sunfish

On top of all the stockings of big fish, the lakes are producing good action for largemouth bass, bluegill and redear sunfish as all three of these species are in spring spawning mode and moving close to shore.

Stockings of the 1-3 pound catfish will continue every two weeks through June. So get out now during these cool spring days to enjoy fishing that is hot, hot, hot!

Use:worms, stink baits, and shrimp fished on the bottom with a sinker attached about a foot above the baited hook should work well for catching catfish.

Daily bag limits are four catfish per person at Urban Lakes, and two catfish per person at Urban Ponds (note regulations and park signs for lake and pond designations).

If you’re missing the trout here in the vallye and Tucson try going a little north. The beautiful 13-acre Green Valley Lakes in Payson are unique within the Urban Fishing Program because they continue to receive stockings of rainbow trout through early May. While only trout are stocked there, there are at least four other popular sport fish commonly caught: crappie, largemouth bass, bluegill and channel catfish.