Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
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April and October can be the best months of the year to fish in Arizona. The water temperatures are ideal for waves of spawns. Access to high country lakes has opened the way for lunker holdovers. The flathead frenzy hardly left. The buffet is laid out - bass are spawning, especially with the April full moon; crappie should be spawning; flathead catfish are making camera lenses struggle to keep fish in frame; trout are being stocked all across the high country and anglers are catching holdovers... Full story
Weather is warming and trees are budding in the high desert. It s time to start thinking about fishing and what to expect from Lake Powell in 2014. The lake has dipped to the lowest point since 2005 leaving brushy cover high and dry on the shoreline. Fortunately, there has been modest precipitation in the Colorado River drainage. When runoff starts, the lake should rise from the currently level of 3575 MSL back to 3600 MSL or perhaps a bit more. Also fortunately, the Castle Rock Cut is being... Full story
Catfish stockings will be coming back to the core Community Fishing Program lakes and ponds in Tucson and Phoenix on Friday. Here are the core lakes and ponds: (Phoenix area) Surprise, Rio Vista Pond, Pioneer, Desert West, Alvord, Cortez, Steele I.S. Pond, Encanto, Papago Ponds, E. Hallman Pond, Riverview, Desert Breeze, Veterans Oasis; (Tucson area) Lakeside, Sahuarita, Kennedy, Silverbell, Copper Sky, Kiwanis, Water Ranch, Red Mountain, Chaparral. Channel catfish are best caught using a hook... Full story
Bill Luke Bass Days is the Southwest's largest family fishing tournament and festival - held March 14, 15, 16 at Lake Pleasant. This year's is sure to be one of our biggest events! For the fishermen, we are featuring over $50,000 in cash prizes. For everyone, we will have a day and night time festival featuring a Cornhole Tournament, carnival rides, vendors, food, wildlife exhibits and live music. Tournament Prize List The prizes for this year's Bass Days Tournament are spectacular. This year's... Full story
Bill Luke Bass Days is the Southwest's largest family fishing tournament and festival - held March 14, 15, 16 at Lake Pleasant. This year's is sure to be one of our biggest events! For the fishermen, we are featuring over $50,000 in cash prizes. For everyone, we will have a day and night time festival featuring a Cornhole Tournament, carnival rides, vendors, food, wildlife exhibits and live music. Tournament Prize List The prizes for this year's Bass Days Tournament are spectacular. This year's... Full story
By Nick Walter, AZGFD Hello, anglers, Get ready for more winter trout stockings; they began Jan. 13 in the Verde River (Clarkdale to Camp Verde), Fain Lake, the Lower Salt River, Saguaro Lake, Patagonia Lake, Pena Blanca Lake, Fortuna Pond and Redondo Pond. See our nifty Fish&Boat Arizona map for finding the state's best fishing and boating spots. In addition to an incredible turnout for the kickoff fishing clinic and trout stocking at Pioneer Lake in Peoria, we received some great anglers... Full story
Ron Colby started the Lake Powell fishing season off right by catching his personal best striper which weighed 13.33 pounds. It had been a while since Colby and friends had fished at Lake Powell so they were excited to finally get back out on the smooth clear water reflecting images of tall red rocks. They started fishing in Navajo Canyon where striper fishing reports were good from the week before but his group had no success there. After a fishless morning, they ran back to the starting point... Full story
Current conditions at Lake Powell during 2013 were difficult for all fish populations because of declining lake levels resulting in habitat loss. Shoreline vegetation, which had been inundated in recent years, was desiccated in 2013. Loss of brushy habitat resulted in lower than normal production of bass, crappie and bluegills. Lack of brush also limited the survival of both gizzard and threadfin shad produced in 2013. Low forage made for difficult circumstances for adult fish of all species as... Full story
During October we fished the same spots in the southern lake each week while checking current results for the fish report. Results ranged from superb early in the month to difficult after full moon. I am pleased to report that this report is right back at the top of the charts. Fishing success has recovered for striped bass that have been holding in the same locations all during last month. They have just responded differently on the various trips at the times that we fished there. Fishing... Full story
Now that's it's early November, we're getting some wonderful northern pike fishing in Upper Lake Mary. Lake Mary, although water levels are low, is a viable fishing option - it also has walleye, yellow perch and largemouth bass. What's more, there are no boat motor restrictions. At the Mogollon Rim lakes, skim ice began to develop on cold nights along the shoreline of the higher elevation lakes, but has been melting off by mid-day. Trout Are 'Cool' Cooler temperatures are ideal for trout, and... Full story
Individual fish species are evenly divided and are holding caucuses to decide how best to move forward from this point. Adult stripers would like to open the gates and let more anglers come in so they can reap the rewards of anchovy chum falling from the boats in all the locations that have proven to be great feeding spots all summer long. They revel in the free food that comes to them without effort. Young stripers and smallmouth agree that finding plankton on their own without any assistance... Full story
Many hunters, anglers and other outdoor recreationists have been wondering how the current federal government shutdown, which began Oct. 1, will impact their upcoming outings. Despite closures by federal land management agencies of their administrative offices and some controlled access points and facilities, there are numerous opportunities available to Arizonans for outdoor recreation. Please keep in mind that, with regard to federal lands, official information on closures is the responsibilit... Full story
September is the first fall fish-sampling period. Utah Wildlife’s first two electrofishing sample sites revealed some interesting details. The first sample was taken in Lone Rock Canyon near the back of Wahweap Bay. The first cove on the left heading up Lone Rock Canyon contained more shad than we could scoop up in our nets. That was a surprise. It was obvious that yearling gizzard shad were using the muddy, shallow, warm cove to avoid striped bass predation. Adult stripers cannot survive in 8... Full story
Lake surface temperature and lake level are declining. Cool monsoon weather patterns are adding much-needed rainwater to the lake but not enough to keep the lake from declining one foot per week. Fishing success for stripers on anchovy bait and smallmouth on plastic bait is still exceptional. Adult stripers are holding at about 30 feet where cooler temperatures make life more pleasant for these hungry fish. Add some anchovy chum to the water and stripers come running. Best fishing spots are... Full story
Lake Powell fishing strategy is determined by shad size and abundance. Striped bass are feeding on the surface over the entire lake but where shad numbers are small so are the boils. Where larger shad are numerous fishing success is terrific. In the southern lake shad are tiny and scarce. Little slurps are seen randomly throughout the day, but stripers feed quickly on a small group of shad and then dive back to the depths. Stripers can be caught if they surface within casting range and anglers... Full story
Overview Windy weather and a morning-only bite foiled many boats going into the weekend, but a few managed to deck one or two tuna per rod out on the bluefin grounds. Some boats opted to fish for yellowtail, white seabass and halibut near islands. Here’s how Randy Toussaint of the Royal Star put it August 2: “We got off to a nice start with a grey bite for 40 bluefin but the rest of the day produced very little aside from a few flats (dorado) and small bluefin tuna. Overall, a down day for the... Full story
Lake level is slowly rising, but that is not as important as the rise in water temperature. During May the surface temperature was consistently in the 60s, which was great for bass fishing. During June, lake temperature have been in the 70s, which means young shad are growing large enough to draw interest from lake predators. The immediate result of new shad presence is a dramatic change in sport fish behavior. Last week’s report was all about stationary schools of striped bass that were easy t... Full story
Tip Of The Week If you're bass fishing and having a hard time with standard techniques such as the dropshot or Texas rig, try something a little different: Flick-shaking. This method can include a 1/16-ounce jig hook, and a 5 ½-inch flick shake worm (made by Jackall or Bass Pro Shops). Hook the worm right in the middle so that it’s whacky style. Try a spinning rod and 8-pound test line. As the jig sinks, pull up a bit to see if a bass is hitting the worm on the fall. Once the bait hits the bo... Full story
One week after the spring fishing peak and fishing is still good. A lingering cold front has slowed fishing for bass slightly but stripers continue to eat bait in the southern lake. One disturbing note is that lake level is still going down, making it uncertain that the lake will rise much during the normal runoff period. There is still time but the runoff is slow to start. A lower lake leaves brush out of the water and causes access problems at some ramps. Hite ramp is closed but other ramps at... Full story
Stripers are still running along the canyon walls in the southern lake. They spilled into the main channel 3 weeks ago and have been eager to hit bait offered by anglers ever since. I have heard they are chasing boats, begging for anchovies. Well, that may be a bit much, but if you pass over some hungry stripers please stop and feed them! Glen Canyon dam still holds the majority of the fish, but many are behind the barricade out of casting range. The Chains parking area offers good shore... Full story
Declining lake level will have a huge impact on spring fishing. Current lake level is now at the projected low of 3600 and it will likely decline another foot before spring runoff reverses the lake level. That is great news for boaters using the southern lake as it will allow the construction crew currently deepening the Castle Rock Cut to remove one more foot of soil and make the pass last a bit longer in future low-water situations. But, fish care more about the water level as it relates to... Full story
It’s been a cold winter at Lake Powell. Water surface temperature bottomed out at 44 F and presently fluctuates between 45 at night and 47 during the “heat” of the day. Water level continues to decrease resulting in the closure of the Castle Rock Cut and the primitive launch ramps at Hite. Luckily, the last cold spell featured an increase in the snow pack in Colorado, which means there will be some runoff this spring. On the bright side, those anglers who continue to bundle up and venture out h... Full story
This is the last 2012 fishing report from Wayne Gustaveson for 2012, and we thank him for all the excellent information he has provided us for the past 12 months. It has been an interesting year with more highs than lows. Bass and walleye fishing in the spring was awesome, followed by a great run of surface fishing for juvenile stripers in summer. Now, going into winter it’s a mixed bag with unexpected fishing opportunities occurring each day. For example, on Saturday we took a side trip into Ca... Full story
After more than 22 years and 1,200-plus weeks of producing the weekly fishing report, this is my last one. I am retiring. I am truly blessed for having had such a superb readership. And such an interactive one. I truly appreciated all the e-mails and phone calls with tips and questions. It was also gratifying to meet so many of you on the lakes, at events, or in some cases, even places like the local super market. Being just an old small-town newspaper editor, I have always looked at all of you... Full story
Fishing out of Wahweap is hot and cold. Fishing is super hot for the first hour of light in the morning. Toss a small profile surface lure like a Sammy or Sugoi splash toward the shoreline for fast action from smallmouth bass and juvenile striped bass. On one morning recently, one of the hottest spots was the Stateline ramp cove. A shad school moved under the courtesy dock at first light and was quickly surrounded by bass and stripers. Lures landing on the outer perimeter of the shad school... Full story
