In fact, if you catch a smallmouth bass at Apache, Canyon or Saguaro, it’s a good idea to practice catch-and-release  as these fisheries continue to recover.

With a high pressure dome building over Arizona and temperatures soaring once again, I was delightfully suprised at the angling success at Apache on Sunday.

We worked with the United Arizona Anglers Foundation and other interested anglers to stock bass at Apache, Canyon and Saguaro lakes last Friday and Sunday to help those invaluable fisheries along the comeback trail. We even stocked some Florida strain largemouth bass. These lakes were severely impacted from golden algae years ago.

About 7,000 4 to 6-inch smallmouth bass were stocked at Apache Lake and about 3,000 smallmouth bass were stocked at Canyon Lake. Apache also received about 2,600 4- to 6-inch Florida strain largemouth bass, Canyon Lake received about 2,100 and Saguaro received just over 500.

The department has been conducting a four-pronged approach to helping these lakes:

1. Stocking the lakes to give sport-fish populations a boost.
2. Conducting fish population, water quality, and angler creel studies to determine the effectiveness of those stockings.
3. Implementing research to better understand golden alga and to assess whether stocking fish will benefit the fishery.
4. Conducting outreach and education.

Being on Apach Lake again was like visiting an old, dear friend. Lots of memories there. Apache is always an adventure — in fact, just getting there over Fish Creek Hill can keep life interesting.

We have one more stocking pf 12,000 largemouth bass coming up soon for these lakes around Veterans Day. If you have a boat and would like to help distribute fish, contact United Arizona Anglers Foundation, which is coordinating the volunteer effort.

Salt River Project plans to lower the lake level at Bartlett Lake to work on the dam there. SRP is projecting (but it’s not a perfect estimate) that work will begin in mid-November and continue into mid to late December. Bartlett is going to continue dropping at about 1 foot per day until it reaches 1,749 feet, and then hold at that elevation (figure about Nov. 10). Right now, one of the launch ramps is out of the water and the others will be on dry land soon.

However, in the past anglers have been able to launch from the dirt. Not sure what will happen at this lake level. I’ll keep you updated as I find out more.

For all you trout enthusiasts, we are stocking the Lower Salt River near Phoenix with rainbow trout on Wednesday (usually takes them until noon or so to get here after loading up the stocking truck at our Page Springs Hatchery).

Also this week, we are stocking Dead Horse Ranch State Park near Cottonwood, Fain and Lynx lakes near Prescott, Wet Beaver Creek, Parker Canyon and Patagonia lakes. On the following week, we will be stocking Francis Short Pond in Flagstaff, Oak Creek, the Verde River (Cottonwood to Camp Verde), Saguaro Lake, and Cluff Pond near Safford.

On the week of Nov. 16, we will stock rainbows in Canyon Lake and Tempe Town Lake. Be sure to mark Nov. 24 on the calendar for the annual “Welcome Back the Trout” celebration at Tempe Town Lake (the Tuesday before Thanksgiving). As usual, we will conduct a fishing clinic at the lake starting at 3 p.m. so kids can come fish after school. This has become an annual holiday-season kick-off in Arizona, so come catch some holiday spirit.

The Urban Program lakes are scheduled for trout stockings the week of Nov. 16, so you’ll be able to catch rainbows for dinner close to home very soon.

This week we released rare Gila trout into Frye Creek near Safford. There are already hybrid Apache trout on Mt. Graham. In the future, that will mean anglers will be able to fish for two wild native trout on the same mountain. Or put another way, fish for five species of trout on the same mountain. Such a unique fishing opportunity in the future should be an eco-tourism drawing card for this area.

It’s the right thing to do for the right reasons, which is justification enough. But this is also an opportunity to demonstrate what happens when conscientious angler-conservationists are intimately involved with a landscape. Do it for youself and to leave a legacy for future generations who will be enjoying this marvelous spring-fed travertine stream winding its way down tree-shaded lanes and picturesque waterfalls to the Verde River.

If you come there on Saturday, be sure look me up and say hi. I’ll be the slightly graying, over-fed guy huffing and puffing up and down the stream decked out with more cameras than a summer tourist at the Grand Canyon.

Okay, back to the report. The new winter stocking report is now available on our Web site at http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/stocking_schedule.shtml. Enjoy.

There is a full moon this weekend, so using submersible lights to help catch fish at night won’t be very viable.

With temperatures finally becoming more autumn like, my recommendation is to take advantage of all the possible activities and get outdoors this weekend. Keep in mind the weather folks are predicting “breezy” conditions in the northland throughout the remainder of this week and possibly into the weekend.

The biggest problem right now may be too many choices. On Oct. 2, the seasons open for turkey, squirrel and quail. On Oct. 1, we have the catch-and-release fishery at Silver Creek opening for larger colorful Apache trout and fesity rainbows. The opening for seasonal Fossil Creek roundtail chub fishery is slated for Oct. 2, although a group is trying to get the fishery closed down. Stay tuned on that one.

With the nights down to freezing, this is the time for the aspens to start changing colors. Look for the first blush of autumn gold on the more exposed northern slopes in the higher elevations, such as the San Francisco Peaks, Mt. Baldy, and Escudilla Mountain. Here’s a link the Coconino National Forest’s fall color report. If you find spots with good color, let us know and we’ll share your tips with others.

The high country trout fishing is pretty good. Some anglers are reporting impressive catches, but for most of us just catching a fesity fall trout is impressive. Catching more just adds to the autumn delight.

For the warmwater lakes, the action should really pick up with the cooler, longer nights and the milder days. Water temperatures should be lowering slightly each day. Bass and other sport-fish will respond accordingly.

If you have a strategy that is working, stick with it. If not, try mine. Look for sportfish actively working shad in the coves at first light. You may or may not find boils. Some anglers are doing well with reaction lures, such as buzzbaits and spinnerbaits. Others are effectively using topwater plugs or stick baits. Rig a pole with a flutter-down bait such as a Senko or curly-tail grub for those times when a bass stikers short, or does a hit-and-miss. But keep a subsurface lure handy, such as a soft plastic or hard plastic jerkbait.

Once the cove bite peters out, try the main lake points, islands and reefs. Watch for surface action. In fact, carry binoculars. Sometimes the fish-eating birds, such as herons, osprey and gulls, will be your telltale for surface action.

By the way, you might fund multiple osprey working any single desert lake — this is the time of year when they are migrating.

So go out and catch some fall memories. Maybe we’ll see you out there.

It’s not always about catching fish, but experiencing autumn adventures.

Fishing the bottom with prepared trout baits or worms can usually work well, but when the fish are feeding actively at the surface, casting and retrieving lures might get you some pretty good action. There’s nothing quite like experiencing a larger holdover trout hitting your spinner during a retrieve. Or better yet, if you have a two-pole stamp, do both.

Try working small spinners such as Mepps, Rooster Tails and Blue Fox Vibrex. I really like using rainbow-colored Rapalas, especially the jointed ones. Also try casting and retrieving spoons, such as KastMasters and Z-rays. If you have a boat, trolling can sometimes load up the creel. Try any of the previously mentioned lures, plus Super Dupers and cowbells.

Another good tactic this time of year is using flies on a spinning outfit. Get some wooly buggers and casting bubbles. I like using about 2 to 3 feet of tapered fly line leading to the casting bubble. On lakes, this should give you lots of range to explore for trout. It’s not a bad way to troll, either.

This past weekend, my family fished the Williams area lakes. All the anglers I talked to had the best catches at Dogtown, which to me is also the prettiest. But Kaibab was recently stocked and should be producing. Other lakes to try include Ashurst, Knoll, Bear Canyon, Woods Canyon, Willow Springs, Big Lake and Crescent Lake.

Be sure to mark Oct. 1 on your calendar for the opening of the catch-and-release only section of Silver Creek for rainbow trout and native Apache trout, and Oct. 3 for the historic opening of the first-ever catch-and-release roundtail chub fishery at Fossil Creek. Take the General Crook Trail off I-17 and watch for the signs just before the steep incline going up the Mogollon Rim.

Get out and enjoy these milder autumn fishing days. Maybe I’ll see you out there.

If the warm weather holds, this weekend should provide a good opportunity for night fishing. Try for crappie at Roosevelt, Alamo and Bartlett. Nighttime striper action should still be decent at Pleasant, Mead, Mohave and Havasu.
It also looks like the north country may have periodic thunderstorms popping up, which can actually accelerate the bite at times. But get away from the water when lightning bolts are lighting up the sky. Also, the elk are in the leading edge of the rut, so listen for bugles in the forest, especially at first and last light. You might even hear or see jousting bull elk clashing antlers.

It’s sure been a strange year for weather — our monsoons coming in June, August and September? Keeps life interesting. It will be nice to go into the autumn season with saturated soils in most high country areas. Hope that equates to a spectacular autumn color display coming soon to a mountain near you.
For the warmwater lakes, when the cumulous clouds pile up in the sky and the barometer dips, fishing action can accelerate, especially at the surface. Not sure how much the weather folks are expecting along the desert lakes, but it looks like sporadic T-storm action is possible.
Roosevelt and Alamo are providing some of the best action right now, but fish activity levels should be picking up at all the lakes, so just pick your favorite and go.
Don’t forget about that the first-ever Fossil Creek roundtail chub fishery opens on Oct. 3 (see pic on the right). It’s catch-and-relese, single barbless-hook only. Come join us for the historic event at this unique stream that has played such an integral part in Arizona’s history and development.

Also, the catch-and-release-only section of Silver Creek opens on Oct. 1, so put that on your fishing calendar as well.

One of my favorite fall lakes is Powell, where it is possible to catch so many fish on topwater that your arms and shoulders hurt from reeling them into the boat. Also for you photogs, the changing angle of the sun in autumn helps bring out the subtle hues in the layers of sandstone decorating hoodoos, buttes, mesas, plateaus and precipitous canyon walls.
Another spot of sandstone scenic beauty where you can catch lots of fish in a desert solitaire experience is Lake Mead, where millions of years of the Earth’s geological history are often on up-ended display.
So get out and have a scenic fishing adventure. Maybe I’ll see you out there.

Typically fish will feed more heavily when storms are visiting the state, and can become less active on those blue-bird stays following such climatic events. However, since the days are getting shorter and the nights are typically getting cooler, this also means fish will be transitioning to fall feeding activities.

So even if the bite slows down temporarily, expect it to pick right back up again. Also on the positive side, the expected warmer clear weather should make being outdoors even more pleasant, especially in the high mountains.

Plus, with Labor Day weekend behind us, fishing pressure and even recreational boating activities should slacken considerably.

My top choices for right now are the lakes with striped bass. Stripers can feed very aggressively at the surface this time of year, making them a ball to fish. But even then, sometimes they can be picky about the lures they will chase. Be prepared to try topwater first, then switch to shad-imitating crankbaits, spoons, jerkbaits or whatever. A good rule of thumb is to try and mimic the size of shad the stripers are chasing.

The lakes to try for stripers include Havasu, Pleasant, Mead, Mohave and Powell. If the weather patterns follow as predicted this weekend, fishing conditions on the giant reservoirs might be terrific. Storms, wind and waves can make the huge reservoirs a challenge, to say the least.

Roosevelt holds lots of potential action right now, but be versatile and keep moving until you find the action. Some anglers are doing well at times with buzzbaits, which can be an absolute ball. Be sure to have a second pole rigged with a flutter-down bait for those bass that strike short of the buzzer.
With the moon in its last quarter in Sept. 11 and a new moon on Sept. 18, fishing at night should still be pretty viable under lights.

Also, with less moisture in the air this weekend (according to weather predictions), the night sky over our desert and mountain lakes should provide a star-studded spectacular for nighttime anglers. Binoculars on a boat at night can get you up close and personal with the heavenly bodies, in between catching fish that is.
With autumn just around the corner, we are entering one of the best times to fish, and certainly one of the most scenic times of year, especially in the high country.

This past weekend, we heard bull elk just starting to bugle in the mountains at last light – this is the leading edge of the rut. So get away from the sound pollution and listen to the twilight forest sounds.

You should see sport-fish activities increase at all our desert impoundments, but Roosevelt, Bartlett, Pleasant and Alamo will likely have the some of the best action for the interior lakes.

Some angler have done well lately at Saguaro Lake, but it might have lots of recreational boaters out for the last major weekend of summer.

Apache Lake has not been getting much pressure, so it might be a good get-away-from-the-crowds place for Labor Day weekend. The few reports we have gotten indicate decent fishing for yellow bass (use gold KastMasters) and largemouth bass. The smallmouth bass have not come back yet.

Another option right now is to fish at night for catfish from the shore. With the full moon, catfish could be feeding actively. Try any stink baits, such as chicken liver. Hot dogs and corn can also work.

Also, bluegills are very active at most of the lakes. Get a couple of containers of meal worms, use small No. 10 or 12 hooks under a bobber, and sit back and play Huck Finn along a shoreline someplace. Great for the kids, or those who just want to feel like one again.

Mead and Powell should top the charts for the Colorado River impoundments, but Havasu can vie for top honors on just about any day.

By the way, a night fisherman at Roosevelt recently hit a 100-crappie night, so watch the rise-and-set times for the moon and you might find a window for some better fishing possibilities.

The Labor Day weekend will likely be the last major rush for the high mountain lakes, and if the storms materialize, trout activity patterns should pick up as well.

The lakes along the Mogollon Rim are always a nice option – not too far a drive for most, and lots of fishing opportunities. Farther afield, Big Lake and Crescent Lake are a good combo – if fish aren’t biting at one, they might be biting at the neighbor lake.

Believe it or not, this is typically the slow time for angler pressure at Lees Ferry, but the fishing is really pretty good. If you want to escape the crowds yet still have a quality fishing experience, this might be it.

Go catch some memories.

Sport-fish especially will start feeding more aggressively to put on fat before winter conditions arrive. For anglers at the desert lakes, this can result in some pretty dramatic topwater fishing at times as bass chase shad at the surface. Lake Powell is experiencing lots of that right now (see the Powell report below). But some version of that will also be occurring at other warmwater lakes.

We have received some nice reports of anglers loading up on bluegills at some lakes. This might be one of the best times of year to take the kids out and fish worms (especially dillies) or even corn under a bobber, especially in the backs of rocky coves, for bluegills. Canyon, Saguaro and Apache can all be bluegill heaven at times.

This is also a transition time in the high country lakes. Those lakes should be cooling down a little each day, and the trout should start feeding more aggressively. It’s a slow but steady process. As the trout become more active, lures such as spinners and casting spoons can become more effective than bottom fishing with prepared baits. If you have a two-pole stamp, try both techniques to see which one provides the most fish (and fun).

So act like the fish and ease into an autumn state of mind while still catching some summer memories out there.

Remember, each day will be around 2 minutes shorter, and the nights a corresponding two minutes longer. Plus nighttime temperatures are falling. All of this will combine to slowly reduce the water temperatures in our lakes. Dropping water temperatures can get the fish to feeding more actively. It can be a slow and gradual process, but sometimes sport-fish will have dramatic feeding frenzies as well.

Also, with the possibility of moisture coming into the state this weekend, we could actually see fish getting more active in the warmwater and coldwater fisheries. We’ll see what happens.
Anglers have reported that buzzbaits at Bartlett have been working pretty much all day. That most likely means other topwater baits might work as well. Hopefully, this will be the leading edge of the great topwater action, not just at Bartlett, but at the other lakes .
I have heard from a few anglers at Pleasant that there is plenty of action at the surface, but they are having trouble catching the fish. Sometimes, small stripers or young-of-the-year bass will just hit lures without getting hooked. Try downsizing, such as using quarter-ounce KastMasters, and retrieving them like crankbaits. There are also some smaller topwater lures and jerkbaits that might work as well.

A group of anglers reported a striper bonanza near the elevation marker heading up the Agua Fria Arm. Check out the report below.

I am pleased to pass along an angler report for Patagonia Lake in southern Arizona, although he did not leave his name. The lake is full, and there is some topwater action for largemouth bass, and the sunfish are biting on meal worms for the kids. Thanks for the report, there has been a long silence from anglers down that way providing positive information.

We are also not hearing a lot from anglers in the Williams or Flagstaff areas. With the cooler nights, trout fishing should be picking up right now. Let us know how you are doing.

This is a great time to go for crayfish in the high country lakes – most lakes have way too many. Crayfish are easy and fun to catch, plus are superb eating. They are not native to the state, so please go out and catch and eat all you can to help the environment.

I am hearing great things out of night fishing at Saguaro Lake – lots of multiple-species bags (like last spring), but the bass are getting larger and more prevalent in the creel. Super to see.

This is the last quarter of the moon and after Wednesday night, the tail end of the Perseids meteor showers, and each day is almost two minutes shorter. But all in all these factors add up to a good time to go night fishing, even in the high mountain lakes.

Check out the Lake Powell Report. My friend Wayne Gusteaveson provides detailed striped fishing tips for right now that you can set your watch to.

There are some reports out of Mead talking about 100-striper nights using frozen anchovies. Long way to go some many of us, but sounds worth it. I really ejoy fishing Mead with its millions of years of geology exposed in layers of colorful sandstone, often in uplifted and topsy-turvy fashion like a giant child had had a temper tantrum and stomped around the landscrape.

I haven’t heard much from Mohave, other than the bighorn sheep watching in the Willow Beach Area has been phenomenal. One of our information guys, Zen Mocarski, got terrific photos this year of rams butting heads. I think he needs to take me out on the water to provide you folks a first-hand report.

The bighorns are still in the rut. It is possible to see bighorns bumping heads. It’s high wildlife drama. Great sound effects. Better than anything you’ll see on TV, even in high def on a big screen with Dolby surround sound. You’d be surprised at how bearable the extra dry heat is — it’s like a dry martini where you just waft the cork of the Vermouth across the top of the glass. Yet the water temps can be 50 degrees colder — your body can go into shock if you jump in the water. But that also means a ready source of cold water to scoop up in your hat or to cool (chill actually) your feet.

Haven’t heard much out of Bartlett recently, even though a friend fished there (where’ my report?).  But Bartlett is very high for this time of year, which is a blessing and sometimes a challenge. Often when the lakes is slowly going down, it acts as a catalyst for the late summper and early autumn topwater bite. With back-to-back high water years and associated good spawns, maybe it won’t matter as much this year having the fish more dispersed. We’ll have to wait and see. But I fully expect it to start turning on soon.

We are hearing lots of super success stories from Roosevelt, but others report not being able to dial in the action. This lake is so huge, with some much submerged vegetation, that it isn’t surprising. You could very easily be at the wrong spot at the wrong time and not hit the bite. Conversely, if you keep trying you are just as likely to hit the jack pot. Stay versatile and mobile to find the good bite my friends. It’s probably happening someplace on the lake, or at some depth.

Here’s a hoot — I got a call from an angler floating the Lower Salt River below Saguaro Lake who not only caught some nice bass, catfish and bluegill, but one nice 15-inch trout as well. With the higher than normal flows in the Salt this summer, could we possible get some holdover trout from last season’s stockings to fish this fall? Could be. It’s got my attention.

Not to get off the subject, well, maybe a little, but I am amazed at how many fat white-winged doves I am seeing, and having to avoid with my truck while passing any area with cured-on-the-stem grasses and other seed sources. If they stick around for the Sept. 1 dove opener, a lot of us will be walking around grinning ear to ear for some time. Normally, the larger adult white-winged doves head south right before the season gong sounds and we end up with mostly smaller ones, with lots of resident Mourning doves. Be sure to stock up on lots of low-base shotgun shells.

Okay, back to fishing. With most youngsters heading back to school, we typicaly see a significant drop off in fishing activity at the mountain lakes. So if you are looking to avoid the summer crowds, it might just be time to go. The Rim lakes are tough to beat (except Black Canyon), and the White Mountains are alluring.

Also, I heard that fishing really picked up at one of my favorites, Crescent Lake, this past weekend. Who knows if the bite will hold — last weekend’s much milder weather may have had something to do with increased fish activitiy there. Then again, maybe not. It’s certainly worth exploring. The worst that can happen is you have to drive 10 minutes away to Big Lake to catch some nice trout.

All in all, the wonderful snow pack in the high country this last winter, coupled with a superbly cool and wet June, really put us into summer looking good, despite the fact that it has been a relatively dry summer. We just need August to go out with a monsoon roar (without chasing the whitewings away). I don’t know if it is too late for the mushrooms or not, but I suspect it is.

The days are now almost two minutes shorter with each day that passes. So go out and catch some summer memories whilte they last, and get ready to experience autumn (oil up the .22 for squirrel hunting). Maybe I’ll see you out there.

It’s not that the fish won’t be feeding at night — they may feed with a vengeance. But those using submersible lights to attract fish might be sorely disappointed, especially when Luna is high and bright.

However, predator fish do like to hunt when the on moon-bright nights, as do many terrestrial predators. There are three keys — vibration, scent, and silhouette. Or if fishing for stripers, add chumming to the mix.

Don’t forget the Perseids meteor showers should be getting better each night as we approach Aug. 12, which is expected to be their climax; check out the notification below.

News Flash: POSSIBLE PERSEID METEOR OUTBURST: This year’s Perseid meteor shower could be even better than usual.  According to NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, a  filament of comet dust has drifted across Earth’s path and when Earth passes through it, sometime between 0800 and 0900 UT (1 – 2 am PDT) on Aug. 12, the Perseid meteor rate could surge to twice its normal value.  Check http://spaceweather.comfor details and observing tips.
You can certainly go out and buy a whole bunch of specific lures for night fishing. Think of it as stimulating the economy. Or, you can save your money (to pay for boat gas and go more often), and modify your existing lures. Think BLACK. Black lures show up in the water better, especially on moon bright nights (get a can of flat black spray paint, or glossy if you are flamboyant).

If you are using something like a spinner, maybe increase the size of the blade, or go with a blade design that puts more vibration in the water. I once took a buzzbait and added a trailing micro Mepps spinner as a trailer. It worked like a bass calling device at times and even attracted some slabber crappies

Bring lots of scent. There used to be a cadre of old timers from Sun City at Lake Pleasant who would routinely spray their lures with WD 40 while fishing for white bass. Time and time again, they proved to me that it did make a difference. Scent works.
Largemouth bass especially attack by sight, but are attracted by vibration and scent.

Also, have a backup plan, or really, a backup rod or two, or three. Well, maybe four or five. Six or more is just an extravant confusion at night that can get you tangled in cussing despair.

A lot of times the vibrating lure, the topwater splasher or whatever will attract the bass, and they might even slap at the lure. But they won’t always get hooked. Have a flutter-down bait ready to throw. It can be a spoon, spinner, soft plastic (like a Senko), or even a curly-tail jig. Simply toss it in where the strike had occurred, and let the bait flutter to the bottom.

Even if you don’t get the bass that hit your lure, you might get one of his buddies, or even that big old lazy hawg opportunistically hanging around the bottom gulping up sinking body parts or wounded prey species from the more frenzied action of others. Kind of like the wily older veteran congressmen who sit back let the rookies stir the political pot.
Plan two – searching the bottom for less active bass.

Personally, I like Texas-rigged lizards or even Carolina-rigged worms for working the bottom when bass are holding deep, even at night. Rattling spider jigs are my idea of sheer fishing fun. But I freely admit that the good drop-shot guys often out-fish me, sometimes to the point of embarrassment (which is when I switch methods). There are those other times when they catch lots of smaller fish, and I am shopping at lunker city. You never know. Be versatile my friends.
Okay, enough on the bass front. As the thermometer throbs, I hear the cool pines calling like irresistible mountain sirens luring me to fishing delight. When the high pressure dips, especially when T-bumpers start piling up along the orographic uplift caused by the Mogollon Rim or other terrain features, the trout usually come out of their summer lethargy and start feeding aggressively. So will the bass at places like Willow Springs Lake. The sweet part about Willow Springs, Fool Hollow and Show Low lakes is that you can have your bass and eat trout too.
So dip into some monsoon mountain magic to wash the heat out of the pores of your mind and the depths of your soul. It will give you that wonderful cat-ate-the-canary smile your co-workers won’t quite understand in the weeks to come, well, unless you are like me and can’t resist sharing fishing tales.
Or plan three is to be visit Lees Ferry for some world-class summer fishing most anglers ignore, but alas, it appears the cicada song is in essence sung at the Ferry right now — you (and I) may have to wait until next year for that — again (drats).

Cicadas or not, there is a certain wind and rain sculptured, colored sandstone mystique about Lees Ferry that is not matched by any place I have ever fished, well, except maybe Lake Powell. But the often deep canyon shadows contrasting with the brightly illuminated and time etched red sandstone cliffs of the Marble Canyon Gorge will help  you experience the geologic ages, right before experiencing the thrill of a muscled wild rainbow dancing on the end of your line in the fast current.

But I don’t care who you are, that’s a world-class angling experience that can make your soul greedy for more in the ensuring decades.
Or go get exquisitely lonely at Mead or Powell. Millions of people in ant-like progression might visit those lakes, but are funneled to very specific locales. There are hundreds of miles of picturesuqe empty shoreline just begging for fishing exploration. You might not ever see another angler yet fill your creel with exciting action.

Also imagine if you will catching so many hard-fighting fish in the morning that you wonder if your arms and shoulders will be too sore to fish the afternoon bite, but you do it anyway with a grimace and a smile then have to take over-the-counter pain and inflamation medications to do it all over again the next day.
So go out and catch some smile-producing memories this summer. Maybe I’ll see you out there.

Here’s an angler report for an area we don’t have in the fishing report, even though it is just downstream a fair ways from Buffalo Crossing on the Black River, so I put it here for your enjoyment.

Hi Rory,

I just got back from fishing the Black River this weekend. A couple
friends and I backpacked in to the confluence of Fish Creek and the
Black River, just northwest of Hannagan Meadow. It was our first
time here.

In basically 1 day, I caught 10 browns, 4 rainbows, a smallmouth
bass, and probably 8 of the fish in the attached picture. The
largest fish was about a 10 inch brown. Most fish were 5-8 inches
big. I thought this area was supposed to be clear of the browns and have Apache trout.

Is the fish in the picture a Roundtail Chub? If not, what is it. I
never seen one before. The croaked at you when taking the hook out,
similar to a channel catfish.

Thanks,

Dean Rohwer

PS. Dean sent a follow up e-mail saying he saw lots of wildlife. “I saw about 10 deer, 2 turkeys, a rattlesnake, 5 garter snakes, 2 skunks, 2 adult osprey and one juvenile that I got close to and took this attached picture. I even saw a Coati on the drive home, which was the first of those I ever saw.”

It’s not that the fish won’t be feeding at night — they may feed with a vengeance. But those using submersible lights to attract fish might be sorely disappointed, especially when Luna is high and bright.

However, predator fish do like to hunt when the on moon-bright nights, as do many terrestrial predators. There are three keys — vibration, scent, and silhouette. Or if fishing for stripers, add chumming to the mix.

Don’t forget the Perseids meteor showers should be getting better each night as we approach Aug. 12, which is expected to be their climax; check out the notification below.

News Flash: POSSIBLE PERSEID METEOR OUTBURST: This year’s Perseid meteor shower could be even better than usual.  According to NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, a  filament of comet dust has drifted across Earth’s path and when Earth passes through it, sometime between 0800 and 0900 UT (1 – 2 am PDT) on Aug. 12, the Perseid meteor rate could surge to twice its normal value.  Checkhttp://spaceweather.comfor details and observing tips.
You can certainly go out and buy a whole bunch of specific lures for night fishing. Think of it as stimulating the economy. Or, you can save your money (to pay for boat gas and go more often), and modify your existing lures.Think BLACK. Black lures show up in the water better, especially on moon bright nights (get a can of flat black spray paint, or glossy if you are flamboyant).

If you are using something like a spinner, maybe increase the size of the blade, or go with a blade design that puts more vibration in the water. I once took a buzzbait and added a trailing micro Mepps spinner as a trailer. It worked like a bass calling device at times and even attracted some slabber crappies

Bring lots of scent. There used to be a cadre of old timers from Sun City at Lake Pleasant who would routinely spray their lures with WD 40 while fishing for white bass. Time and time again, they proved to me that it did make a difference. Scent works.
Largemouth bass especially attack by sight, but are attracted by vibration and scent.

Also, have a backup plan, or really, a backup rod or two, or three. Well, maybe four or five. Six or more is just an extravant confusion at night that can get you tangled in cussing despair.

A lot of times the vibrating lure, the topwater splasher or whatever will attract the bass, and they might even slap at the lure. But they won’t always get hooked. Have a flutter-down bait ready to throw. It can be a spoon, spinner, soft plastic (like a Senko), or even a curly-tail jig. Simply toss it in where the strike had occurred, and let the bait flutter to the bottom.

Even if you don’t get the bass that hit your lure, you might get one of his buddies, or even that big old lazy hawg opportunistically hanging around the bottom gulping up sinking body parts or wounded prey species from the more frenzied action of others. Kind of like the wily older veteran congressmen who sit back let the rookies stir the political pot.
Plan two – searching the bottom for less active bass.

Personally, I like Texas-rigged lizards or even Carolina-rigged worms for working the bottom when bass are holding deep, even at night. Rattling spider jigs are my idea of sheer fishing fun. But I freely admit that the good drop-shot guys often out-fish me, sometimes to the point of embarrassment (which is when I switch methods). There are those other times when they catch lots of smaller fish, and I am shopping at lunker city. You never know. Be versatile my friends.
Okay, enough on the bass front. As the thermometer throbs, I hear the cool pines calling like irresistible mountain sirens luring me to fishing delight. When the high pressure dips, especially when T-bumpers start piling up along the orographic uplift caused by the Mogollon Rim or other terrain features, the trout usually come out of their summer lethargy and start feeding aggressively. So will the bass at places like Willow Springs Lake. The sweet part about Willow Springs, Fool Hollow and Show Low lakes is that you can have your bass and eat trout too.
So dip into some monsoon mountain magic to wash the heat out of the pores of your mind and the depths of your soul. It will give you that wonderful cat-ate-the-canary smile your co-workers won’t quite understand in the weeks to come, well, unless you are like me and can’t resist sharing fishing tales.
Or plan three is to be visit Lees Ferry for some world-class summer fishing most anglers ignore, but alas, it appears the cicada song is in essence sung at the Ferry right now — you (and I) may have to wait until next year for that — again (drats).

Cicadas or not, there is a certain wind and rain sculptured, colored sandstone mystique about Lees Ferry that is not matched by any place I have ever fished, well, except maybe Lake Powell. But the often deep canyon shadows contrasting with the brightly illuminated and time etched red sandstone cliffs of the Marble Canyon Gorge will help  you experience the geologic ages, right before experiencing the thrill of a muscled wild rainbow dancing on the end of your line in the fast current.

But I don’t care who you are, that’s a world-class angling experience that can make your soul greedy for more in the ensuring decades.
Or go get exquisitely lonely at Mead or Powell. Millions of people in ant-like progression might visit those lakes, but are funneled to very specific locales. There are hundreds of miles of picturesuqe empty shoreline just begging for fishing exploration. You might not ever see another angler yet fill your creel with exciting action.

Also imagine if you will catching so many hard-fighting fish in the morning that you wonder if your arms and shoulders will be too sore to fish the afternoon bite, but you do it anyway with a grimace and a smile then have to take over-the-counter pain and inflamation medications to do it all over again the next day.
So go out and catch some smile-producing memories this summer. Maybe I’ll see you out there.

Here’s an angler report for an area we don’t have in the fishing report, even though it is just downstream a fair ways from Buffalo Crossing on the Black River, so I put it here for your enjoyment.

Hi Rory,

I just got back from fishing the Black River this weekend. A couple
friends and I backpacked in to the confluence of Fish Creek and the
Black River, just northwest of Hannagan Meadow. It was our first
time here.

In basically 1 day, I caught 10 browns, 4 rainbows, a smallmouth
bass, and probably 8 of the fish in the attached picture. The
largest fish was about a 10 inch brown. Most fish were 5-8 inches
big. I thought this area was supposed to be clear of the browns and have Apache trout.

Is the fish in the picture a Roundtail Chub? If not, what is it. I
never seen one before. The croaked at you when taking the hook out,
similar to a channel catfish.

Thanks,

Dean Rohwer

PS. Dean sent a follow up e-mail saying he saw lots of wildlife. “I saw about 10 deer, 2 turkeys, a rattlesnake, 5 garter snakes, 2 skunks, 2 adult osprey and one juvenile that I got close to and took this attached picture. I even saw a Coati on the drive home, which was the first of those I ever saw.”

While fishing the high country trout waters, I was often back in camp having breakfast at around 6 a.m. after the bite was over. If you can see your shadow on the ground while ambling to the fishing hole, you might have risen a little too late for the more aggressive bite. My suggestion is to take a nap after it gets too hot to fish.
However, if I am interpreting the weather report correctly, it is possible on any given day to have some sporadic thunderstorms pelting the pine-clad mountains. It’s a toss of the proverbial dice, but if you are in the high country and a storm brews up, wake up from your nap, grab your fishing pole and go. But please, don’t fish during a lightning storm. Even fishing isn’t worth risking your life for (at least that is what my wife tells me each time).

But this is also prime time for high country warmwater fish like bass, or cool water fish such as walleye. My top four favorites are Show Low Lake, Fool Hollow Lake, Willow Springs Lake and Upper Lake Mary. At the first three, fish for trout at first light. Go back to camp and have a leisurely breakfast, maybe a nap in the cool pines, then hit the water again in the afternoon for some bass action. Try topwater first, then switch to worms either Texas-rigged or drop-shot style. Another bet is Ashurst for trout in the morning and pike on inline spinners such as Rooster Tails the rest of the day.

Last light can also be a good time to fish, especially in the warmwater lakes. On a lot of summer days, you’ll find shad busting the surface while being chased by bass as the sunk sinks into the western horizon. Be prepared with topwater lures, shallow-running crankbaits, soft plastic jerkbaits or even casting spoons. Use sporadic retrieves to mimic wounded or dying shad.

But until the monsoon-generated storms routinely drop the barometer and also help cool things down, the best fishing might just be at night for most anglers, especially in the desert lakes. It’s time to turn nocturnal, which isn’t all bad considering how hot it is getting. This is the last quarter of the waning moon, so your submersible fishing lights should work okay. The new moon is July 21. However, I have always like the silver of moon nights to fish. For practical reasons. A little bit of light helps seeing your way around the boat. Besides, it’s doggone pretty in the sky.

By the way, mark your calendar now for Aug. 12. That is expected to be the peak of the Perseids meteor shower. It will be one of the most spectacular nights to be fishing. Seeing streaking meteors reflected in the water, especially at the high country reservoirs such as Big Lake, is a thrilling experience.

Since I am a little off-topic anyway, a friend went to the White Mountains recently and got terrific photographs of wildlife, including lots of elk. Try back country roads at first and last light or during monsoons (sound familiar).
Back to fishing. This time of year, fish will often hold deep. So fish the bottom. In the trout lakes, Power Bait, night crawlers, corn or possibly salmon eggs might work okay. Use slip sinkers so your bait can float up off the bottom a little. Also try crayfish-like lures (small ones), such as crickhoppers and the like. Rebel makes some small crayfish cranks that can be devastating for mountain smallmouth bass in places like Willow Springs, Black River or the Upper Verde River.

Also, if you hear the cicadas buzzing, go catch some (or get the kids to catch them). I have seen trout fighting over cicadas where minutes before they were ignoring worms and the like. Live grasshoppers can also produce interesting results. Or for you fly anglers, mimic the cicadas or hoppers.

By the way, the cicadas are singing at Lees Ferry. The lastest words is that the bite is not “on fire” but they are have having lots of fun with it. Even spin anglers can use cicada flies worked on casting or sink floats, whether at the Ferry, the lakes or local streams. Just ask your local tackle shop. They should have some. Kids can even use them on cane poles or with a regular bobber, just use a two-foot or so leader. You can even read about fishing with cicadas in the recent edition of “Arizona Wildlife Views.” Our new art director did a terrific job turning flies into musical notes to accompany cicada singing.

Don’t miss it.

So go catch some summer memories. Maybe I’ll see you out there.

By the way, Tempe Town Lake has some pretty decent bass fishing, has plenty of yellow bass (use gold KastMasters), the lake is loaded with sunfish, and the shallow water makes it catfish heaven.

The full moon is July 7, which means this will be a pretty time to be on the water at night, but don’t expect your submersible lights to work as well. Check the moon rise and set times though.

Also, with moisture coming in from the Gulf (we used to call this monsoon season), the weather service is saying there is a good chance each day for thunderstorms and rain showers. These storms can make fishing in the desert and mountain lakes pretty good, but you also need to exercise caution and not be caught on or near the water during lightning events.

When the clouds build up and the barometer starts to drop, fish will typically begin actively feeding, sometimes at the surface. For our desert lakes, look for topwater action to pick up. In the mountain lakes, switch from bottom fishing to top-of-the-water-column techniques. Dry flies for fly fishermen and things like spinners, Rapalas, casting spoons (like KastMasters) and even flies on casting floats for spin anglers. When the rain starts, it can knock bugs out of the air, so bug-like lures can be devastating.

If you have kids, get them to catch grasshoppers in the meadows. A wiggling hopper on a small hook (I like a No. can drive trout nuts, especially in the gurgling streams. Also, listen for cicadas at home or in the forest. These little rascals can also drive trout and bass nuts. It’s a blast.

Also, when those mountain thunder bumpers gather, the wildlife can also get active. It’s a great time to slowly drive narrow mountain dirt roads looking for elk, deer, turkey and other critters. But be bear aware — keep a clean camp, and be sure to wash away all fish smells from your body before going to bed at night. If you eat s’mores, be sure you and the kids wash up thoroughly. You don’t want to smell like a nighttime treat for a hungry bear (or even a skunk).

Be sure to put on plenty of insect repellent, no matter where you fish.

I hear from Terry Gunn at Lees Ferry that the cicadas are starting to sing so this is the leading edge of the cicada bite right now. Fishing the Ferry in summer can be a hoot. Your upper torso can be sweating while your legs are turning numb from the cold water. It’s an Arizona fishing adventure just waiting to tantalize you in summer. A wild and rambunctious rainbow attacking a cicada at the surface will get your heart racing.

Also in the northern hinterlands, the great topwater bite is underway at Lake Powell. It’s time to hit the  “slurps.”

July nights are perfect for going after those bottom dwellers either from shore or boat. Use slip sinkers, treble hooks, and corn, hot dogs or stink bait (live chicken liver).

Please do everyone a favor — don’t drink alchohol and operate a boat. Our lakes are just too congested to have any impaired judgment or reflexes. Add in sun, boat vibration, and other things that numb the senses and you have a prescription for disaster. Don’t risk your life or anyone else’s. On the flip side, if you insist on drinking and boating, we’ll do our best to catch you and the consequences are dire. We are operating OUI checkpoints on some of the lakes. I don’t mean to be a safety pest, but please put on that PFD — it might just save your life.

On a lighter note, I will be gone this coming week (fishing the White Mountains, northern New Mexico and Colorado), but my good buddy and able co-worker Jim Harken will be filling in for me to assemble the report. But I’ll try to put together some tips before I leave. Maybe I’ll get to see you while I am fishing out there — could happen.

Had an interesting episode last week right in the Game and Fish HQ parking lot. A boat that had been on Lake Pleasant for 10 years was pulled out, but it was too tall to go down the freeway. They parked it in our parking lot. This boat was not only full of quagga mussels, it had the largest most mature quagga mussels any of us have seen coming from an Arizona lake. Folks, please Don’t Move A Mussel. Clear, dry and drain you boat each time you visit a lake, any lake. If you have a boat moored at a qugga infested lake, such as Pleasant, Mead, Mohave or Havasu, you need to take extra steps and have the hull and other submerged sufaces hit with a high pressure, high temperature power washer — by those who know what they are doing.

Well, it’s back to triple-digits in the deserts, so either try some night fishing or escape to the high cool pines. Or maybe even check you sanity at the launch ramp and brave the heat for daytime topwater action in the blistering sunshine.

This weekend marks the first-quarter of the moon, so using submersible lights for night fishing will be viable. Not hearing a lot of great crappie reports, but the night striper fishing has been phenomenal at places like Mead, Mohave, Havasu and to a lesser degree, Lake Pleasant. Frozen anchovies are by far the bait of choice — use little or no weight and about one-third of an anchovy on a hook (I prefer the circle kind for better hooksets).

At Lake Powell, it’s daytime fishing for stripers. In fact, the striper boils have started in earnest and you can find them actively chasing shad at the surface from dawn until the wind starts blowing. Catching 30 to 100-plus stripers is not uncommon. Please catch and keep all you can. Yep, that’s right, no limit on how many you can keep or how much fun you can have doing it. Don’t ignore the plentiful smallmouth bass fishing opportunities or the delectable walleye.

For the high country, just pick your favorite tree-lined jewel and go. Willow Springs along the Mogollon Rim and Big Lake in the White Mountains have the most surface acreage, but more importantly, also offer the most diverse angling opportunities. You can even catch largemouth bass and smallmouth bass at Willow Springs and there are huge cutthroats at Big.

Anthony at Big Lake said rainbows and cutthroat trout fishing is great right now, but the brookies are few and far between. However, a 5.5-pound, 24-inch-long brown trout was caught recently. Anthony, who fishes the lakes at least two or three times a week, said the trout are still being caught in 5 to 15 feet of water. This could change, or not — the monsoon thunderstorms have started and if they keep going (and water temperatures stay cool), the trout may not be forced deep. Night crawlers and Power Bait are both working, but the trout are chasing minnows, so crankbaits like Rapalas are also working well. Thanks for the report Anthony, keep them coming.

Lesser known, tougher-to-reach lakes are Knoll and Bear Canyon, or if you are in really good shape, Chevelon Lake. I fished Knoll last week and had a ball. If you are willing to walk a ways there, you can almost always find some great fishing solitude where your closest fishing companion might be an osprey diving into the water for a trout. In fact, one angler recently got a nice picture of one.

I also recently fished Upper Lake Mary before and after some recent meetings in Flagstaff and did okay catching nice toothy pike and even a delectable walleye (didn’t have my ice chest, so had to release it). Also watched elk swimming in the lake. Not a bad way to spend the morning. Ashurts also has some big pike to catch, mostly by surprised trout anglers.

Woods Canyon Lake also draws lots of anglers, who in turn catch a lot of trout (from shore and boat). On Saturday morning following a night of welcome mountain rain singing us to sleep, there was a neat mist on the water and a chill in the air at first light. Made for interesting pictures and great fishing. By the way, we just did a lake clean up a few weeks ago in an effort to remove discarded fishing line because of the nesting pair of bald eagles. It was disheartening on Saturday morning to trip over lots of discarded line while photographing anglers in the mist. I picked up what I could. Please do the same.

This is also a good time of year to visit the Williams area lakes. Whitehorse, Dogtown and Kaibab are all quaint little trout lakes where your children can discover lots of adventures along the shoreline. These lakes are also loaded with crayfish.

By the way, take along a bucket for catch crayfish. Sometimes the craws can be as much fun to catch as the trout, they also provide superb fare for the gourmet table. Plus, you’ll be helping the environment — crayfish are not native to Arizona and we ask you to catch and eat all you can. Tough duty, but someone’s got to do it; Any volunteers?

Eating scruptious sweet summer corn, crayfish and fresh-caught trout around a roaring campfire while watching a blazing Arizona sunset lighting up the tall ponderosa pines will become emblazed on your mind (and taste buds) forever. So go catch some memories. Maybe I’ll see you out there. And for those I did see out there this past week, it was great sharing some fishing moments with you.

PS: Our Canyon Creek Hatchery stocked the following waters this week: Canyon Creek, Willow Springs Lake, Show Low Lake, Scotts Reservoir, Bunch Reservoir and Tunnel Reservoir.

Don’t forget that you can also get Dad out a week early on Saturday, June 13, which is  our second free fishing day, so it won’t cost you anything but a smile and some pocket change for bait.

Dad will grin from ear to ear after catching a toothy northern pike at Upper Lake Mary near Flagstaff. It’s the only high country lake in the pines where you can fire up the big boat motor and “be Some-buddy” as Andy Griffith would say — you aren’t required to use those woosie single-numeral put-puts. You can troll some Rapalas, spinners or Rat-L-Traps but if you really want bug-eyed monsters, try stocker-trout resembling swim baits. You can even get out the water skiis (different type of trolling).

Old coal-burning locomotives and dads are a natural weekend mix, so head over to Kaibab, Whitehorse or Dogtown near Williams, catch some trout in the morning, then take dad to the late-morning shoot-em-up at the Grand Canyon Railroad Station (every morning).

Or better yet, conduct dad to the vintage train for a clickety-clack excursion across the Colorado Plateau. Be sure to bribe the pistol-packin galoots to take his wallet at gunpoint when they hold up the 3:10 to Williams. Then take ol dad fishing in the evening when the train comes back from Pecos Bill’s giant irrigation ditch that people like to photograph so much.

Can’t get out of urbania? No sweat. Rattle dad out of the sheets at O-Dark-Thirty with a steaming cup of Joe to help pry his eyelids open, then scoot over to the Lower Salt River before all the beer-guzzling tubers get there so dad can catch feisty desert river trout in the cool current. If you have a canoe, so much the better. Of course, once the sun climbs high in the sky, a tube and suds might become irresistible. Make dad feel young again (don’t forget a big floppy hat and sunscreen).

There are also plenty of urban lakes to try. The Papago Ponds (near the Phoenix Zoo) are even a blue ribbon urban fishery — pretty unique stuff (that’s where my youngest boy caught his first bass at age 2).

Or better yet, load up the camping gear and treat your well-deserving dad to a mountain adventure in the high pines. Big Lake might test dad’s aging lungs, but cumulus puffballs drifting lazily by Mt. Baldy while large cutthroat trout fight for the privilege making daddy-o smile will lift everyone’s spirits higher than an osprey soaring in the marmalade-colored sky.

Maybe amble down to the East or West Forks of Black River for some golden therapy catching native Apache trout along quick gurgling runs. Put a cane pole in dad’s hand with a wiggling worm on the hook and the years will magically peel back like shucking an ear of sweet summer corn. He’ll feel like he’s cavorting with Huck and Tom again at Sam’s favorite fishin’ hole.

It’s never too late for a Powell Houseboat surprise — he’ll always remember the world-class fishing for striped bass, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass and largemouth bass while experiencing some of the most spectacular sceneary on Earth. It will become a well-thumbed page in his revered book of memories.

Does dad like to fly fish? It doesn’t get much better than a guided trip to Lees Ferry. That will put the twinkle back in his eyes (yours too). It’s another experience for the ages.

Or go catch some trout along Casino Row in Laughlin, saddle up to a big buffet for lunch, and then sneak pops into one of those revealing show spectaculars that might make mom frown a bit (if she knows about it).

Dad might want to go fishing for crappie at night (waning quarter moon on Saturday). Three good choices: Bartlett, Roosevelt or Alamo. But night striper fishing can be a trip, try Pleasant, Havasu or Mead.

So get dad out this weekend and build some memories. If my wife reads these tips maybe I’ll see you out there.

PS: Thank you to Sun City Chuck (sorry, forgot your last name) for the loan of a Zara Puppy on Wednesday morning when I found myself with a fishing emergency and only trout gear in my truck (although that white spinner got me two stripers in quick order). It was my privilege and honor to teach you how to walk-the-dog to catch marauding bass, even from shore — it’s a hoot, isn’t it. Trolling live shad will never seem quite as adventuresome again. Remember, walk the dog at first and last light, then walk your bait along. Good luck guys.

I should mention that Saturday is also our second free fishing day, so it won’t cost you anything but a smile and some pocket change for bait.

Dad will grin from ear to ear after catching a toothy northern pike at Upper Lake Mary near Flagstaff. It’s the only high country lake in the pines where you can fire up the big boat motor and “be Some-buddy” as Andy Griffith would say — you aren’t required to use those woosie single-numeral put-puts. You can troll some Rapalas, spinners or Rat-L-Traps but if you really want bug-eyed monsters, try stocker-trout resembling swim baits. You can even get out the water skiis (different type of trolling).

Old coal-burning locomotives and dads are a natural weekend mix, so head over to Kaibab, Whitehorse or Dogtown near Williams, catch some trout in the morning, then take dad to the late-morning shoot-em-up at the Grand Canyon Railroad Station (every morning).

Or better yet, conduct dad to the vintage train for a clickety-clack excursion across the Colorado Plateau. Be sure to bribe the pistol-packin galoots to take his wallet at gunpoint when they hold up the 3:10 to Williams. Then take ol dad fishing in the evening when the train comes back from Pecos Bill’s giant irrigation ditch that people like to photograph so much.

Can’t get out of urbania? No sweat. Rattle dad out of the sheets at O-Dark-Thirty with a steaming cup of Joe to help pry his eyelids open, then scoot over to the Lower Salt River before all the beer-guzzling tubers get there so dad can catch feisty desert river trout in the cool current. If you have a canoe, so much the better. Of course, once the sun climbs high in the sky, a tube and suds might become irresistible. Make dad feel young again (don’t forget a big floppy hat and sunscreen).

There are also plenty of urban lakes to try. The Papago Ponds (near the Phoenix Zoo) are even a blue ribbon urban fishery — pretty unique stuff (that’s where my youngest boy caught his first bass at age 2).

Or better yet, load up the camping gear and treat your well-deserving dad to a mountain adventure in the high pines. Big Lake might test dad’s aging lungs, but cumulus puffballs drifting lazily by Mt. Baldy while large cutthroat trout fight for the privilege making daddy-o smile will lift everyone’s spirits higher than an osprey soaring in the marmalade-colored sky.

Maybe amble down to the East or West Forks of Black River for some golden therapy catching native Apache trout along quick gurgling runs. Put a cane pole in dad’s hand with a wiggling worm on the hook and the years will magically peel back like shucking an ear of sweet summer corn. He’ll feel like he’s cavorting with Huck and Tom again at Sam’s favorite fishin’ hole.

It’s never too late for a Powell Houseboat surprise — he’ll always remember the world-class fishing for striped bass, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass and largemouth bass while experiencing some of the most spectacular sceneary on Earth. It will become a well-thumbed page in his revered book of memories.

Does dad like to fly fish? It doesn’t get much better than a guided trip to Lees Ferry. That will put the twinkle back in his eyes (yours too). It’s another experience for the ages.

Or go catch some trout along Casino Row in Laughlin, saddle up to a big buffet for lunch, and then sneak pops into one of those revealing show spectaculars that might make mom frown a bit (if she knows about it).

Dad might want to go fishing for crappie at night (waning quarter moon on Saturday). Three good choices: Bartlett, Roosevelt or Alamo. But night striper fishing can be a trip, try Pleasant, Havasu or Mead.

So get dad out this weekend and build some memories. If my wife reads these tips maybe I’ll see you out there.

PS: Thank you to Sun City Chuck (sorry, forgot your last name) for the loan of a Zara Puppy on Wednesday morning when I found myself with a fishing emergency and only trout gear in my truck (although that white spinner got me two stripers in quick order). It was my privilege and honor to teach you how to walk-the-dog to catch marauding bass, even from shore — it’s a hoot, isn’t it. Trolling live shad will never seem quite as adventuresome again. Remember, walk the dog at first and last light, then walk your bait along. Good luck guys.

There is a full moon on Sunday, June 7 and it looks like there is a low pressure system moving into the state — the barometer is dropping and it is expected to get cooler. These are good conditions for a late spring bite. either day or night, high country or desert impoundment.

For night fishing, use dark lures in the warmwater lakes, or escape to the cool high country for some moonlight trout. Or maybe hit Upper Lake Mary or Ashurst for some voracious pike at night slow-trolling small swim baits.

I heard from an old buddy, Don Martin in Kingman, that the night striper bite at Mead is rockin’. From past experience, submersible lights may not work to attract stripers at night when it is moon bright, but using a graph and chumming to hold schools of fish can also fill your livewells — whether it’s Mead, Mohave, Havasu, Powell or Pleasant.

It also sounds like the bite is really great at Lake Havasu for stripers, with some nice largemouth and smallmouth thrown in for good measure.

As usual, Roosevelt is also on fire — night or day, and for crappie, bass or catfish. No matter what your angling persuassion, it’s tough to beat Rosey right now. It’s going through what we call the “New Lake Syndrome,” so it is providing some of the best fishing in the Western United States. Don’t miss out.

As a side note, I had at a handful of anglers call the past couple of weeks to complain because I put in small updates on our online fising report periodically as I get information from folks, hatcheries or wherever (sometimes up to a dozen times a week). The complaints were from those who get the e-mailed version of the report. They were unhappy because they miss out on the latest info. Not exactly sure the best way to solve this issue, but Game and Fish is about to enter the Twitter world, so maybe that venue might work for updates. Let me know what you think (raikens@azgfd.gov). Nicely please, I have a fragile soul after way too many years of unfettered public input. Plus I haven’t had my self-prescribed dosage of fishing therapy recently (this weekend hopefully).

Back to the good stuff – crayfish. Craws, mud bugs or whatever you want to call them, it’s that time. Especially in the high country lakes. Crayfish aren’t native to Arizona, so help out our environment by catching and eating all the crayfish you can.

I still remember doing a radio interview with a station in Baton Rouge a few years ago. They were incredulous that we ask people to catch and eat all the crayfish they can and that we have no bag limits. The Cajun DJ just couldn’t fathom such a society; down there crayfish are raised commercially because they are over harvested in the wild for this like Etouffe.

It’s June, so typically this is the tail end of the best spring fishing in the high country. That might not be the case this year thanks to the strange weather patterns with a couple of weeks with monsoon-like weather. But regardless, the fishing is still great so make a mad dash to the pines as soon as you can before the Southwest solar cooker is turned up a few notches and the verdant high country green plants evolve to their mature crispy colors.

By the way, I chatted with a longtime forester who said the pine cone production this year after back-to-back years of good snowpack is unbelievable — he hasn’t seen anything like this since the early ’80s (the acorn reproduction will likely be phenomenal too). With the recent rains, some of the riparian areas of the forest already have mushrooms popping up here and there. This might be a superb year for tree squirrel reproduction. Nice for the kids and camping, even better for the fall with .22 rifles in hand. Squirrel and black bean burritoes in camp along with fresh caught lemon and cilantro trout can pop up taste buds you didn’t even know you have. Might as well add some crayfish for a gourmet camp treat.

I know this is a little off the fishing path, but when visiting places like Roosevelt and Bartlett, keep your eyes peeled for the coveys of quail. The Tonto Basin received some of its best winter rainfall in almost 30 years, and with the recent rainfall to help solidify things, it could be the Gambel’s quail capital of the known universe this fall. Start stocking up on those shotgun shells now and get ready for some excellent cast-n-blast trips this fall (espcially those of us who weren’t drawn for elk).

Well, let’s go farther off the fishing path — this is a superb time for watching high country wildlife. When hiking, stop, rest and listen (don’t talk). Carry binoculars and scan the forest for moving legs, flicking ears, or swishing tails. You’ll be surprised what you see. Or slowly partrol the back country dirt roads. You’ll pick up most wildlife through the corner of your eyes.

One last fishing tip — you won’t need a fishing license the next two Saturdays. Read the article below.

Enjoy. Maybe I’ll see you out there.

As usual the storm from last week really slowed down the Crappie.

Early last week I heard great reports on night fishing from San Carlos, Bartlett and Alamo. I had a customer show me pictures of the 140 he and three friends caught in a night at Roosevelt. Then came the storm.

In my experience, it takes Roosevelt 3 to 4 days after a storm for the Crappie bite to pick back up; it was proven to me again. A few of us from the Arizona Crappie Association had planned to night fish Rosey Saturday night, plus I had a first timer going with me and didn’t want to cancel. We fished from sundown to about 2:30 a.m. and caught only 4. The other boats that were with us did a little better but nothing more than 6 or 8. It was a long night with little action but it was beautiful out there. Nice weather and tons of stars.

Another friend hit Alamo and caught a bunch of little ones. I think he said he kept 12 that were nice and through back over 30 little guys. Not bad right after a storm.

One bait you really should check out is the “Slab Daddy” jigs at Bass Pro Shops. They come in 9 different colors in 1/32, 1/16 and 1/8 ounce. They swim great, look natural and hold scent well.

Now that the storms have gone and the temps are back to normal, night fishing for Crappie should be great. If you need any gear I’ll be working at BPS from 2 pm to close all week. And for info on the AZCA look me up at www.azbasszone.com under the name Piscolli. I hope to have better news to report next week.

Bill (Piscolli) Eveland
BPS/ AZCA

What a Memorial Day weekend – the fishing was great, and at least on Saturday, the expected rain kept the hordes away and the temperatures wonderfully mild. The parking lot at Lake Pleasant’s 10-lane was half empty Saturday morning. What a deal!

From the angler reports I have received so far, the long-awaited great post-spawn bite finally made its visit to many lakes this past weekend. Bartlett, Roosevelt, Alamo, Havasu, Canyon, Apache and Saguaro all seemed to be providing lots of action, especially when the rains blessed our parched soils with welcome relief (dove and quail seasons should be awesome).
Plus, a lot of the mountain lakes also provided bountiful fishing thrills during the holiday weekend. Anglers at Upper Lake Mary near Flagstaff had a northern pike bonanza using everything from black-and-silver Rapalas to inline spinners.

Lower Lake Mary seemed to do okay as well, but this is a very shallow, ephemeral lake. Even though it has hordes of trout, the water quality will slowly erode as we move into summer. So go catch the trout now. They are fat footballs (we mostly stocked them in late winter).
One of my favorite fishing lakes (it is a little scenically challenged compared to most other mountain lakes), Kinnickinick, once again produced a nice brown trout – at night. Those who love catching big browns will want to note this fishing strategy. Voracious browns (and other large predatory trout) will likely be feeding at night (quite often on other but smaller trout). So night fishing in some of the high country lakes might just get you that speckled monster salmonid.

By the way, occasional thunderstorms and sprinkles are expected the rest of the week in the mountains, so if you have a chance to get up there, go. The fishing is great, the weather is near perfect, and the holiday crowds should be a fading memory, so the wildlife should come back out from hiding.
As expected, Powell was on fire for 1- to 2-pound smallmouth bass and delectable walleye, with lots of striper action thrown into between wind gusts to keep anglers enthralled. By the way, the water is rising four feet per week right now, with lots of banks sloughing into the water being combined with vast acres of newly flooded vegetation – I have just described walleye heaven.

Another spot that broke loose during the holiday weekend was Lees Ferry. On a scale of 1-to10, one angler rated it as a 9. Can you imagine catching-and-releasing 100 wild, tail-dancing rainbows in a single day at one of the most picturesque tail-water fisheries on this planet? It was one of my tips for escaping the crowds last weekend, and it sounds like anglers hit a bonanza there. The crazy crystal ball sometimes works so well it scares me at times.

I haven’t heard much yet from the White Mountains, but I have little doubt anglers who went there will be replaying sweet catching moments in their dreams for months to come as the triple-digit fidgets visit the deserts.

I did have a pair of anglers leave a phone message (no names) to say the trout they caught (and ate) from both the West Fork and East Fork of the Black River had lots of grasshoppers in their bellies. Kids and adults – match the hatch, even if you are fishing with spinning gear or old cane poles (or alder branches for that matter). Live grasshoppers wiggling on the surface can really get the trout (and youngsters) excited.

We have a waxing moon with the first quarter on May 30 and a full moon on June 7. The brighter the moon, the more active the fish are at night. However on the flip side, the brighter the moon, the less effective are the submersible fishing lights. If you do fish on moon-bright nights, use dark lures. Sounds counterintuitive, but the dark lures make a better silhouette the fish can see from below. Noisy lures can work great. Black buzzbaits at night can get exciting at times. If you can’t find black lures in the stores, take your old banged up ones and zap them with some glossy black enamel spray paint. I did a chrome Rat-L-Trap with black tiger stripes to keep the flash while creating a bolder silhouette.

So go catch some great night fishing memories. Maybe I’ll see you out there.

Last Saturday the Arizona Crappie Association had a meeting at Alamo Lake.  For those who aren’t familiar with Alamo, its about 30 north of Wenden, AZ.  It’s a long drive and very hot but well worth the trip. Because of its distance from the Valley, Alamo isn’t a very busy lake and rarely do you see water skiers or jet skies.

There is a really nice little store at the Ranger Station that sells supplies, tackle, ice and minnows. They close at 5pm.

Also, there are several really nice camp sites there that include restrooms with showers. Alamo is a state park and their web address is http://azstateparks.com/Parks/ALLA/index.html.

When we got to the lake about 5 p.m. it was a balmy 106. So we put the boats in the water and headed up to the cliffs by the damn to find some shade. There were 5 of us on one boat and 3 on another. While working the west shoreline our partners caught a nice Crappie and found another one floating. Then we headed to the damn where we caught several nice bass and a couple nice catfish.

As it started to get dark we moved just a couple hundred yard from the damn into about 35 feet of water, anchored and set up our lights. There was a nice breeze blowing that made it very comfortable. Finally about 9:30 p.m. the Crappie started to bite. We caught them on minnows, soft plastic jigs and feather jigs. The new “Slab Daddy” jigs from Bass Pro Shops worked real well.

It wasn’t exactly “on fire” but we did catch fish all night. We boated somewhere between 80 and 100 Crappies of which we took 50 home. Our sister ship got about 30. Some of them were smaller but we got several over 2 pounds. The big Crappie of the night was lbs. 14ozs.

Remember that when you fish Crappie at night you want to put as much light in the water as possible. There are some high dollar LEDs on the market that are awesome. Bass Pro and other shops usually stock green florescent tubes that run under $25 and do very well. If you go with the tubes I would use at least 2 of the 21″ ones. Also, the less moon there is the better. If you go on a full moon you will need more lights than on a new moon.

If you need any help or just want to share some tips, I’m working the opening shift at Bass Pro all week. We open at 10 a.m. and I’ll be there until 3 or 4 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday.

What’s the old Army marketing slogan — we do more by before breakfast than most people do all day? That’s fishing.

Or if getting up at O-dark-thirty is not your thing, just stay up all night instead.  The New moon is May 24, so this is a perfect time for subsersible crappie lights to work for bass and crappie.

Shore fishing at night is viable for bottom dwellers such as catfish and carp. Remember you can have two hooks per line, and two poles if you have a two-pole stamp. Corn and hot dogs provide simple yet effective baits. Remember, it is legal to chum in Arizona.

By the way, carp are the number on sport fish in Europe and once you catch one of these line-burning monsters, you’ll understand why.

Another way to escape the burgeoning ranks of recreational boaters is to fish Alamo Lake. Water skiers and jet skiers avoid this lake — there is no marina and no gas. In all the years of fishing Alamo, I have only seen one ski boat there — I think they were lost.

Lake Powell is yet another place where you can escape the crowds — if you are willing to go far enough. If you launch at Wahweap or Antelope Point, it’s a good idea to get to or past Padre Bay. Or take my tip from last week and drive to Bullfrog (about an 8-hour drive or so from Phoenix) and then launch. By the way, if you love to catch walleye and smallmouth, don’t hesitate, go now (see Wayne’s Words below).

I’d also be surprised if Lees Ferry has crowds this weekend. For being a world-class fishery, it always seems strange that it can be a place to escape crowds at times even though the fishing there is pretty good year round. Go figure!

For all of you heading to the mountain lakes, take along some buckets for crayfish. Youngsters especially like to catch these delectable crustaceans. All they need is a piece of string, possibly a stick and a piece of meat (hot dog, bacon or whatever). If you want to get fancy, use a fishing pole.

Crayfish are not native to Arizona. So you can have fun, help the environment, and harvest some great eating. By the way, most folks just eat the tails. My tip for preparing crayfish is to bring your water to a rolling boil, take the pan off the stove (and keep it off), put in your crayfish, and when they turn bright red (usually 3 to 5 minutes), they are fully cooked. You can use a crab boil.

I like to also boil up ears of sweet corn. They are a natural on the camp table, especially with some fresh caught trout and wild rice on the side.

Hungry yet?

If you don’t have enough crayfish for all, get creative. Put them in some pasta for crayfish salad. Basically take any recipe that calls for crab or lobsters and simply substitute crayfish. Nice and simple.

Woods Canyon, Willow Springs, Black Canyon and Bear Canyon are all good crayfish catching lakes in the high country.

For trout fishing, though, it’s tough to beat Big Lake. It attracts the most anglers — and with good reason. This is the largest and one of the deepest of our mountain lakes. Big Lake has rainbows, cutthroat, brookies and Apache trout. But don’t expect to fill your creel with recent stockers — most of the trout you catch here will be wild like, even if they started their life at one of our hatcheries. We stock this lake early and late in the season with hordes of immature trout, then let them grow up wild like.

Bear Canyon is also a nice lake to try. It lacks amenities, requires a short but steep hike in (and out), both of which keep other anglers away by the droves. There is okay shoreline access if you don’t mind hill-side living — this is a steep canyon lake.

Chevelon Lake is another hike-in special the crowds avoid. But there is a strenuous, lung-challenging hike back out. Plus, shoreline access is terrible. This lake is best fished with float tubes or other easy-to-transport floating devices. If you are old and out of shape, you might want to consider fishing someplace else.

Don’t forget to make sure you boats are free of quagga mussels when heading to our high country lakes. Be sure to clean, drain and dry each time you go boating and then wait five days in between putting your boat on different lakes. Help protect on wonderful fishing lakes.

Go catch some memories this weekend. Maybe I’ll see you out there.

It was just a few weeks ago when I was writing about the roads finally opening to all the mountain lakes and streams, and now Memorial Day weekend is creeping up on us way too quickly. It feels like we are in a time accelerator.

Let’s start with the warmwater lakes. As of May 17, the waning moon will be in its last quarter, which is important for those fishing at night under lights for crappie. The less moonlight, the better your artificial lights work at attracting the plankton-shad-crappie food chain. There will be a New Moon (meaning no moon), on May 24 during the Memorial Day weekend.

With lots of folks heading to our lakes the next couple of weekends, fishing at night can become even more attractive to escape the increased recreational boating activity. Be sure to be safe and have your 360-degree light on and visible when anchored or slowly drift fishing. It is very wise to wear your personal flotation devices while fishing at night – the inflatable ones are very unobtrusive. Don’t become a sad holiday statistic.

I have received reports of anglers catching some nice crappies at Roosevelt, Bartlett and Alamo during the day, but these were mostly knowledgeable crappie anglers who know where and how to fish these waters.  Rosey, Bartlett and Alamo are still the bass and crappie fishing triple threat.

It sounds like both Patagonia and Arivaca lakes in southern Arizona are both worth a visit right now for largemouth bass.

Here’s a great success fishing story of the leviathan kind. A huge channel catfish was hauled from the waters of Green Valley Park shortly after the Payson Wildlife Fair on Saturday, May 9.  Using shrimp on the bottom and fishing the inlet end of the main lake, Tuy Sayasavanh, of Peoria, hooked into and landed the 26.9- pound leviathan.

With more than 500 people gathered at the park for the annual wildlife fair and fishing clinic, Sayasavanh’s massive fish attracted a lot of interest and excitement. Most folks were enjoying a pleasant morning catching some of the 1,500 rainbow trout freshly stocked or some of the abundant bluegill found around the lake.

The lunker cat, measuring over 37 inches in length, shatters the previous Urban Fishing Program record 11.4 pound catfish caught in 2002 from Evelyn Hallman Pond in Tempe. Additionally, this is the largest channel cat reported to the department in 20 years and is only five pounds shy of the state record 32 pounder from Parker Canyon Lake.

What a fish tale.

This is great weather to visit the desert lakes, making some of the impoundments a little crowded at times. One of my favorite places to go this time of year is Lake Powell. With around 1,750 miles of shoreline, you can find plenty of areas to fish with no other anglers present. Plus, most anglers at Powell go after striped bass, leaving the feisty smallmouth, plentiful largemouth and tasty walleye to a smiling few.

Here’s another hint – there have been some Memorial Day weekends when the campground at Hall’s Crossing (Utah) on a bluff overlooking Lake Powell has not been full. It’s a scenic drive to get there through Kayenta, Monument Valley, past Mexican Hat, passing near the Goosenecks of the San Juan, and then past  Natural Bridges National Monument. With so many natural scenic wonders, it is easy to get distracted.

This is also a decent time to hit Willow Beach, the tail water fishery below Hoover Dam (between Kingman and Hoover Dam) along the Colorado River. It won’t be long until the temperatures soar into the triple digits, even during the mornings. Right now, mornings are temperate and delightful. This is a decent time of year to see desert bighorn sheep, catch some trout, and maybe land a huge striper.

Another place to escape the crowds is the world-renowned Lees Ferry. This starts a period when most trout anglers have mountains on their mind, leaving lots of openings on the sandbars at the Ferry for others who like to catch wild rainbows.

Okay, on to the trout lakes. If headed to the high country, the typical night crawlers and Power Bait can work. Inline spinners, such as small Mepps and Rooster Tails, are always good bets. But if you have youngsters, have them collect a bunch of grasshoppers), especially if you are going to fish the streams. A wiggling hopper can almost be irresistible to a hungry trout.

I wrote last week about using cane poles (no reels) to fish for trout in the mountain streams. Mix in some hoppers and you have a natural kid adventure worthy of Huck Finn. The key to setting up cane poles is making the line (4 pounds or less or even a tapered fly line) about as long as the length of the pole (that is usually 10 or 12 feet) and definitely no longer than the length of line it would take to reach the ground if the youngster was holding the pole (vertically) in the air over his or her head while landing a trout.

Also, during my last couple of trips to the mountain lakes I witnessed some of boats on the water with children who did not have on life jackets. It’s not only contrary to the law of survival (the mountain lakes are extremely cold), it is also the law. All children 12 years of age or under MUST wear a Coast Guard approved life jacket while underway. Please keep your children safe.

By the way, last week the department worked with the United Anglers Foundation and distributed 1- to 2-inch-long largemouth bass (northern) at Apache, Canyon and Saguaro lakes as part of the effort to help these fisheries recover from golden alga blooms in past years.  Here are the numbers:

* Apache:            105,000
* Canyon:            55,000
* Saguaro:           54,000

For an update on the health of the Salt River Lakes, come to our Anglers Roundtable, scheduled for May 21 at Bass Pro in Mesa from 6 to 8 p.m. We’ll have photos of the real nice largemouth and smallmouth bass as well as the 30-plus pound flathead from Apache Lake collected during our recent survey there.

Go catch some memories. Maybe I’ll see you out there.
Here is a report from an ardent crappie angler who now works at Bass Pro:

Bartlett- Good news from Bartlett. One of our best B-lett slab hunters got into them good the other day. He was fishing in the early am up past the no wake buoys. The best part was that he caught some small Crappie. For years we have been concerned about the spawn (or lack of one), so this news is good. Bartlett can be funny, some days they want a BBC jig, some days John Deere and some days only a minnow will do it. So go well stocked. I would also suggest night fishing under lights with minnows. And remember that we (Arizona Crappie Association) will be doing netting surveys this fall with Game & Fish, volunteers are welcome. I will post more as this develops.

San Carlos- Although bass fishing is red hot I haven’t heard anything about Crappie for about a week but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t try there. Just remember to get your San Carlos fishing permit and be careful on the water. There are no marker buoys.

Pleasant- Sorry, no report. If I were going to try Pleasant I would try the Castle Creek area or the back of Humbug Cove.

Roosevelt- Things are getting better every day. The night bite has been strong on both ends of the lake and around the marina as well. I heard from a bass angler yesterday that he was fishing near Windy Hill and Crappies were chasing his bait all the way to the boat. The north shore of Windy may be a great place to night fish, especially near Ship Rock, which is now under water.

Alamo- Weather permitting Alamo always seems to produce. The Arizona Crappie Association will be meeting there this Saturday for some night fishing. I hope to have a good report from our trip to share with you next week.

For more info on the AZCA you can find me at www.azbasszone.com under the name “Piscolli”. Also, I have a recipe for Crappie Chowder and Crappie Tacos I would be happy to share with you. Holla!

Bill (Piscolli) Eveland
Arizona Crappie Association/ Bass Pro Shops

It doesn’t get much better than this, does it?

Well, add in a full moon while camping and maybe it does. You might even hear some wolves howling at places like Big Lake, Luna Lake and the East or West Forks of the Black. There’s also a chance you will hear tom turkeys gobbling up a storm during the rut or you might see them doing a tail-fan dance.

In case you missed last week’s report, here’s something worth repeating – the road from Sunrise to Big Lake (including Lee Valley and Sheep’s Crossing) is now open for the first time in almost two years. In fact, the forest roads appear to be open to all our shimmering mountain lakes and streams.

Escape the heat, take along a warm jacket, and get ready to reel in some smiles – this will likely be some of the best trout fishing of the year, especially at Big Lake where they are hauling in some nice rainbows and some awesome cutthroat.

Hey, you might even find some lingering patches of snow in the shaded areas for the last snowball fight of the season. It helps to have those snow-ball memories easy to access in your active brain cells (especially when you are older like myself) when the thermometer is throbbing into the triple digits.

We are stocking both the East and West Forks of Black River with native Apache trout this week. If you want to give the kids a treat (and yourself for that matter), dig up a bunch of night crawlers from the garden (buy them if you must), then toss the wiggling offerings into the quick runs just above the hiding pools. You should get some flashing gold trout fighting on the end of the line. My family uses cane poles, but spinning outfits etc. will work just fine. Keep your eyes open – we have seen Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep carousing in the Black River area.

It sounds like Roosevelt is still king of the bass lakes right now, with Alamo and Bartlett vying for the honors on any given day. But Pleasant seems to be on-again, off-again – don’t know why.

Saguaro is the place for a mixed bag – especially larger bluegills and channel catfish.

Canyon is the place for lunkers, but the catch rates are low – you might even get skunked. Still, this deep lake possibly harbors the new state record bass.

With a full moon this weekend, it is probably not the time to go crappie fishing under lights, but it is a great time for moon-bright angling for catfish and carp, with maybe some bass thrown in as well. Try corn and dogs. Not for yourself, but for the cats and carp. Okay, for yourself as well.

Remember, you can have two hooks per line, so set one up with corn and the other with a piece of hot dog (burned weenies can be irresistible) with a slip sinker. Then balance your pole across two forked sticks, sit back in your chair, enjoy the night, and be ready for bottom-feeder action.

We should have lots of fish active at night but your submersible light won’t necessarily out shine big Luna to attract plankton-shad-predators. But check out the moon rise and set times – once the moon has either dropped low into the sky, or has set, those lights can work (assuming the fish stay active).

We might also have some nice meteor showers this weekend. They might not be as easy to spot when the moon is full, but when you get a fiery one it can be dramatic.

This is a superb time to visit Lake Powell. Check out the report. In fact, crappies have made a comeback and a pending Utah state record crappie was caught recently. If you want walleye, this is the month. Smallmouth fishing can be a dream right now. Striper fishing might be a little tougher right now, but that can change rapidly. Check our Wayne’s Words below.

Just down the river at Lee’s Ferry, temperatures are near perfect and the fishing is superb for wild trout that dance on the end of your line.

Along the other Colorado River lakes, striper fishing seems to be picking up at Mead, Mohave and Havasu. Havasu is also a good bet for largemouth bass and smallmouth. We are heading into the triple digits, so keep up the fluid intakes and put on plenty of sunscreen.

Good luck. Maybe I’ll see you out there.