CENTRAL ARIZONA
URBAN LAKES
CATFISH STOCKINGS STARTED, SPRING DELIVERY OF SUNFISH FOLLOW
The announced March 19 catfish stockings went off like clockwork at Urban Fishing Program waters. The two, fully loaded hatchery trucks were greeted by reporters from KOLD TV9 in Tucson and ABC15 TV in Phoenix.  Footage of the stockings highlighted the hundreds of 15-19 inch catfish pouring out from each tank, splashing into the lakes and bolting off in all directions.  Small crowds of excited anglers awaited the delivery of Mr. Whiskers at all 19 locations and were thrilled to witness the arrival of the Arkansas farmed fish.  A week later, bluegill and hybrid sunfish were delivered to the same lakes.  The feisty 5-8 inch sunfish are stocked once each spring and fall to provide fun for kids and anglers of all ages.  Daily bag limits are 4 catfish and 10 sunfish per person at Urban Lakes or 2 catfish and 5 sunfish per person at Urban Ponds (note regulations and park signage for Lake and Pond designations).

FISHING EVENTS DRAWS THOUSANDS OF ANGLERS
More than 2,200 youth excitedly plied one fish after another from the kid’s fishing tank at the March 27-29 Game and Fish Department’s Outdoor Expo.  Shouts of glee kept erupting as the feisty sunfish were lifted from the tank and then released in a pattern that repeated itself thousands of times.

Attendance records for the 3rd annual Game and Fish Outdoor Expo were shattered as families came to participate in a wide variety of free outdoor events and enjoy time together with plenty of fishing and outdoor experts on hand to help.

On March 28, the Payson Optimists Club, in partnership with Game and Fish, held a family fishing clinic at Green Valley Lakes.  Fishing for rainbow trout, bluegill and crappie was excellent for the more than 500 participants.  A week earlier, on March 21, the sportsman’s group Anglers United and the City of Tempe hosted their annual Kid’s Fishing clinic at Tempe’s Kiwanis Lake.  Over 800 youth participated in this opportunity to catch bluegill and catfish and enjoy the thrill of fishing in a beautiful park setting.

WATER RANCH LAKE FISH STOCKINGS RESUME
Recent water tests at Water Ranch Lake in Gilbert indicate that golden alga has been brought under control, meaning that fish stockings can resume immediately.  The good news came just in time to stock the lake on March 27 with 5-8 inch sunfish.  Water Ranch will be included in the Urban Fishing Program catfish stockings taking place the week of March 30 – April 4.

Fish stockings at Water Ranch will be done at a normal level, which for catfish means 450 pounds, or approximately 250 fish per load.  The troublesome golden alga began to bloom at the lake in early March causing a small fish kill.  Fish stockings were cancelled over a four week period and the Water Ranch allotment of fish were added to deliveries at other, nearby Urban lakes.  Algaecide treatments were applied over a two week period to control the alga and stop any further fish losses.  Lake water will continue to be tested to ensure the microscopic golden alga does not flare up again.

URBAN FISHING REPORT
Fishing is excellent for both channel catfish and sunfish at Urban waters in the Phoenix and Tucson areas.  Spring catfish stockings are underway with loads of 14,000 pounds being delivered every other week.

Top baits for catfish are dough/stink baits, shrimp, hot dogs and shrimp fished off the bottom.  Evenings are best, but patient anglers are finding success throughout the day.  Some of the cats are in the 4-6 pound range.

Action for the recently stocked bluegill and hybrid sunfish is good for anglers fishing with worms and meal worms 3-4 feet below a small bobber.  Afternoons and evenings are best for the sunfish.  Some nice largemouth bass in the 2-5 pound range are being reported by anglers working the morning bite with small plastics, grubs or swim baits.  Please exercise catch and release for spawning bass.

At Green Valley lakes (Payson) fishing is excellent for trout and getting better every week for crappie, bluegill and bass.  Extra trout were stocked at Green Valley for some recent fishing clinics and the action is hot.  Try Power Bait in orange color, worms, or streamer flies such as Wooly Buggers and Simi Seal leaches.

Where:Chaparral Park
When:03/23/09
Caught:Nothing
Technique:Fishing for carp and cats on the bottoms using night crawlers.
Comments:Seems as if the cats are hitting out of the deepest portion of this lake not much action in the shallows until the weather decides to get warm and stay warm. Another fisherman fishing the deeper waters pulled out 2 cats in a few hours span on worms while I was there.
Name:Hopper

Where:Red Mountain
When:03/19/09
Caught:5 just stalked catfish and two trout
Technique:a varied arrangement of baits
Comments:Good bites from 8 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. catfish are everywhere and biting well. bass are striking finesse baits like drop-shot and jig head worms, but very slowly
Name:Andy
TEMPE TOWN LAKE — A recent Tempe Town Lake survey indicate a substantial resurgence of largemouth bass, yellow bass and channel catfish, black crappie and a very large increase in our catch of threadfin shad compared to last year’s survey conducted after a golden algae outbreak and a couple days of high runoff which led to the lowering of couple of the downstream inflatable dams.

An angler fished from 6 a.m. till noon and caught quite a few bass on worm-rigged drop shots.  The bite was pretty good after 10:30 a.m.  Trolling was effective catching yellow bass using a striper bomber crank.

Angler reports:
Dear Fishing Report Editor;
While fishing at Tempe Town Lake with my brother Lloyd, I hooked into a monster catfish.  It weighed 9 pounds 12 ounces.  It pulled the Jon boat around for about 15 min. thru and around the columns until it finally surfaced.  WOW what a ride.  All on a light spinning rig loaded with 6 lb. test.
Loren Thompson

Where:Tempe Town Lake
When:03/18/09
Caught:one large mouth
Technique:drop shot Robo worm
Name:Andrew Althaus

An angler fished from 10 to about 11:30 by the bride pillars and picked up a nice 20 inch largemouth using crankbait.

Where:Tempe Town Lake
When:03/12/09
Caught:Striped Bass
Technique:
Spinner BaitComments:
What are stripers doing in this lake?
Name:Tom
**Probably yellow bass not stripers.

Where:Tempe Town Lake
When:03/08/09
Caught:7 Pound Largemouth Bass
Technique:Rooster Tail – slow retrieval
Comments:This was around 11:15 AM. The bass seem to be moving closer to the shore around this time of day. She was SO FAT and filled with eggs. We got her back in the water safely so she can produce some more lunkers in TTL. Good times!
Name:BG Davison and Luke Brye

LAKE PLEASANT –Water elevation is 1,692 feet, which is 88-percent full. When the wind isn’t blowing, the fishing is pretty good. When the wind is blowing, those who use the wind to their advantage are doing well catching bass. During the windy times, shift and fish a little deeper along the wind line at the points – bass will often wait in the lee of the wind to ambush shad be pushed by the wind.

Bass are spawning in the shallows in the backs of coves throughout the lake. There are also post-spawn bass to be had off major points, islands and reefs throughout the lake, but don’t expect great numbers – - yet.
Striped bass and white bass have mostly spawned out and the action for post-spawn stripers is starting to pick up throughout the lake. Some anglers are encountering boils at first light. Use anything white from topwater lures and jerkbaits to crankbaits and spinners. By the way, there is not limit on stripers at Pleasant – catch and keep all you can to help the resource.
A lot of small bass and a few large ones are reported by anglers.  Swim baits are enticing the bite and spawning bass are hanging in the northern coves.

One novice angler fished from about 9:30 till 3 p.m. and caught two largemouth bass using drop shots.

Where: Agua Fria branch
When: 03/15/09
Caught: channel catfish
Technique: trolled dead bluegill from kayak
Comments: Dead cow in the water. Does that make the fish unsafe? Does that make Peoria’s water supply unsafe?
Name: Dave Collins

Where: Lake Pleasant
When: 03/15/09
Caught: zero
Technique: minnows, from boat humbug bay
Comments: Not a thing biting, only one other boat had 3 fish from all day fishing, not a sole gave a report of any fish

Name: r graves
Where: Lake Pleasant
When: 03/11/09
Caught: Bunch of BAD attitudes
Technique: I did catch a 3lb LM at 0600 on a chatter bait
Comments: Must have been the full moon. I had people cutting me off all day while I was casting along a bank. One (I’ll say older) fella came in so close, that if I would have waited another second I would have coasted into him. I asked what his problem was, and he said that he was “tired of young punks with high dollar fishing boats taking all the fish” I asked him how old he thought I was and he said it didn’t matter; anyone younger than him was a punk. I asked him when he was born, he told me…..and I almost fell out of my boat…..it turns out I was 2 years old when he was born.

Where: Lake Pleasant
When: 03/03/09
Caught: nothing
Technique: Snowbirds gone fishing 16 times since Nov. Been one of worst experiences to date. Much better in past years.
Name: James Sanberg
ROOSEVELT LAKE — Lake Elevation is 2151 ft (100 percent full).  Tonto Creek runoff is at 64 cfs while inflow from the Salt River is at 1,300 cfs.

This is some of the best fishing in Arizona, if not the entire West. The lake is full. The amount of recently submerged vegetation – including large trees – is phenomenal. It is possible to not just rack up large numbers of fish, but to catch lunkers as well.

This is probably the tail-end of the crappie spawn.  This is the time to start fishing for crappie at night using submersible lights.

A couple anglers caught a lot of bass and a few catfish using live shad at the Salt end of the lake.  Most were in the slot but a few were over.  Two were over 22 inches long.
One angler fished from about 6 am to noon and picked up a few bass early on cranks then he moved to the points and fished 15 to 20 feet deep with c-rigged robos.  Most of his 20 fish were caught at the points.

Another couple anglers fished Friday and Saturday and caught 28 bass and mostly in the slot although there were some unders and 3 overs.  The largest fish was 4 pounds.  They fished the north side of the lake at the Salt end.  Most of the fish were found in the backs of coves in shallow water.  Productive techniques included drop-shoting Robo worms and Senkos.  Spinnerbait was productive for the bigger ones.
One angler fished all day and caught 12 with a three pounder being the largest and he was teased by a 10 pounder swimming just below the surface.  The next day this angler caught 22 fish and most were slot fish.  The largest was almost 5 pounds on the second day and he fished the Tonto end.  White spinnerbaits and Senkos enticed the bite.
A couple fishermen caught a few bass with one over 17 inches on a Rapala rip bait.  Senkos and Robo worms were enticing as well.  The Salt end was where these guys were fishing.
Where:Roosevelt
When:03/22/09
Caught:2 largemouth bass
Technique:green lizard
Comments:You can see them in trees all over the place but they won’t hit it for some reason.  All of them are slot bass and I saw one today that look like he was about 20inches.  I tried everything and lizards were the only thing that worked
Name:Andrew Althaus

Where:Roosevelt
When:03/21/09
Caught:5 largemouth bass
Technique:
green rubber lizards and top water
Comments:
If you see them surface throw your top water
Name:Andrew Althaus

Where:Roosevelt
When:03/14/09
Caught:21 Largemouth
Technique:White spinner bait, willow leaf, slow rolling main channel casting to trees in the Salt end 20 feet, water temp was 58.
Comments:Most of the fish were in the upper end of the slot with a few overs and unders.
Name:Jim Lindquist

APACHE – Lake elevation is 1913 ft (99-percent full).  The inflows from Roosevelt and the outflows to Canyon are creating a dynamic situation at this lake (and its sister lakes). Predatory fish will orient to the current to ambush prey.

This lake should be good for largemouth bass, yellow bass, catfish and carp. We haven’t seen a resurgence of smallmouth bass – yet.

Anglers who are shore fishing near the marina and boat ramps are catching largemouth bass with live worms.

We were at Apache lake from Feb 27th thru the 1st of march fishing the cove by the private marina and had lots of Fun catching small largemouth bass on every other cast from sunrise till 9:00am then from 4:00pm to sunset. We were also trying to catch the Big Mouth Buffalo , I emailed you on how to catch them last month, but no luck but we caught her cousin instead the Carp. Sent you a couple photos . that’s my son Ethan in the photo, photo of Roosevelt Dam, and the lake

What a beautiful place. We were Texas rigging night crawlers for bass. And corn for the carp from the shore  line

Michael.

Finally a good report from Apache – I knew you guys could do it!
A family of 3 anglers caught a lot of small 8- to10-inch largemouth bass.  They found a nice bedding area and pulled out a 2.5 pounder.  All fish were caught on small soft plastics and night crawlers.  One 2.5 pound largemouth bass was caught on a small plastic craw rigged on a tiny jig head.  The bigger bass were in the backs of coves in/near vegetation.

Where:Apache lake
When:03/21/09
Caught:not a thing
Technique:worms on bobber worms on bottom and all sorts of lures
Comments:
hard lake to shore fish
Name:Andrew Althaus

CANYON – Lake elevation is 1659 ft, which is 97-percent full. This can be a tough lake to fish, but the experienced anglers who get the bite dialed in have the opportunity to catch some huge bass here. If you are looking for good catch rates, this is not the lake, unless of course you want sunfish or yellow bass.

An angler caught 12 bluegills in a half hour using worms on a weightless light line.  No indication where he was fishing.
Another couple anglers caught a lot of slot bass but didn’t divulge any details on his bait or fishing area.

Where: Canyon Lake
When: 03/12/09
Caught: 4 largemouth , 1 rainbow, 1 sunfish
Technique: Saw no one was catching fish but I was the terminator! You get what you pay for …buy a 6 dollar RAPALA…UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR KID TO CRY FROM BOREDOM… First, got a rainbow and a largemouth in the morningish 10-11am…then moved spots to a nice quiet cove and it got hot! 3 bass and a sunfish in about 10 minutes, all released, biggest was 2 lbs and change on my scale others were a bit smaller size…also water level is way up…I’ll be back…what’s the slot on these bass I want to have a fish fry next week? haha
Name: “yettit”

Where: Canyon Lake
When: 03/11/09
Caught: 7 Largemouth
Technique: Caught one LM on Chrome/black back medium diver. Six LM on dropshot-4 inch Robo worms.
Comments: Found BIG bass on beds in one to two feet of water. Smallest bed bass just over two pounds, largest over five pounds. All fish were released.
Name: John
Anglers were catching bluegill on worms.  One angler caught 4 largemouth bass on jigs near Boulder Creek and he said they were all about 5 pounds.

SAGUARO – Lake elevation 1528 feet at 98-percent full.  With the spring inflows and outflows, there should be a pretty constant current meandering through the lake.
A water quality report from Kevin in the WQ lab at Game and Fish Dept:  They visited the lake on March 25 and water clarity in the lower basin was impressive as corroborated by a 17 foot secchi disc depth.  Surface temperatures were 61oF and the thermocline is developing between 19.5 and 23 feet.  The temperature below the thermocline is 57.5oF.

There was a lot of zooplankton present and “Zoo-clouds” could be noted in the water column with cladocerans and copepods as the dominant inhabitants.  Those are tasty sought after morsels for our zooplankton consumers. Uplake at the no wake buoys there was some algal productivity and secchi disc depth was about 5 feet.

The algae was dominated by a filamentous blue green algae (not the one seen last spring that led to the yellowish-brown lake color) and diatomaceous algae – no golden algae was seen.  Below Mormon Flat Dam quite a bit of water was being released.  The water clarity was 9 feet deep and temperature was 56.5oF.

Bluegills are biting for shore anglers and boat anglers.  One angler threw split shot from the shoreline near Ship Rock and caught 6 in about an hour.  A three year old who fished, with the help of her parents, for about 1.5 hours for bluegill caught 6 as well.
Butcher Jones is a good place to catch largemouth bass using minnows.  Use meal worms about 4-5 feet down to catch the bluegill.

Angler reports:

Took my son Luke (2.5 years old) on his 1st fishing trip to Saguaro Lake on 3-30-09.  Caught well over 20 bluegills, with 17 keepers in just 2.5 hours.  Used worms fished 3 feet off the bottom around points and drop offs. It’s great that Saguaro is back!  Here’s a picture of all we kept.  Also ended up catching a very nice 14″ rainbow but we did not have our trout stamp so had to release that one!  It was great fun though on an ultra light with 6 lb test!  Luke woke up this morning and asked to go again. It is my plan that he be an angler for life!
– Todd

Where:Saguaro
When:03/20/09
Caught:7 largemouth and 18 bluegill
Technique:spinner bait and small jigs in the backs of coves in heavy cover shallows
Comments:the bass were 8-12 inches and the bluegill were all smaller than my hand but it was fun, caught most of them in the early afternoon when the water warmed up to 62.
Name:Jim Lindquist
Where:Saguaro
When:03/19/09
Caught:Bluegill, bass slow yet
Technique:various
Comments:Bass are just starting to bed, left them alone. Not much happening with the staging bass yet, loads of saucer size bluegill though
Name:anonymous

Where:Saguaro Lake
When:03/19/09
Caught:bluegill
Technique:mealworms/night crawlers
Comments:Bluegill were hitting hard, caught over a hundred that were over a pound each. Caught by Boat
Name:Michael Childs

Where:Saguaro
When:03/30/09
Caught:7 Largemouth
Technique:spinnerbait and drop shot worms
Comments:Fished the late afternoon till Sundown. Most fish were pretty small
Name:My Maria

BARTLETT – Lake elevation is 1798 ft, which is 100-percent full.  Reservoir release is 100 cfs.
One fisherman fished mid week and boated 3 small bass using cranks and something else he’s not willing to share.  Try throwing power worms on t and c rigs near aquatic vegetation.  Fish in the shallows between 5 and 20 feet deep.
A fishing tournament over this last weekend provided some good fishing for tournament participants.  There were 8 teams that caught over 11 pounds of bass each.  No info on what was used but they are out there in good numbers.  These fish were no doubt returned to the lake as most fishermen practice catch and release.

Where: Bartlett
When: 03/12/09
Caught: 32 crappie
Technique: Slow trolling with Katlin bbc grubs on 1/16 oz jig head in 10 to 15 feet of water near submerged trees.
Comments: A Ranger told us on Thursday to expect the water levels to rise on foot a day.
Name: Rocky Anselmo

Where: Bartlett Lake
When: 03/08/09
Caught: Largemouth
Technique: Jigging real real slow off points (crawdad imitation)
Comments: Fished from shore lost a few jigs but caught 12 bass 1-3 pound range with 2 pushing 4pounds.Tony
Name: Tony Major

Where: Bartlett
When: 03/08/09
Caught: Nothing
Technique: Senkos, Robo Worms, Crawdad Imitations, Crankbaits, Spinners, Top Water etc etc
Comments: Threw everything but the kitchen sink at them. Water temp still too cold, air temp too cold that day as well. Fish are still very lethargic. Wait for warmer temps to kick the fish into gear.
Name: Ryan

Where: Bartlett Lake
When: 03/09/09
Caught: 2 Largemouth Bass, 1 Channel Catfish
Technique: Swimming Curly-tail Jigs
Comments: Bass and Catfish were nice and healthy. All over 3lbs. (all released, was searching for Crappie). One healthy Otter sighting. (didn’t know we had them here).
Name: dt

Where: Bartlett
When: 03/06/09
Caught: 3 bluegill and 3 channel catfish
Technique: Night crawlers and chicken livers.
Comments: All the fish were pretty small and were released but when the catfish hit, they hit hard.
Name: Ashley, Chris, Ralph and Mary
Anglers are catching bass and crappie in the riverine portion of the lake.
HORSESHOE – Lake elevation is at 1,999 feet, 45-percent full.  They are releasing water at 400cfs.

VERDE RIVER – Verde River flow at Tangle Creek has slowed to 259 cubic feet per second.  Release from Bartlett Lake is 100 cfs.
SALT RIVER – Salt River into Roosevelt is 1300 cfs, and Salt River Canyon is 964 cfs.  They are releasing 1075 cfs out of Stewart Mountain dam from Saguaro.

LOWER SALT RIVER – Stocked with trout last week. Stewart Dam release has dropped to 1,075cfs, but that is still a pretty good flow to fish, kayak and canoe. Fishing should be good at first and last light. Try using live night crawlers with little or no weight cast slightly upstream, then let the bait drift downstream.

This is a superb area for canoes and kayaks. You can put in at the Water Users and float to Blue Point Bridge or Phon D. Sutton (confluence of Salt and Verde rivers).

Where: Lower Salt River at Blue Point Bridge
When: 03/14/09
Caught: 3 Largemouth Bass
Technique: Night Crawlers on 4lb. test with single split shot. I let the bait drift downstream and slowly retrieved it across the bottom.
Comments: The Bass were not very big, the largest being 12 inches but had a great time fighting them on the light tackle.
Name: Bardsley

Where: Lower Salt River
When: 03/13/09
Caught: 24 trout/released
Technique: spinners
Comments: Fish slow.  Trout need a lot of time to examine lure before striking.
Name: John LeFevers

CREEKS – Most of the creeks below or adjacent to the Mogollon Rim will be stocked with trout the week of April 6, making them great places to visit with the youngsters during the upcoming Easter weekend.

Haigler Creek – Scheduled for stocking the week of April 6.

Canyon Creek – Scheduled for stocking the week of April 6.

Angler report:
Larry – We caught about twenty (mostly browns). Gate to lower canyon creek is still
locked. Used black and yellow Rooster Tails – we hiked from the last gate to get into lower canyon creek to the small bridge at the ranch. By the time we got back to my truck I felt like I was coming out of Chevelon Lake. That was the most water coming through canyon creek since I have been going there(about 6-7yrs.)

Harley Ough at the Game and Fish Canyon Creek Hatchery provided the following report: Most of the snow is gone, thankfully. The temps are great and the fishing pressure is nonexistent basically on the creek. Stocking have not started yet but good fishing can be found. Water levels are still up a bit from normal and the water is a slight bit off color than the normal crystal clear. Fly fishing was good; caught a dozen in about an hour and a half.

According to Arizona Fly Fishing excellent fishing at Canyon Creek; use semi seal leach patterns and fish closer to the bottom.

Tonto Creek – Scheduled for stocking the week of April 6. Accessible and try dry fly dropper rig with size 14 to 16 bead head nymph according to Desert Sportsman.

Christopher Creek – Scheduled for stocking the week of April 6. Accessible and try dry dropper rig with size 14 to 16 bead head nymph.

East Verde – Scheduled for stocking the week of April 6.

Workman Creek – Scheduled for stocking the week of May 4.

HORSETHIEF BASIN LAKE – No new report