URBAN FISHING REPORT – Fishing is excellent for both channel catfish and sunfish at urban waters in the Phoenix and Tucson areas. Top baits for catfish are worms, shrimp, and dough/stink baits 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.  The recently stocked bluegill and hybrid sunfish continue to provide good action for anglers using worms and meal worms 3-4 feet below a small bobber.

Where:Kiwanis
When:05/02/09
Caught:8 average sized catfish and one 8lb monster
Technique:Believe it or not, Power Bait. you know the stuff for trout, orange
Comments:On the all American way road at the very far end about 20ft. out. some a## hole illegally put in about 50 hand sized goldfish on Saturday so if you see them, take them out before they destroy the lake
Name:Andy

Where: Alvord Lake – City of Phoenix
When: 04/21/09
Caught: Nothing
Technique: Hot Dogs
Comments: Caught nothing. Dead fish floating in lake.
Name: Earl Wood

Where: Chaparral
When:04/06/09
Caught: cat fish
Technique: stick bait
Comments: Does anyone know why there are so many dead catfish, a grounds person they collected over 50 fish floating in the lake.
Name: gratien kruczek

TEMPE TOWN LAKE – Fishing is fair for largemouth bass, yellow bass, bluegill, carp and catfish. Try fishing early in the morning and late in the afternoon, especially along the shade lines created by the bridges. Night crawlers fished along the bottom might just get you everything (except carp) this time of year. For carp, try corn.

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.

Where:Tempe Town Lake
When:05/03/09
Caught:2 Yellow Bass
Technique:Berkley Gulp Minnow, Rat-L-Trap, Spinnerbait, Kast Master. Under Rural bridge on South side of the lake.
Comments:A beautiful day on the lake, not much was biting though. I caught a couple small (6″) yellow bass and not much else. Had a few bites here and there but nothing was really striking hard and you had to be quick to get them. On another note, why do the people from Tempe Parks feel the need to have the rowing people so close to shore? I am all about sharing the lake, but couldn’t they move out 50′ or so. Every time I would get my line in the water another rowing boat would come by and run right over my line. and I was only fishing about 25′ from shore. Please guys, there is a whole lake there. Let those of us who don’t have a boat enjoy this wonderful resource.
Name:Barry

LAKE PLEASANT – Fishing for stripers and largemouth bass is hit-or-miss right now – some days it’s good, other days it is slow.

Try fishing the coves at first light for bass actively chasing shad, then move to the points, islands and reefs for post-spawn bass.

Catfish and carp can be targeted on any of the large flats – try using corn on one hook and a hot dog on the other (you are allowed two hooks per line). Use a slip sinker fished along the bottom.

Where:pleasant
When:05/02/09
Caught:bass, bluegill
Technique:plastic worm Texas rig
Commentsbass was 14 inches but the bluegill was just as big and weighed in at a little over a pound
Name:micheal culbertson

ROOSEVELT LAKE — Lake Elevation remains at 2,150 ft (99-percent full).  Tonto Creek runoff is at 29 cfs while inflow from the Salt River has slowed to 703 cfs.

This still remains a hot spot for bass fishing in the West. This is the time to target active post-spawn bass. Hit the coves at first light, and then try the major points, islands and reefs for action.
Drop shots can work well at times, but you can also have a lot of fun working spinnerbaits through the thick submerged brush and trees, or try some flippin’ n’ pitchin’ as well.

Where:Roosevelt
When:04/24/09
Caught:Bass
Technique:Tried everything. Top water popper was the ticket Friday just before dark.
CommentsJust before dark Friday, there was 45 minutes that I picked up 8 fish, 4 were over the slot! Only picked up one dink Saturday morning on a drop shot rig. The water is too clear. You can watch fish swim up and look over the presentation and then swim away, even with very light line.
Name:Chip Frizzell

Where:Roosevelt
When:05/02/09
Caught:BIG blue gill 14 in largemouth bass and 10 in largemouth bass
Technique:green plastic Zoom lizard a Zara puppy
Comments
lost 2 on a Zara Spook and one real nice one on Zara Puppy
Name:andrew althaus

Where: Roosevelt Lake
When:04/22/09
Caught:14 bass
Technique: Night Crawlers dragged across bottom in 7-9 ft water
Comments: Most were in or under slot, but had one Large Mouth at 16″ and two big smallies 19.75 inches 3.75 lbs and 20.25 inches 4.25 lbs
Name: Dick Azzi

An angler fished the Tonto end and worked toward the main lake from safelight to noon.  A frog looking lure enticed 3 largemouth bass when working it around some floating logs.  T-rigged worms worked real well near Cholla and once that bite was over crankbait was the ticket and he nailed 15 bass using a Norman crankbait and a Tennessee shad.  The temp was 67oF and all fish were healthy and returned to their homes.

Another group of anglers did real well with poppers in the morning hours and again in the evening.  They caught 15 bass with 4 overs.

Another couple fisherman fished over the weekend for a few hours and caught 5 bass.  Two on topwater lures and 3 on skinny dippers.

While some anglers came off the lake during the high wind others hunkered down in the trees.  There was some good fishing for a bunch of anglers fishing the trees with
Senkos.

An angler fished using 4-inch plastic worms on a T-rig and caught bass all day.  He also had luck using a Zara Spook.  Once night hit he switched to minnows under a green light and caught a bunch of yellow bass.

APACHE – Lake elevation is 1,911 feet (97-percent full).  No recent angler reports, but the department did survey here last week. We’ll share the information once the numbers are tabulated.

CANYON – Lake elevation is 1,659 ft, which is 98-percent full. Anglers are catching some nice bass at Canyon using crankbait and t-rigged plastic worms.  The bass seem to like the flecked kind of worms, color preference varies.  This is one of the top lakes for larger bass, but don’t expect high catch rates. In fact, lots of bass anglers get skunked here. But this lake always has the potential to produce a new state record largemouth bass.  There is a great place to fish for channel catfish, carp and sunfish from shore.

Game and Fish sampled Canyon Lake recently and on the first night of electro-fishing, we pulled up a 9-pound largemouth bass along Big Foot Cliff and an 8-plus-pound largemouth bass was caught in the Boulder Recreation Area.  One site held more than 200 bluegills.

Most electro-fishing sites on the first night had quite a few bluegill and all the sites were mostly in the main basin.  On the second night of electro-fishing, we caught another 8-pound bass and quite a few bass larger than 3 pounds; they were mostly in the riverine portion of the lake in different coves.

There were a whole bunch of 2- to 3-pound largemouth bass in the Boulder Recreation area. On the first night we set gillnets in the riverine portion of the lake and most of the fish caught were closer to the dam.  It looks like the fish were not moving a whole lot, thus our first night gillnetting catch was mediocre.

Our second night of gillnetting produced quite a few more fish. The nets were mostly in the main basin area.  Teddy bear point was a good site along with several other points and coves.  At night the yellow bass and walleye cruise the points and we caught a whole lot of yellow bass along with a few walleye.  The yellow bass are spawning now.

SAGUARO – Lake elevation 1,525 feet at 94-percent full and releases are 398 cfs.  This should be a great place for yearling bass, plentiful yellow bass, and stringers of feisty bluegill. Channel catfish are abundant. There are also hordes of yearling bass and plenty of yellow bass to catch.

Angler report: We took a group of kids and their “bigs” from Big Brothers and Big Sisters and had an awesome time catching bluegill using mealworms and earthworms.  The trick was to fish under a bobber about 5 feet deep near the sedges around Bagley Flat.  All the kids caught lots of bluegills.  They also caught a yellow bass with a worm and bass with jigs.  All in all it was a great time for everyone.

BARTLETT – Lake elevation is 1,794 feet, which is 95-percent full.  Reservoir release is 884 cfs.

We have had no recent reports from anglers here. This is the time to fish for post-spawn bass during the day, and catfish at night. With a full moon this week, using submersible lights for crappie at night won’t be as effective, but still possible.

For bass anglers, work the rock stringers using spinnerbaits, crankbaits or jigs for post-spawn bass. There will still be some spawning bass, but expect to find those a little deeper right now.
This is also a great time to target huge flathead catfish using live bluegills or small carp.

HORSESHOE – Lake elevation is at 1,997 feet, 42-percent full.  They are releasing water at 400 cfs, so this lake will likely be slowly drained to keep up the lake level at Bartlett. This also means there the lake will be rimed by saturated soils, making shoreline access challenging in places. The best fishing will likely be just below the dam, especially in the deeper holes.

Tammy Wagoner: While fishing the Verde River just below Horseshoe Lake, fish were flipping out of the water frequently.  We caught quite a few channel cats, but let most go because they were small. We fished with chicken liver and fish would bite almost as soon as we got our line in the water.  I also caught a largemouth bass on a Carolina-rigged black lizard while fishing on the east bank from a kayak. I’ve been a few times last week and have had better luck there than at Bartlett and Pleasant both. Also caught a carp on chicken liver.

VERDE RIVER – Verde River flow at Tangle is 195 cubic feet per second.  Release from Bartlett Lake is 110 cfs.

SALT RIVER – Salt River into Roosevelt is 780 cfs, and Salt River Canyon is 725 cfs.  They are releasing 1025 cfs out of Stewart Mountain dam from Saguaro. 

LOWER SALT RIVER – We are still stocking trout below Saguaro at Water Users and Blue Point sites.  Flies are working as well as live worms. The fishing is best at first and last light. Largemouth are camping around the overhanging vegetation.

Where: Lower Salt River
When: 04/22/09
Caught: Rainbow Trout
Technique: Fly Rod and spinning rig
Comments: Time again? Fished midday. Started slow. Picked up nicely and tapered off around 4 p.m. Spin anglers having a tough time with the big grass monster (algae) a bit tough with the spinners. Small jigs produced some fish. See ya next week.

CREEKS – All creeks along the Mogollon Rim are fishing pretty well.
Fly anglers should try dry dropper rigs or larger leach patterns and fish near the bottom.  Spin anglers should use live night crawlers (except in the stretches where bait isn’t allowed), crickhoppers or small spinners.

Where: Tonto Creek
When: 04/24/09
Caught: 16 Rainbow trout and 1 Brook Trout
Technique: My friend and I easily caught 20 to 24 fish using Bead head hares ear and black wooly bugger flies on spinning rod in the afternoon. Most were nice chunky 10 to 12 inch in size.
Comments: I managed to catch my first Brook Trout in Arizona in 17 years using the hare’s ear nymph.
Name: Don Balach

HORSETHIEF BASIN LAKE – No new reports. It’s a pretty little lake that is worth visiting as part of a Bradshaw Mountain experience, but it is pond sized water where the fish are small; great for kids on a camp out. Bring night crawlers or meal worms and fish them under bobbers.