Arizona Fishing

Note: All lakes are now accessible and most have been stocked. Some smaller secondary roads may still be muddy or contain snowdrifts. Fishing is generally very good, with lots of anglers catching larger hold-over trout, as well as the stockers. With the wind the past several weeks, the forest has been drying out fast.

CHEVELON LAKE - Fishing is fair to good. Anglers have been catching good numbers of moderate size trout near the dam. The lake is ice free, full, and spilling. Anglers are catching trout in the creek downstream of the dam, which is open to statewide fishing regulations.

The lake is open to artificial lure and fly only, trout between 10 and 14 inches may not be possessed, and the bag limit is 6 trout. Try lures such as Z-rays, Super Dupers, spinners, and Rapalas, and flies such as wooly worms, wooly buggers, peacock ladies, prince nymphs, zug bugs, and other small nymphs. The lake is open to electric trolling motors and/or up to 10 hp. gas motors. Access to Chevelon Lake is open on Forest Road 169 from the north, via Hwy 99 from Winslow or via Forest Road 504 from Heber.

BEAR CANYON LAKE - Main access roads are open to the lake. The lake is full and spilling and fishing is fair to good. The lake was stocked with catchable size rainbow trout on the week of April 21-25. This is a hike-in lack down short but steep and winding paths. There is pretty good shore access. This deep canyon lake is great for those with float tubes.

Try worms, Power Bait, salmon eggs, lures such as spinners, Z-rays, Super Dupers, and Rapalas and flies such as wooly worms, wooly buggers, Yeager buggers, peacock ladies, prince nymphs, zug bugs, hares ear and pheasant tail nymphs. The lake is open to electric trolling motors only.

Where:Bear Canyon
When:04/23/08
Caught:Limit of trout
Technique:Hit on yellow Rooster Tail, Berkley Gulp, and silver spoons. Took about 4 hours
Comments:Still some snow on the trail and banks. Road in being graded
Name:Jeff

BLACK CANYON LAKE –- Main access roads are open and fishing is fair. The lake is full and spilling. Recent netting revealed lots of illegally stocked largemouth bass and some nice sized rainbow trout (up to 2 pounds). The lake was stocked last week with catchable size rainbow trout.

Try worms, salmon eggs, Power Bait, lures such as spinners, Super Dupers, Z-rays, spoons, and flies such as peacock ladies, wooly worms and wooly buggers, and Yeager buggers. The lake is open to electric trolling motors only. The water temperature last week was 59 degrees.

Where:Black Canyon Lake
When:04/19/08
Caught:trout planters and hold over 12″ to 19″ 32 trout caught in 3 hours
Technique:slow deep trolling copper KastMaster copper super duper yellow Crickhopper
Comments:really windy but awesome fishing a lot of action caught a couple of 2.5 to 3 pound fat hold over trout
Name:Neil Pitcher

Where:Black Canyon Lake
When:05/03/08
Caught:None
Technique:Power Bait, worms, flies. Tried everything.
Comments:No one catching anything. Boats brought in a few. Very windy. Lake level very high, over the boat launch area. Water very cloudy. Wind a big factor.
Name:R Wilding
BLUE RIDGE – Open and accessible. The lake is spilling. Expect larger hold-over trout. This is a deep canyon lake that is tough for shore angling, but great for small boats and canoes, or float tubes.

Where:Blue Ridge
When:04/27/08
Caught:Nothing
Technique:trolling with spinners, off shore with corn, worms, rainbow Power Bait
Comments:Not sure what the fish were doing that day- but they were NOT biting. Spent the entire day from 8 a.m.- 5p.m.– and never once got a bite.
Name:Jennifer

KNOLL LAKE – The Forest Service 300 (Rim Road) is open, but muddy in places with some snow drifts still along the shady edges. If the water is not too cold (no reports yet), it should be decent for larger hold-over trout.

WILLOW SPRINGS LAKE - Fishing is fair to good. The road is open to the lake and the adjacent campgrounds are open. The lake is ice-free and full. The boat ramp is accessible. The lake has been stocked with catchable size rainbow trout. This is one of the larger and deeper mountain lakes, with lots of shoreline access. In fact, you can walk and fish completely around the lake, but plan on taking most of the day to do so. There are plenty of larger hold-over trout. Plus, this lake also has largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and even crappie. Keep that in mind once it warms up some and they get more active. Right now, it’s trout time.

Try worms, Power Bait, salmon eggs, lures such as Z-rays, spinners, and Rapalas, and flies such as peacock ladies, wooly worms, wooly buggers, and nymphs in black, brown, or green colors. The lake is open to electric trolling motors and/or up to 10 hp. gas motors. Recent netting revealed some small rainbow trout and a few largemouth bass. The water temperature last week was 50 degrees.

WOODS CANYON – Woods Canyon Lake - Access roads and the store are open. Fishing is fair to good. Anglers are catching carryover trout to 1.5 pounds using corn or worms near the dam. Boat anglers are catching trout by trolling KastMasters and Panther Martins. The lake was stocked with catchable size rainbow trout last week.

Try worms, Power Bait, salmon eggs, lures such as Z-rays, spinners, and Rapalas, and flies such as peacock ladies, wooly worms, wooly buggers, and nymphs in black, brown, or green colors. The lake is open to electric trolling motors only.

Angler report:
Where:wood canyon lake
When:05/04/08
Caught:rainbow trout
Technique:blown up worms from the bottom
Comments:caught 11 nice rainbows 7am-1pm including 1 18″. the rest were 12-14 ”
Name:Don Smith

Where:Woods Canyon Lake
When:05/03/08
Caught:Rainbow Trout
Technique:Rainbow power bait, worms, flies. We tried everything we had.
Comments:
Fishing was very poor. Shore fishing very slow and boaters trolling caught only a few. Lake is clear and cold, crawdads active.
Name:R Wilding
Where:Woods Canyon Lake
When:04/22/08
Caught:Rainbow Trout
Technique:Worms and grubs on the bottom from the shore.
Comments:Arrived at 0630 and had our limit of larger trout by 10 a.m. There is still snow on the bank on the store side of the lake.
Name:Steve Rasmussen

Where:Woods Canyon
When:04/26/08
Caught:Rainbow trout
Technique:Power bait on the bottom, meal worms and night crawlers under a bobber, and fly-fishing
Comments:
I took my Aunt and my 2 young kids and we had a blast. The fish were biting all morning, and we caught them using pretty much anything we wanted. Combined we caught and released around 30 fish, after keeping a couple to take home. All the fish we caught were holdover fish between 12 and 16 inches.
Name:Brent Uffelman
Where:Woods Canyon LakeWhen:04/19/08
Caught:30 trout
Technique:Drove boat straight across from the boat ramp. Used whole kernel corn on a No. 6 hook with a bobber about 3 ft down.
Name:Mike
Where:Woods Canyon lakeWhen:04/19/08
Caught:Rainbow/Brown Trout (holdovers)
Technique:Worms, and Rainbow Power Bait
Comments:
The boat store was open but they were not renting boats yet. The Northern section of the lake shore was snow covered. The water was cold but crystal clear. Fished just to the left of the boat dock and pulled out and released 12 rainbows, the largest being 18 inches. Also 3 browns, the largest 16 inches. We were using Power Bait about 1 foot from the bottom and worms on the bottom.
Name:Gabriel Martinez