With any luck, the road into the Woods Canyon Lake on the Mogollon Rim could open by this weekend. The Forest Service is expected to evaluate the roads on Thursday, April 24. Call (928) 535-4481 for the latest information.

Willow Springs, Chevelon (FS 504 Road) and Black Canyon Lake are all accessible. In fact, two anglers fishing Willow Springs said the lake was full of ladybugs, and so were the hold-over trout, but it was a late afternoon fly-fishing bite.

As of April 16, the roads to Bear Canyon and Knoll lakes were still closed. However, warming weather and rapacious winds could eat away the snow. Stay tuned (maybe next week or so?).

The Greer Lakes are all open, full, ice free and will be stocked this week. Anglers have already been catching some nice hold-over brown trout from River Reservoir. But the Little Colorado River in the Greer Valley is running high and most likely won’t be stocked until after May 1.

Most Mogollon Rim streams have been stocked with trout, so this is a great time to take the kids fishing, or give that fly rod a workout.

State Highway 261 to Big Lake and Crescent Lake is expected to open around May 1 in the White Mountains, as well as to most interior forest roads.

The East and West Forks of Black River could be stocked the week of May 1 for the first time this year with native Apache trout. Catching those golden-colored native trout is an angling joy all Arizonans should experience. Stay tuned.

It’s crappie time!
It sounds like the crappie spawn may be hitting a crescendo at Roosevelt, Alamo and Bartlett, especially with the full moon coming. It also appears that San Carlos is doing terrific. If the winds cooperate, look for crappie in the shallows, especially if there is newly submerged vegetation like grass and cockleburs. Small jigs and live minnows might fill your livewell with these speckled beauties.

If you want a fun Southwest-style fish fry, try grinding up Doritos corn chips and spicing them with some ground up dried jalapeno (I like Hatch chilies) for a better batter, and then flash-frying the crappie fillets (or bass, catfish, striper etc.).

Don’t forget that the Agua Fria Arm of Lake Pleasant is now open to vehicular access from on Friday, Saturday and Sundays only from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (see news report below) for six weeks. You can launch small boats there from the dirt – there is no true launch ramp, just a submerged piece of dirt road.

During the first 3-day weekend, Game and Fish officers allowed access to 122 individuals and a dozen or so watercraft. The wildlife officers utilized Maricopa County Park forms, and plan to tabulate the breakdown of user types, comments, and issuess. Overall, the effort was well-received by the public.

By the way, the Agua Fria River has apparently been running continuously into Pleasant since the beginning of January. It now looks like a clear trout stream – with plenty of filamentous algae. Due to the flows, there was likely a decent striped bass and white bass spawn in early spring. This means another strong age class of stripers at Pleasant, which can be good for striper anglers if the stripers don’t negatively impact the forage base. We’ll have to wait and see on that one.

Also, there is a volunteer clean up effort this Saturday along Table Mesa Road just off I-17 – come on out and give a hand.

We are working up to a full moon on Sunday, April 20. This will make fishing at night using submersible lights a little challenging (it’s tough to out-compete Luna to attract plankton and shad), but it might be a terrific time to be at the lakes enjoying a pleasant spring night. Try Texas-rigging or Carolina-rigging soft plastics for bass along the bottom – be sure to use plenty of scent.

Keep in mind that at some lakes, like Alamo and Saguaro, this is the leading edge of the good fishing for channel cats. These two lakes typically turn on a month earlier for cats that most other waters. At Alamo, some bass anglers are already hooking into channels on their crankbaits – the cats are actively feeding on shad.

For bass fishing, pick your lake and go. Winds this past weekend made fishing challenging at many desert reservoirs but hopefully there will be better conditions this weekend. The spawn is in full swing.

There is also an old saying in Arizona: when the Palo Verde trees are in bloom, it’s topwater time (especially at first and last light). Hint: the Palo Verde trees are starting to bloom bright yellow. There are plenty of bass also staging for the spawn. You’ll even find post-spawn bass. It’s all clicking right now, so it’s just a matter of dialing into the bite pattern and finding a day without wind.

If I could wave a magic wand to fish anywhere in Arizona right now, it would be Lake Powell for stripers, smallmouth, largemouth and possibly walleye. The stripers are on the move, not just congregated the dam, but the largemouth and smallmouth bass are entering the spawn. This is world-class fishing in one of the most spectacular lakes on earth, and it is in our backyard, or maybe the northern extremity of our large backyard. However, a windy Lake Powell is not my favorite place to be.

Go catch a memory. Maybe I’ll see you out there.