This is it – the cicada bite is on at Lees Ferry. This is some of the most exciting surface action for trout a fly or spin angler can experience. If you don’t know the Ferry, get a guide. If you do know it, just get there. Don’t worry about the air temperatures; the chilly water and deep shadows of Marble Canyon Gorge will keep your goose bumps alive and well, especially in the cooler mornings.

This is the first quarter of a waxing moon, making it a superb time for night fishing in the desert lakes, or the more accessible mountain lakes as well.

tip for mountains anglers fishing for trout at night is to consider what trout love to eat – flying insects. If you can somehow have a light positioned just above the water to attract those insects, they will in turn attract trout.

We used to hang lanterns from our boats, inner tubes etc. and then fish from shore (to stay out of the insects). There are so many floating lights available now that you can simply take your pick. I like the LED ones – they don’t ruin your night vision, which is important if you want to watch the stars, satellites and possibly shooting stars in the night sky.

Even with spinning gear you can use casting bubbles or floats and have a leader (even a tapered fly leader) with something like a wooly bugger attached. The old standby, worms, can work well under a bobber. Get the youngsters to catch a container full of grasshoppers and you just might experience hungry trout jumping on hoppers.

By the way, for those of you who are outside on the evening of July 9, Jupiter will make its closest approach to Earth for all of 2008. For more information, visit http://spaceweather.com.

In the desert lakes, the best night fishing is for catfish and carp. You are allowed two hooks per line – with bottom fishing; you’ll want to take advantage of that legal opportunity. Set on hook up with a catfish bait, such as a hot dog or stink bait, and the other with a carp bait, such as corn or dough balls.

Try to find a shallow flat adjacent to the main body of the lake, or a major point. Catfish and carp patrol at night for food. You’ll want to attract them on their rounds. Try chumming with whatever bait you are using. Bottom feeders are attracted by scent.

For boat anglers, I have super reports for night crappie fishing at Alamo toward the dam using live minnows and small jigs. I have mixed reports for crappie anglers at Roosevelt and Bartlett.

This is also the time of year to fish for warmwater species in the high country. For walleye, try Show Low Lake or Fool Hollow; they are both located in the city limits of Show Low. There are bass and crappie in Willow Springs Lake on the Rim.

Upper Lake Mary near Flagstaff also has walleye, but it is usually night anglers who tie into the larger ones. Those heading to Lake Mary will want to take along some frozen anchovies for the huge northern pike.

Speaking of frozen anchovies, one angler recently asked how to keep unfrozen anchovies on the hook. I don’t even try to. Once they become soft and soggy, they take on a different name and function – chum.

By the way, my old friend Mike Walker, of the Walker Agency, an outdoor industry PR firm in Scottsdale, took his grandchildren fishing and provided the following:

I took my granddaughter, 10, and grandson,7, on their first fishing trip during all the hoopla about National Fishing and Boating Week. It was around the time of the free fishing day. They both loved it and Abby is quite a caster now. I did all the right things, took them to Sportsman’s Warehouse, bought them their own gear and the right stuff they’d need. I’d explain to them what the stuff was, and then they made their own selections.

I didn’t drop a line, but they sure did and we fished Willow Springs. They experienced nibbles and bait-stealing, but didn’t catch anything. And it didn’t seem to make a difference to either of them. They just loved being outdoors and fishing.

Abby of course had to explore the shoreline where she found a bunch of fishing line, rusty hooks, bobber and one old crankbait. On the way home, she asked if we could stop at Wal-Mart as she wanted to see if they sold the same lure that she found; she was curious about it.

Mike Walker
Walker Agency

So follow Mike’s example and get your young relations out fishing, hiking, camping or whatever in the outdoors. They might forget the last video game they played, but they will always remember a camping, fishing or hiking trip. Go catch some memories. Maybe I’ll see you out there.