Get ready to reel in some rainbow action after Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman stocks the first trout in Tempe Town Lake on Nov. 25 to kick off the “Welcome Back the Trout” celebration after school lets out on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

It’s an annual angling tradition beneath the desert skies to kick off the holidays. We’ll have 100 rods and reels and limited bait available on a first-come basis to those who are signed up for the department’s fishing clinic from 3-5 p.m. Isn’t harvesting your own meal part of the self-reliant Thanksgiving custom of old? Come join us. For a map of how to get to the Town Lake Marina where the celebration is taking place, click here.

We have also stocked trout in the Lower Salt River, Canyon Lake, and Saguaro Lake, plus the Urban Fishing Program lakes, so there are some other interesting rainbow choices close to the Valley of the Sun as well. If you are preparing frozen fish sticks for dinner again rather than fresh-caught trout, it’s not because you didn’t have lots of other fun choices.

With mild temperatures expected to hang around this weekend, this is a superb time to try some of the mid-elevation trout waters such as Beaver Creek, West Clear Creek, Oak Creek, the Verde River (between Cottonwood and Camp Verde), Dead Horse Ranch State Park, Goldwater Lake and Lynx Lake. You should also be able to catch the last vestiges of autumn color in the riparian areas. By the way, little Goldwater Lake near Prescott even got some nice larger, incentive-size trout.

But you may want to visit the mountain lakes one last time (I know I said that last week too) before a blast of arctic air and Gulf of California band of moisture join up to paint our mountains white. Some anglers are finding a nice big fish bonanza at places like Big Lake and Willow Springs Lake.

I received two recent reports from anglers fishing the Williams area lakes, especially Whitehorse. My family sure did well there in early autumn. Dogtown has some nice browns.

Long Lake east of Flagstaff has been providing some interesting fishing for larger trout up to 4 pounds, along with some nice northern pike. It’s a long and bumpy road through the pinion-juniper to get there and the wind can whip up this lake on the edge of Anderson Mesa, but when you hit the fishing conditions just right it can provide some of the best action in the state.

Don’t forget that tree squirrel season last through the end of the year. A superb mushroom crop combined with plentiful acorns in Arizona’s high country this fall means this is a good year to go tree squirrel hunting. No fewer than four species and eight subspecies of tree squirrels can be found in Arizona’s forests. Of these, the Abert’s or tassel-eared squirrel is the most widespread and contributes most to the annual squirrel harvest.

We also have some autumn bass fishing lingering, so I am not writing that old favorite seasonal fishing phrase “winter conditions prevail,” at least not yet. The action in the top of the water column may not be as exciting as it was a few weeks ago, but you are likely to find sporadic boils with bass chasing shad.

This is really a transition time, so besides your topwater lures, it is wise to tie on a lipped crankbait, inline spinner, spinnerbait and other flashy lures for the subsurface action. Fish are not quite as aggressive right now as they were, so you are looking for a reaction bite. Spoons are also a good bet to imitate dying shad falling through the water column. My theory for this time of the year is we will spend most of the winter fishing deep, so why start any sooner than we have to.

We have received some encouraging reports from crappie anglers at Bartlett and Alamo. With a waning quarter moon, this might be a good time for some night fishing before the nights turn crispy cold. You might even catch the tail end of the Leonid meteor showers putting on a night sky show.

Go catch some memories.