Want to catch a large tail-dancing rainbow? Now’s your chance!

If you attended the International Sportsmen’s Exposition (ISE) this past weekend or watched the TV news segments showing the large trout we had in the Kids Fishing Pond, here is a tip for you. Those big feisty rainbows from our Tonto Hatchery were stocked into some of our urban lakes following the show. Plus the urban lakes are scheduled for regular trout stockings this week.

Enough said.

As a side note, the urban lakes will be stocked with catfish for the first time on March 19, so mark your fishing calendars.

Also be sure to mark March 28-29 on your calendar – that’s when we will be offering the Game and Fish Department Outdoor Expo at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility. We’ll have the Kids Fishing Pond as usual, but something new for this year is having a demonstration fishing tank full of lunker largemouth and some sunfish that look like they have been taking steroids and pumping iron. The Bass Federation Nation is working with us to provide some interesting demonstrations and advice on where to fish. I’ll do talks on where to fish (and fishing outlooks) as well for those who are interested.

We are expanding the fishing presence at this fun hands-on outdoor show where you can shoot all kinds of firearms and archery equipment, plus watch rock crawling vehicles, see cowboy action shooters, climb high rock walls yourself, and enjoy lots of other interesting activities on this 1,700-acre shooting facility just off I-17 and Carefree Highway. It’s a blast. Bring the whole family – there’s a little something for everyone. Or maybe I should say there is a lot of everything for everyone.

Back to fishing. . .

Here’s some GREAT NEWS. On Tuesday, we stocked the first installment of 15,000 trout heading to Lower Lake Mary near Flagstaff.

Last fall, Lower Lake Mary was a giant elk meadow. This will soon be one of our top-producing trout fisheries.

Fishing is definitely looking up thanks to the great snow pack and associated runoff.

At Lees Ferry, the spawn is in high gear. Fly anglers are doing very well, but spin anglers are catching 40-50 fish days by bouncing eggs and midges deep. Also try back-trolling Rapalas. Fish are being caught in 12-14 feet of water with spin rigs. Marabou jigs have also been working well

Lake Powell is waking up – check out Wayne Gustaveson’s first report of the season below.

Stripers are starting to hit well at both Mohave and Mead – this is probably the leading edge of the very good fishing.

For our warmwater lakes, this is the leading edge of the great spring fishing – crappie and bass should either be staging for the spawn, or spawning at many of our central Arizona waters, or they will be shortly. Love is in the air (or water as the case may be). I don’t want to spark another debate on whether to sight-fish bedding bass, but for those learning to bass fish, especially youngsters, quality learning opportunities abound this time of year.

For staging bass, try working major points in the lake and those secondary points just inside coves, the edges of large flats, or the channels (like submerged creeks and arroyos) cutting through large flats.

Some anglers like to slow down their presentations, such as using a spinnerbait with a trailer or a drop shot rig. Others like to go for a reaction bite using a lure with some zip. My advice is to mix it up and see what is working.

For bedding bass, try using creature baits worked in the sheltered spots in the backs of shallow coves; at least right now. The spawning locations and depths will change as the season progresses, the water warms, and light penetration increases. For bass, the spawn can be very spread out – one year, I even saw a bass on a bed in late July off an island. You just never know.

Roosevelt is really starting to turn on. In fact, one angler said, “This lake is on fire!”

At Roosevelt, the Salt River was flowing at around 2,000 cfs on Tuesday, although the Tonto flows have ebbed significantly. Salt River Project doesn’t report the Rosey outflows, but since the lake is 100-percent full, they have to keep pace with the inflows. Based on angler reports, it sounds like bass are staging for the spawn. Some of the female bass caught recently have full egg sacs.

If you camp at Rosey, lock up your gear. Some anglers had all their gear stolen while camping there last weekend. With these tough economic times, it’s wise to lock up your gear no matter where you go.

Also, I have at least three reports of bass on beds at Martinez Lake and Fishers Landing along the lower Colorado River near Yuma.  Kip Pollay sent me a nice picture of a 10 pounder he caught there. It looks like Martinez might be wearing the early-bird crown this year. It’s one of the few places in Arizona where it is possible to skip lures under docks. It’s a hoot!

The runoff and outflows from Alamo Lake apparently slowed down the bite there this past week, but it has the potential on any given day to provide superb spring fishing for bass and crappie – if it isn’t windy. It wouldn’t surprise me if anglers find bass or crappie on beds there as well – it’s that time. Lots of tournaments there though.

It looks like Bartlett is also turning on and some bass are staging for the spawn. This is a great place to work spinnerbaits in the turbid water. Don’t ignore the opportunities to catch big flatheads in deeper holes along the upper end.

In the high country, we just stocked 7,200 rainbow trout around eight inches long into Kaibab Lake near Williams. It’s a fun place to fish – quite often, you can hear the fast freights heading down the tracks near the Historic Route 66. So tweak the famous song a little and get your kicks and catch fish along Route 66 (don’t forget Winona)

Another spot worth visiting is Dead Horse Ranch State Park, which we stocked last week with 3,600 trout. The Verde River and Oak Creek are being stocked this week, as well as Cluff Pond and Roper Lake in southern Arizona.

We also stocked Goldwater Lake this week – remember, stocking was postponed two weeks ago because of snow. This is a wonderful kid-friendly little lake just off Senator Highway in the Bradshaw Mountains above Prescott. There are even swings for the kids to play on there.

Blue Ridge Reservoir is definitely full and spilling, but the road won’t be open for some time yet. We suspect that other mountain lakes along the Rim are spilling over as well – this is going to be a good fishing year in the high country, but it’s a toss of the dice on when many of them will become accessible.

Chevelon is accessible and is spilling. Although this steep-sided lake is not friendly to shore anglers, it offers the opportunity for float tube anglers and others with portable floating devices to catch some quality early season trout, possibly even a huge brown. But you better be in shape – the hike out carrying gear is a gasp-for-breath challenge.

Both Show Low Lake and Fools Hollow Lake in the White Mountains have been providing some decent trout fishing, as has Becker Lake near Springerville.

This is the leading edge of the excellent spring trout fishing. Keep watching the reports. We’ll try to let you know, when we know, when mountain lakes are accessible and fishable.

With the superb snow pack this year, we are looking at back-to-back years of good water levels, which is something we haven’t seen since the early 90s. This is shaping up to be one of our best – if not the best – fishing year this century so far. So get your gear ready for lots of fun action.

So go catch some memories. Maybe I’ll see you out there.

PS: During a recent survey of boaters, it was determined that most Arizona boaters are not only aware quagga mussels have invaded some of our waters, 83 percent of them recognize that these rapidly-reproducing mollusks are an ecological threat. The word is getting out.

So DON’T MOVE A MUSSEL and be sure to CLEAN, DRAIN AND DRY you boat after each time on any waterway to help prevent the spread of quagga mussels and other unwanted invasive species.

We all have to do our part to combat unwanted hitchhikers. All of us boaters are the first line of defense.

Also, there is a bill before the Legislature to give the department more authority to combat this menance, and other aquatic hitchhikers.