AZGFD.gov Fishing Report Fishing Blog Hunting Blog Wildlife Blog Search: BUY LICENSES | BIG GAME DRAW | eNEWS | CALENDAR | VIDEO | HUNTING | FISHING | WILDLIFE VIEWING | CONSERVATION | EDUCATION | BOATING | SHOOTING | OHV | SITE MAP | EMPLOYMENT Home : Fishing Report Fishingadvanced Report search Home Posted in: Fishing Report Digg this story! ● Wildlife News Feb 12, 2009 Email this article ● Shooting Sports News Printer friendly ● Call for Comments page ● Public Advisories ● Public Meetings Rory’s tips; ● News Media ● Advisories I can finally say it – it’s raining quail. In fact, it’s also been raining bass, dove, trout, rabbits and crappie as well ● Fishing Report – yahoo. Add this site to... By the way, I talked with my friend Charlie Ester at Salt River Project. As you know, the Salt River lakes (Roosevelt, Apache, Fishing Report Feed RSS News Feed Canyon and Saguaro) are basically full already. But thanks to the del.icio.us recent storms, SRP now fully expects Bartlett and Horseshoe Google My Yahoo! to fill as well during the our runoff season. Get your spinnerbaits tuned up and your flippin’ sticks ready. As Yogi would say (Berra, not Bear), it’s déjà vu all over again. We watched a similar positive drama unfold http://azgfd.net/artman/publish/FishingReport/Fishing-Report.shtml (1 of 55) [4/9/2009 2:20:26 PM] AZGFD.gov Fishing Report last winter-spring. Here’s another piece of great news -- they don’t expect flows to get so high down the Lower Salt River that Tempe Town Lake will have to lower its inflatable dams like they did in 2005. With the flows into Tempe Town Lake right now, it could indeed be a fishing hot spot during the All-Star Weekend. Right now, the soils are saturated throughout much of the state. The green-up is underway in the lower elevations. The snowpack is tremendous (good skiing right now). We have already had good runoff even before the runoff season in central Arizona. Most interior lakes Arizona will fill and spill. Looking at the USGS precipitation gauges, it looks like the Tonto Basin (a prime quail area this year) received around 13 to 16 inches of rain in the last 60 days. And Roosevelt will fill and spill. I will go out on a limb and make a future prediction – the Tonto Basin will be the hot spot this fall for quail and bass expeditions; it will possibly be the best in the West. If there was ever a wonderful year to get new fishing poles and firearms (I have a shotgun, flipping stick and new .22 on my wish list), this is it. But even if you can’t swing any near gear, invest in as much time outdoors as your schedule and pocket books allows. My most sincere tips are to go early, go often, and not miss out. Years like this are prime fodder for future campfire tales. With that being said, runoff from the storms this week could make fishing at some of the lakes, rivers and streams a little challenging if there is associated turbidity. By the way, on Tuesday the Verde River just above Horseshoe Lake was running at around 4,000 cfs. Tonto Creek near Roosevelt was also running at around 4,000 cfs. But I suspect that a fishing (and kayaking) hot spot might be the Lower Salt River near Phoenix. The flows popped up appreciably to 2,300 on Thursday. The Lower Salt should be a hoot to kayak or canoe. SRP says the Lower Salt flows http://azgfd.net/artman/publish/FishingReport/Fishing-Report.shtml (2 of 55) [4/9/2009 2:20:26 PM] AZGFD.gov Fishing Report should stay at around this level the next couple of months. Some other good places to try for trout right now include Casino Row along the Colorado River just below Davis Dam (Bullhead area) and Willow Beach along the Colorado River below Hoover Dam. The Agua Fria River at Rock Springs (near Lake Pleasant) was flowing at 750 cfs on Tuesday, which might just get the striped bass and white bass into the spawning mode, although it is a couple of weeks early. There was a full moon Tuesday, which should also add impetus to the spawning urge for stripers and whites. In 2005, we caught spawning stripers in mid February when the Agua was busting its seams. However, the gate to eastern side of Pleasant off Table Mesa Road is closed, and until the soils dry out, it might be a muddy hike to access the spawning stripers where the Agua Fria River enters the lake. For other warmwater lakes, I suspect that the farther down the chain you go the better to escape impacts from runoff. I always like Saguaro Lake following a major front, especially for yearling bass and yellow bass. We also stock trout there in winter. Don’t ignore the channel catfish – believe it or not, they could be actively feeding this time of year and are imminently catchable there. I have even caught them on deep-running, bottom-bouncing wide wobble crankbaits while targeting bass, even in February. Live minnows might just get you the whole smorgasbord. I also love Canyon Lake to fish after storms pass. If the fish don’t bite, the potential for waterfall watching is a lure in itself. Last year at this time, I even saw a lone bobcat prowling the shoreline. This picturesque lake also gets stocked with rainbow trout during winter (bring your swim baits). Another good place to try for bass and trout right now is Tempe Town Lake. With the flows going through the lake, fish might feed more actively. As of Thursday, there was http://azgfd.net/artman/publish/FishingReport/Fishing-Report.shtml (3 of 55) [4/9/2009 2:20:26 PM] AZGFD.gov Fishing Report about 100 cfs flowing over the downstream inflatible dam. Another lake to try once all the storms pass is Havasu – which is a big shallow bowl in the desert and can warm up quickly. Plus it has plenty of feisty smallmouth bass and striped bass. It always holds the promise of being a late winter or early spring hot spot. Alamo is almost always my early-bird choice. It usually takes a few days of decent weather for the crappie bite to return once we are re-visited by one of those nice winter high pressure domes to heat things up. Don't ignore the channel catfish there -- a fish fry for All Star weekend might be a winner. So go wet a line. Maybe I’ll see you out there. Fishing News Alamo Lake clean up is Feb. 28 The Arizona Game and Fish Department is organizing the annual Alamo Lake clean for 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 28 and the Arizona State Parks is waiving the camping and boat launch fees for those registered for this effort. It’s hard work, but fun. Participants are staying at the Cholla Campground and participants using boats will launch a the Cholla Launch Ramp as well. Please fee free to come and camp out on Friday night to save having to get up before the crack of dawn. The clean up will start at 8 a.m. Saturday. There will also be a dinner and door prices on Saturday evening following the clean up. It’s a lot of fun – come join us. Once the clean up is done, there might just be some time to fish – and there will be lots of anglers there who know the lake well. The Game and Fish Department will operate a pontoon boat for collecting shoreline litter, and will also have a dump truck to haul away the trash. Be sure to wear gloves. http://azgfd.net/artman/publish/FishingReport/Fishing-Report.shtml (4 of 55) [4/9/2009 2:20:26 PM] AZGFD.gov Fishing Report For more information, contact Wildlife Manager Stewart Kohnke at (928- 684-3763 or (928) 342-0091. Fishing News (from a previous century) Arizona Sentinel newspaper, March 30, 1878 Salmon for the Colorado “Stocking the Colorado River with fish is a matter that is now receiving some attention. At present there is but one variety of the “Colorado salmon,” though it appears to have no pecularities in common with the noble fish. It grows to great size, 30 pounds not being an uncommon weight. Its fleash is tolerably free from small bones and, during the winter months, reasonably firm. The other varieties are small, bony and of muddy flavor. The temperature of the water is an important consideration in selecting the proper varieites of fish for stocking the Colorado. To determine this fact, the railroad company are causing daily record to be made of the temperature of the river, and these observations will be continued throughout the summer.” Editor’s Note: The “Colorado salmon” mentioned is what we call a pike minnow. It is the largest minnow in the world that can grow up to 100 pounds or more, but don’ expect to find any that large in Arizona today. CENTRAL WATERS URBAN LAKES -- Saturday trout stocking on January 24th at 9 of the 21 Urban Program Lakes proved to be a big hit to local anglers. The main goal of the Urban Fishing Program is to provide recreational fishing for everyone, including anglers that may only be able to fish on weekends. The stockings on Saturday were witnessed by modest to large crowds. Shouts of excitement, lots of questions, and even applause met the Urban Fishing Program staff and the private fish suppliers.