Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
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Now is the time to get the tackle box ready, grab the fishing rods, and explore northern Arizona for some spring fishing! A particularly warm and dry spring has arrived, and unfortunately it followed a mild winter. What does this mean for the fishing? It means that the Arizona Game and Fish Department is stocking northern Arizona lakes and anticipates that by late May or early June, as temperatures warm up and lake levels drop, water quality will diminish and conditions will be unsuitable for... Full story
April and October can be the best months of the year to fish in Arizona. The water temperatures are ideal for waves of spawns. Access to high country lakes has opened the way for lunker holdovers. The flathead frenzy hardly left. The buffet is laid out - bass are spawning, especially with the April full moon; crappie should be spawning; flathead catfish are making camera lenses struggle to keep fish in frame; trout are being stocked all across the high country and anglers are catching holdovers... Full story
Catfish stockings will be coming back to the core Community Fishing Program lakes and ponds in Tucson and Phoenix on Friday. Here are the core lakes and ponds: (Phoenix area) Surprise, Rio Vista Pond, Pioneer, Desert West, Alvord, Cortez, Steele I.S. Pond, Encanto, Papago Ponds, E. Hallman Pond, Riverview, Desert Breeze, Veterans Oasis; (Tucson area) Lakeside, Sahuarita, Kennedy, Silverbell, Copper Sky, Kiwanis, Water Ranch, Red Mountain, Chaparral. Channel catfish are best caught using a hook... Full story
Bill Luke Bass Days is the Southwest's largest family fishing tournament and festival - held March 14, 15, 16 at Lake Pleasant. This year's is sure to be one of our biggest events! For the fishermen, we are featuring over $50,000 in cash prizes. For everyone, we will have a day and night time festival featuring a Cornhole Tournament, carnival rides, vendors, food, wildlife exhibits and live music. Tournament Prize List The prizes for this year's Bass Days Tournament are spectacular. This year's... Full story
From Phoenix to Maricopa, eight ponds received their first Community Fishing Program fish stockings during one day between Feb. 10 and 15. Already since Jan. 1, the expansion of the program formerly known as the Urban Fishing Program has included the first catchable stockings at Pioneer Lake in Peoria and Riverview Lake in Mesa. The expansion continues with the first of scheduled stockings that will take place every two months. A total of 815 pounds of trout will be delivered to the eight ponds... Full story
Bill Luke Bass Days is the Southwest's largest family fishing tournament and festival - held March 14, 15, 16 at Lake Pleasant. This year's is sure to be one of our biggest events! For the fishermen, we are featuring over $50,000 in cash prizes. For everyone, we will have a day and night time festival featuring a Cornhole Tournament, carnival rides, vendors, food, wildlife exhibits and live music. Tournament Prize List The prizes for this year's Bass Days Tournament are spectacular. This year's... Full story
By Nick Walter, AZGFD Hello, anglers, Get ready for more winter trout stockings; they began Jan. 13 in the Verde River (Clarkdale to Camp Verde), Fain Lake, the Lower Salt River, Saguaro Lake, Patagonia Lake, Pena Blanca Lake, Fortuna Pond and Redondo Pond. See our nifty Fish&Boat Arizona map for finding the state's best fishing and boating spots. In addition to an incredible turnout for the kickoff fishing clinic and trout stocking at Pioneer Lake in Peoria, we received some great anglers... Full story
Keep in mind that here in Arizona, there is plenty of year-round fishing. Bass and other sport fish may not be as active, but they are still catchable. In many cases; it's a matter of slowing down your presentation and going to smaller baits. Some pro anglers, on the other hand, have been known to not only slow down their presentations, but also upsize their offerings to make it worthwhile for big bass to dine. The Reel Deal It's winter trout and crappie time. First, The Trout There are rainbow... Full story
Rainbow trout stockings have started and will continue all winter long at two-week intervals at all Urban Fishing waters. Trout range in size from 11-12 inches in length, with some fish up to 16 inches. Fishing is good-to-excellent for anglers using scented dough baits (such as Power Bait), worms or a salmon egg/marshmallow combo on the bottom. Small spinners such as Roostertails and Panther Martins, or spoons such as KastMasters and Super Dupers work well for trout. The morning bite is the best... Full story
November promises to provide excellent fishing at Urban Fishing Program lakes. The lakes have been loaded with catfish all fall with one last stocking the week of Oct. 28 – Nov. 2. Coming soon is the first trout delivery for the winter season that begins on Nov. 15. Fishing for catfish, especially cats over 4 pounds, has been excellent following the last stocking that included a huge number of incentive-size fish. Every urban lake received some of the whoppers up to 7 pounds. Excited anglers h... Full story
Now that's it's early November, we're getting some wonderful northern pike fishing in Upper Lake Mary. Lake Mary, although water levels are low, is a viable fishing option - it also has walleye, yellow perch and largemouth bass. What's more, there are no boat motor restrictions. At the Mogollon Rim lakes, skim ice began to develop on cold nights along the shoreline of the higher elevation lakes, but has been melting off by mid-day. Trout Are 'Cool' Cooler temperatures are ideal for trout, and... Full story
Individual fish species are evenly divided and are holding caucuses to decide how best to move forward from this point. Adult stripers would like to open the gates and let more anglers come in so they can reap the rewards of anchovy chum falling from the boats in all the locations that have proven to be great feeding spots all summer long. They revel in the free food that comes to them without effort. Young stripers and smallmouth agree that finding plankton on their own without any assistance... Full story
Tip Of The Week When trout are more active. it's sometimes better to use lures rather than bait, especially inline spinners such as Mepps, Rooster Tails and the like. Casting spoons, such as KastMasters, can sometimes be downright lethal. Also try rainbow-colored Rapalas. The larger, more voracious trout will often feed on the smaller ones. The Reel Deal The window of sunlight that blasts our waters is increasingly short-lived, leading to the first hints of fall fishing conditions. First,... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Commission recently approved 12 amendments to Commission Order 40 (fish regulations) that are expected to conserve sport fish populations and simplify and streamline regulations.The amendments will take effect Jan. 1, 2014. One amendment of particular benefit to anglers is a change in the statewide possession limit to twice the daily bag limit, applying to all statewide and special-regulation seasons. The regulation will now give the angler the ability to continue fishi... Full story
All lakes were stocked again with channel catfish the week of Sept. 30 – Oct. 5. Fishing for catfish is good to excellent now that the fall stockings have resumed. The Sept. 19 stocking was loaded with incentive-size catfish in the 3-8 pound range. Mornings and evenings are the best times because catfish prefer to feed under dim or dark conditions. Top baits for catfish have been stink baits, shrimp and worms fished on the bottom in the deeper lake sections. Use smaller sinkers and 8-pound t... Full story
Many hunters, anglers and other outdoor recreationists have been wondering how the current federal government shutdown, which began Oct. 1, will impact their upcoming outings. Despite closures by federal land management agencies of their administrative offices and some controlled access points and facilities, there are numerous opportunities available to Arizonans for outdoor recreation. Please keep in mind that, with regard to federal lands, official information on closures is the responsibilit... Full story
Margie Anderson is a Charter, Voting member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association and an active member of Western Outdoor Writers. She has been writing for magazines and newspapers in the west since 1990 and is a native of Arizona. Margie's father was an Ojibwa Indian who took her hunting and fishing with him almost as soon as she could walk. She lives in Phoenix with her husband John and a dynamite French Brittany Spaniel named Rosie. Rosie also hunts and fishes, and she keeps an eye... Full story
September is the first fall fish-sampling period. Utah Wildlife’s first two electrofishing sample sites revealed some interesting details. The first sample was taken in Lone Rock Canyon near the back of Wahweap Bay. The first cove on the left heading up Lone Rock Canyon contained more shad than we could scoop up in our nets. That was a surprise. It was obvious that yearling gizzard shad were using the muddy, shallow, warm cove to avoid striped bass predation. Adult stripers cannot survive in 8... Full story
Widespread rains across the state have helped drop lake water temperatures. Look for fish to get active once again, assuming this typical pattern holds true. We'll see. Lake Pleasant The top-water striper bite at Lake Pleasant is picking up. Get there at first light or you might miss the boils. Cover lots of water and look for birds or surface activity. Try top-water lures, jerkbaits and flies. (Zara Spook Juniors and buzzbaits tend to be successful this time of the year.) Roosevelt Lake The...
The way some anglers look at Arizona as a fishing destination has begun to change since April when “Flathead” Ed Wilcoxson landed the heaviest recorded fish in the state’s history. Word is getting out that The Grand Canyon State is home to many gargantuan flathead catfish. Wilcoxson — after photos of his 76.54-pound flathead catfish taken out of Bartlett Lake were shared on fishing forums and media outlets across the World Wide Web — has received phone calls from interested anglers as far away a... Full story
South Florida is in a transition period as we move out of our summer pattern and into the beginnings of Fall. If you have been keeping up with my fishing reports you have noticed that this has been one of the weirdest summers in a long time when it comes to fishing and weather. And this has not been a good thing! Even though we have had some outstanding fishing adventures the weather has kept us at the dock and off the water more than usual. Almost every fishing guide has been eagerly waiting... Full story
The Arizona Game and Fish Commission recently approved 12 amendments to Commission Order 40 (fish regulations) that are expected to conserve sport fish populations and simplify and streamline regulations. The amendments will take effect Jan. 1, 2014. One amendment of particular benefit to anglers is a change in the statewide possession limit to twice the daily bag limit, applying to all statewide and special regulation seasons. The regulation will now give the angler the ability to continue... Full story
Fishing for catfish is slow at all Urban Fishing waters statewide through the summer (no stocking period). For holdover catfish, try the larger lakes of more than 5 acres. Some catfish and bass are being caught, but it takes persistence and some good timing in the early morning and evening hours. Fishing has been good all summer for the plentiful bluegill that frequent the shoreline areas in search of food. Mealworms fished on the bottom or a few feet under a bobber can catch sunfish throughout... Full story
Did you know that — • There are now a total of 21 lakes in the Program located in 11 cities. More lakes are expected to join the Program over the next few years. • The $18.50 Class U (Urban) fishing license fee is the same price for non-residents too. • The Class L, Super Conservation Fishing license is also valid at Program waters. This new combo license includes the Class A state fishing license, the Class U urban fishing license and the Trout Stamp packaged together for $53, a savings of $5 f... Full story
What you will see below this paragraph is what the fishing and conditions were a week ago. All of that has changed!The past two days I had the opportunity to fish and dive alongside my son Zach who is back from his 60 days of work in Australia. Every two months he returns for 30 days and I try to get on the water with him as much as I can. On Thursday we headed out into Biscayne Bay around 10 AM and found many schools of bait that we were able to catch easily with my Lee Fisher nets. I was... Full story
