Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
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Then the weather heats up and the fish quit chasing reaction baits, John Murray starts using a spoon, especially at Lake Pleasant. "Spoons will catch everything in the lake," says Murray, "including not just bass but stripers, whites, crappie, and even catfish." The beauty of spoons is that you can fish them on almost any structure. Murray likes white spoons, and he likes to have feathers on the hooks. For deep summer fishing, he usually chooses a jigging spoon like a Crippled Herring and... 
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CLEAN! -- With a constant presence of fish blood, waste and slime, live wells and bait wells are breeding grounds for bacteria, algae and other nasty growths. This is an unhealthy environment for any animal, be it a minnow or trophy redfish. Fortunately, there's Live Well Cleaner from Iosso Products. Environmentally friendly and biodegradable, it safely removes a wide range of stains while it sanitizes the entire plumbing system. Contact local dealers or Iosso Products.... Full story
AN OCTOPUS -- There's a reason why SeaSucker's logo is an octopus: There isn't much it can't hold. It's the same with its new Pro Series Rod & Tool Kit. The two-piece accessory mounts quickly without drilling holes and secures virtually every piece of gear needed while fishing. Designed for hardcore anglers, it's also the perfect solution for powerboaters and sailors who occasionally want to drop a line, but not install something permanent. Contact local dealers or SeaSucker,... Full story
Go Fish Arizona! With summer temperatures heating up, anglers are starting to head to the cooler climate and great fishing opportunities in Arizona's high country. Below is a listing of five high country lakes that our Aquatic Wildlife Branch predicts will be good bets this summer: Big Lake Because of its size, productivity and visitor amenities, Big Lake is considered one of the best White Mountains fishing lakes. Fishing is excellent in summer typically before midday when water quality is... Website
AZGFD hatchery staff traveled to Colorado in early May to bring back 15,000 Snake River cutthroat trout from the Rifle Falls Fish Hatchery to be stocked in Luna Lake and ...... Website
One of the best ways to catch summer bass on Lake Pleasant is with a Carolina rig. I remember back in the day when VanderKooi and his partner came to the scales with a 42-pound limit they caught on Carolina rigs! That's a 7-pound average! John Murray has some great tips for fishing Carolina rigs. He says Carolina rig fishing is simple. A large weight and a glass or plastic bead are strung onto the main line. The bead protects the knot from the heavy weight. A swivel is then tied to the end of... Website
Like Tai, take it easy. Tai puts safety in first place at night. "You absolutely must have a spotlight at night," says Au, "but Arizona law says you can't drive with it constantly on. What I do is barely get the boat on plane, take it slow, and use that spotlight intermittently to make sure where I am." Knowing what marker buoys mean is crucial – the buoys with vertical stripes mean "don't go between here and shore". A diamond on a buoy is marking a hazard like a submerged rock, a square contain... Full story
Day At The Docks Cancelled Letter From Peggy Couvrette Hi, Arizona Anglers, We had hoped to be in a position to host the annual Port of San Diego's Day At the Docks in April 2022. However, the Covid pandemic disruption has had a major impact on our underlying funding sources. And while we have explored potential alternative funding sources for 2022, it is now apparent that those resources will not be available in time for an event this spring. We continue to celebrate the vibrant and resilient... Full story
Something Different This Month: Crappie Pros Rambo and Chamberlin Tell Us What Not to Do! Most anglers are familiar with bass pros, but Arizona anglers might not be aware that there are a lot of crappie pros out there, too. Crappie tournaments are starting to mean big money and slab hunters have learned a few tricks to help them target the big fish. Closer to home, guys like Curt Rambo and Art Chamberlin are known for their crappie prowess. What do these guys think the biggest crappie fishing... Website
T.N.T Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Western Regional coming soon to Lake Havasu. B.A.S.S. Nation is hosting its Western regional qualifier at Lake Havasu and you can watch these top anglers weigh-in their daily catches! There are three events scheduled from 3- 5 p.m.: Wednesday, Feb. 23, Thursday, Feb. 24, and Friday, Feb. 25. Spectators are welcome to pay the Lake Havasu State Park day-use fee of $20 per vehicle (1-4 adults) or $3 for pedestrian and bicyclists to check-out the weigh-in! Daily... Full story
Early in February it can seem like the fish are on strike," says local resident and ournament angler Debbie Blanchard, "but before long the big smallmouth start to move in and you can catch a lot of really big fish." The smallmouth begin to spawn when the water reaches about 58 degrees, and they spawn deeper than largemouth do. Easy To Spot Debbie looks for beds in at least ten feet of water. They're easy to spot, she says, because smallmouth nests are as much as three times as big as... Full story
Prespawn can be a difficult time for bass fishermen. Marty Lawrence’s advice on prespawn fishing is “don’t overthink it”. That being said, the man probably has 14 rods on the deck by the end of the day, and several of them will have a Senko tied on. He’ll throw the Senko Texas-rigged, wacky rigged with no weight, or wacky rigged with a nail weight for deeper cover. As for the Texas rigs, he’ll have one with weight pegged or with a bobber stopper, and one unpegged. The Texas rigs are for around... Website
All Arizona Hunting, Fishing License Sales Going Online License dealers will no longer sell traditional paper licenses, but many will offer an online purchase option; customers can also buy directly online at https://license.azgfd.com/ or at AZGFD offices. In a move to further modernize its licensing system, beginning January 1, the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) will no longer offer traditional paper "book" licenses sold through license dealers. Dealers Vary... Full story
John and I have known fishing legend Fred Ward for many years, but we actually met him in Florida. At that time I was writing for a tiny publication (now defunct) called Arizona Fishing News. My day job, The New Times, sent me to Denver for a week, then to Miami for a week, and as a reward, they gave me a guided fishing trip on Lake Okeechobee and even flew John out there to join me. Fred was guiding for the Roland Martin resort, and when he found out I was a writer, he comped our stay! We got... Full story
Contest garnered 129 entries and paid out $30,000 in prizes. Recycling old fishing line and soft baits into new products is labor-intensive, inefficient and simply, for many anglers, not easy to do. This hampers the ability to grow the volume of line and soft bait recycling in the U.S. However, three BoatUS Foundation and Berkley Recast and Recycle Contest winners aim to change that. The prizewinners – a recent college grad, an outsdoorsman and 3D printing hobbyist, and a team of four college f... Full story
Let's Talk About Catfish By Andy Clark - AZGFD Statewide Sportfish Program Supervisor I've come to the conclusion that there are few things better as an angler than feeling "tap-tap-tap" on your line in the pitch dark. Despite the many hours half-dozing in the sweltering heat of the night, forgetting my headlamp is on and wondering why the bugs keep eating me alive, catfish remain one of my favorite fishing targets. Arizona is home to some fantastic spots to catch catfish. Let's focus on simple... Full story
An angler recently wrote AZGFD with the question, "Given the recent rains we've had, do changes in barometric pressure affect fishing?" Barometric pressure changes leading up to and right after these rain events can positively affect the bite. Studies tend to suggest that low pressure/high pressure has no statistically significant impact on catch per unit effort. But barometric pressure change (increasing and falling) do have a statistically significant impact on catch per unit effort. So if... Full story
When water temperatures start to go down and lake levels begin to rise, crankbait time is here again. Fish start moving up and getting more active, and one of the best ways to find them is to start cranking around the same places you found them during the summer, but shallower. Long points that have good drop-offs to deeper water are prime early-fall areas. Fishing crankbaits is easy, but still requires some effort and attention. You must learn to feel a crankbait while you're fishing it. A lot... Website
We Had A Delicious Dinner From Luna Lake And we salute a beautiful Arizona town nearby. By Kelsee P. Haws Kelsee Haws, Mesa, Ariz., says "I hooked roughly a 10 1/2 inch cutthroat trout using an Abu Garcia - Black Max 6'6" pole with a double Power Bait egg setup. A garlic red salmon egg was stacked on over a garlic rainbow glitter power egg. This fish was a fun fight and I was appreciative of the sacrifice made for the game and the food it provided." Haws continued, "From lake to plate in three... Full story
Over the next ten years the service will support Arizona's sport fish stocking program. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) as part of the Environmental Assessment (EA) of its proposal to continue to fund, in part, the Arizona Game and Fish Department's (AZGFD) sport fish stocking program over the next 10 years. The FONSI decision means that FWS can continue funding to support AZGFD's hatchery operations and fish stocking activities... Full story
Marc Townsend is one of those guys who can catch fish just about anywhere, and Pleasant is no exception. We went out with him one September and started out fishing very shallow with Yamamoto buzzbaits, literally throwing them right on the bank and dragging them into the water. This works very well when the angler in the front of the boat is throwing the buzzbait, and the angler in the back follows up with a Yamamoto Senko. To Fish A Senko... Website
Stocking live, healthy fish for anglers to enjoy can be challenging, but the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) is up to the task, even in this time of widespread drought. While AZGFD places a high priority on meeting its stocking schedule found on the department's website (azgfd.com/fishing/stockschedule), all scheduled stockings are subject to change based on weather, water quality, or road conditions. With warmer water temperatures and lower water levels affecting many of the state's la... Full story
Yamamoto Pro MartyLawrence fishes a lot of night tournaments in the summer, and summer in Arizona means monsoon storms. These storms usually do roll in at night and if you're out on the water, it can mean that jigs and reaction baits can fill the boat in a hurry. He says that a fisherman's best friend in a storm is a Minnkota Ultrex because it will hold your position all night, even if water is coming over the bow. He has actually stayed on the water in those conditions – he just sets the U... Website
Lake Powell Report (6/23/21) Lake Powell is dropping. Inflowing water today is 10,000 Acre Feet less than outflow. The parched Southwest really needs Monsoon rain to fall this summer. Be careful when traveling on the lake. Stay in the middle of the main channel to ensure a safe trip. Stripers Still Hitting Bait Stripers are still hitting bait in the normal spots like Buoy 25 Cove and Wall, Rincon, and Moki Canyon. On my weekly fishing trip, we saw fewer slurping stripers in the channel between... Full story
