Arizona Fishing Is Hot and Cold

Arizona fishing waters offer huge contrasts. Warm water desert lakes and cold high country waters are less than two hours apart. You can easily catch trout at Ashurst Lake all morning, and then drop down to Roosevelt Lake. There you can do some bass and crappie fishing in the afternoon and evening.

The photo above shows the fog drifting off Upper Lake Mary on a cool spring morning. Here we fished for pike. Later that day we were catching smallmouth bass at Apache Lake. I've also fished Lake Pleasant on a hot desert night and stopped by Ashurst Lake for a little morning trout fishing on the way home.

Our desert lakes offer great warm water angling. And our beautiful high country lakes and streams provide great cold water angling.

Fishing in the state's central and western desert lakes offers year-around sport, even in the very hot summer months.

Speaking of hot... when it gets too hot for day fishing, desert anglers often switch to nights and the early morning hours.

You can find more central Arizona fishing information here.

Fishing in the desert lakes offers lots of action and excitement. Healthy bass, catfish, and crappie populations are the rule.

But  you often need a boat and proper gear to fish the more remote parts of our larger lakes.

Compare that with the smaller and very accessible cold water trout lakes and streams South of Flagstaff.

Fishing in our high country waters is restful to your eyes and spirit. Although the lakes are smaller, they are rarely crowded.

Arizona fishing is better in the spring and fall seasons, but that's usually true all around the West. In our case it's true for both warm and cold waters.

In March, April, October, and November, while most anglers are looking to the desert lakes, a few are in the high country enjoying great trout fishing action.

Fishing South of Flagstaff also offers some huge pike... and beautiful scenery, with lots of color. 

The photo above was shot at Ashurst Lake before sunrise. Looking north, the snow-crowned San Francisco Peaks shine in the early morning light. The photo below was also shot at Ashurst... as the sun began to make it's colorful appearance.

Cold water fishing South of Flagstaff offers you a choice of several lakes and streams, including:

	Ashurst Lake
	Coconino Reservoir
	Kinnikinick Lake
	Upper Lake Mary
	Lower Lake Mary
	Oak Creek
	West Fork (of Oak Creek)

The Arizona Fishin' Holes publication (available at all Arizona Game and Fish Department offices) is full of the information every Arizona angler needs.

  With two exceptions, all of the waters listed above are accessed from Lake Mary Road. This road runs south from Flagstaff to Clints Well, where it meets Highway 87.

Oak Creek and the West Fork. Highway 89A follows Oak Creek north of Sedona, through Oak Creek Canyon..

Ashurst Lake (pictured above) is a popular lake, for camping as well as fishing.

Coconino Reservoir is a small lake reached by a very rough road south from Ashurst Lake.

Lower Lake Mary often suffers from a lack of water, but can produce fast action for stocked trout in the early spring. The lake is full, and good fishing is happening now.

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Our local waters offer you a variety of fish, including rainbow trout, brown trout, northern and walleye pike, and even a few bass and crappie.

The links below provides more information.

These waters also offer a huge bonus. Most of them boast nearby campgrounds or day use areas that offer shade and cool breezes.

Fishing in the high country lakes South of Flagstaff offers a wonderful summer retreat to the cool mountains. One weekend per month is great medicine for desert dwellers.

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December 9, 2009

News Release

Arizona Game and
Fish Department

New state record striper caught during major winter storm

 

Angler reels in a fishing bonanza at Lake Pleasant

PHOENIX – While most people were huddled indoors out of the torrential rain on Dec. 7 while a major winter storm pummeled the state, John Davis was enjoying a fishing bonanza at Lake Pleasant, including landing a new inland state record striped bass.

“I’ve never experienced anything quite like it, they were hitting topwater all day long in the rain. It was really something,” Davis said.

Arizona Game and Fish Department officials say John’s monster striper weighed in at 28.58 pounds and measured 45.7 inches long. He caught the behemoth on a Zara Super Spook, which is a topwater lure.

What’s more, he was the only angler out there braving the storm, and reaping the benefits.

John said the behemoth striper actually hit the lure twice without being hooked, but came back a third time. John was amazed he could even land the fish – it ran like a runaway freight train, tearing off line and it took him some time to subdue the giant.

Davis would like to have the striper mounted, or at least have a replica of it created.

Davis, a Phoenix resident, routinely fishes Lake Pleasant, but said he has never seen such phenomenal topwater action before. “The stripers were in a feeding frenzy in Humbug Cove. I was getting multiple hits on my topwater lures, all day long. It was amazing.”

John said the sometimes it rained very hard, but the wind didn’t blow, so it wasn’t too bad out there. “Actually, it was kind of nice.”

It’s always nice when you hit the jackpot. John caught and mostly released around 50 stripers during his rain-soaked, day-long fishing bonanza.

Game and Fish biologists said research studies at Lake Pleasant have shown that the majority of striped bass congregate in the northern coves during winter, especially over submerged creek and river channels.

“The striper fishing at Lake Pleasant has really taken off the past several years. In fact, the striper bite last winter was pretty remarkable – anglers were routinely catching dozens of fish. It looks like we are off to a good start again this winter,” said Fisheries Chief Kirk Young.

Lake Pleasant has not always had stripers, but it is the only lake in the state with white bass. However, when the Waddell Dam was raised in the early nineties, Central Arizona Project water from the Colorado River began being pumped into this popular desert reservoir on the Agua Fria River. Eventually, striped bass from the Colorado River got into the lake.

 

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Arizona fishing can be successful and satisfying without being hot. Get out and catch a few.

Flagstaff Fishing How I did on my last fishing trip.

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