Great outdoor fishing spots this weekend
While fires, fire restrictions, and even some forest closures have eliminated access to some popular high country waters, Arizona still abounds with lots of great fishing opportunities for the Fourth of July weekend.
No kidding.
For instance, the Lower Salt River near Phoenix was stocked with rainbow trout just last week. Even though daytime air temperatures may reach well into the triple digits, you can be standing in 54-degree water catching feisty coldwater trout with Saguaro cactus as a backdrop. It’s an amazing Arizona experience just below Saguaro Lake.
Both Woods Canyon and Willow Springs lakes along the Mogollon Rim are still open and putting smiles on anglers’ faces. Woods Canyon has a store and boat rentals. The Game and Fish Department liberally stocks these productive lakes each week with lots of rainbows – and most are readily caught.
Willow Springs Lake is huge, and even has some largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, besides the plentiful rainbows.
Here are some other superb opportunities – Game and Fish has been stocking plenty of extra trout into Show Low Lake, Fool Hollow Lake and Scotts Reservoir. These are the rainbows that would have been stocked into other White Mountain lakes that are now closed due to fires. This has been happening for a few weeks, so those lakes are just brimming with rainbows to catch.
Also, Silver Creek near Show Low has been receiving copious amounts of native Apache trout for a few weeks. Just head past the Show Low airport, turn on Borden Ranch Road, and follow it to Hatchery Way. Park at the Game and Fish hatchery and get ready for some action by using some golden colored native salmonids.
Don’t forget that both Show Low and Fool Hollow lakes both have largemouth bass and walleye.
Speaking of warmwater fish in the high country, try Upper Lake Mary near Flagstaff for northern pike, walleye, yellow perch and channel catfish. There are no boat motor restrictions on this large lake, so you can give your bass boat a trip to the pines.
Some other good choices right now for you include Dogtown, Whitehorse and Kaibab lakes near Williams. These are family-friendly lakes where lots of youngsters catch their first trout. They are memory makers. You might even stroll into the Grand Canyon Railway Station’s western movie set for the late morning shootout. But keep your eyes open for desperadoes!
Got the urge for some desert bass action?
A hot spot right now is Lake Pleasant at night for striped bass. There is a new moon July 1, making this an excellent time to fish at night under submerged lights. You might even see some meteor showers in the darkened night sky. It’s getting to be that time of year.
Farther north, Lake Powell can be an angler’s dream this time of year for striped bass, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass and walleye. With 1,750 miles or so of shoreline, you can sometimes go days without seeing another angler, unless you want to.
This is also a great time to visit Lees Ferry for some wild rainbow trout. In fact, there is a tiny buzzing bug called a cicada singing along the Colorado River, creating a fun-filled bite for those using cicada imitations. The Ferry is another one of those places where the water temperature can be 40 or 50 degrees colder than the air temperature. It’s a remarkable experience you’ll be talking about for years if not decades to come.
Lake Havasu, Topock Gorge and the Parker Striper along the Colorado River are also providing some good fishing opportunities for striped bass and smallmouth bass right now.
Want solitude on the Fourth of July weekend?
Try Lake Mead for striped bass and largemouth bass. You might even discover a fishing cove all to yourself where millions of years of the Earth’s geological history are exposed on the adjacent topsy-turvy sandstone formations.
How about seeing bighorn sheep in the rut while catching trout or trophy-sized stripers?
Just fire up the jalopy and load Willow Beach into your GPS unit or smartphone. This is the tailwater fishery below Hoover Dam. Every Friday, it is stocked with trout. Every Saturday, folks are catching limits.
You don’t even need a boat – you can wade into the chilly 54-degree water or simply fish from the new fishing pier there. Desert bighorn sheep are in the rut right now. You might just hear or see bighorns clashing horns. It’s truly a world-class wildlife spectacle just waiting for anyone with a sense of desert adventure.
For the full lake-by-lake fishing report, visit http://azgfd.net/artman/publish/FishingReport/J30-Fishing-Report.shtml.
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