04-29-2003, 11:49 AM
[cool]Hey Ron, what a lot of people do not realize is that while Arizona is a desert state, there are a lot of lakes, big and small. We have to put a dam on every trickle to conserve water for the dry times...most of the time. We get a few winter storms each year and some "monsoon" storms in the summer. They dump a lot of water in a hurry, so if we don't dam it, it runs off and we lose it forever...dammit.
What that means is that there are a lot of spots for fishing (and the power squadrons). A map of the greater Phoenix area will show several reservoirs within one to two hours drive. If you stretch it to three hours, you have everything from trout lakes in the high country to some of the best bassin' and catfish ponds in the country.
Some of my favorites are Lake Pleasant, damming the Agua Fria River, northwest of Phoenix (1 hour). In addition to big largies, it kicks out a lot of hefty white bass and in recent times some stripers. The dam was raised a few years ago and they pump water in from Lake Havasu (Colorado River) across the desert. This has introduced stripers to the lake and they are approaching 30 pounds now. There used to be good fishing for crappies and sunfish, but the rapid water fluctuations, when the lake is being drawn down for irrigating cotton, leaves their nests high and dry in the spring and the numbers have dropped off. It has also affected the bass.
On the Verde River are Horseshoe Lake and Bartlett Lake. Horseshoe used to be my favorite tubing lake. Rough road getting in and no motors allowed kept the "rifraff" off the water. It was fantastic for big crappies, largemouth, smallmouth and flathead cats to 60 pounds. They flushed (emptied) it three years ago after the minimum pool dropped to the point it would not sustain the fish in it...during the drought. Now they are not letting it fill anymore, because of a stupid bird that nests in the brush that has grown up in the dry river channel. And they have adopted a plan to maintain the lake in the future for "native species only"...no more gamefish...just the native chubs and suckers...that aren't worth catching and you couldn't keep anyway.
Bartlett Lake below Horseshoe is a great lake for lots of smaller largemouths (2-3 pounds) and quantities of crappies. It also is a great lake to night fish for big flathead cats. Much of the year you take your life in your hands to try to tube it. Wall to wall PWC and skiers, with no protected areas. You gotta have more guts than brains.
On the Salt River, there is a string of 4 lakes, beginning with Roosevelt. It is the largest, but was down to 11% capacity before our early spring rains, and is only at 23% at present. Fantastic fishery for largemouth, smallmouth, walleye, BIG crappies and catfish...including flatheads over 60. There are also several species of bluegill and other sunfish.
The next lake down the chain is Apache. Without a doubt, one of the best western waters for smallmouths. Also some good largies, yellow bass, walleyes, resident trout (deep cold water) and the ubiquitous catfish. Like the other lakes below Roosevelt, it is in a canyon and is only accessible in a couple of spots by road...but miles of productive shoreline for boaters. It is also reached only by unpaved road, with some steep grades, so it keeps a lot of the crazies off the lake.
Canyon Lake is the second lake up from Phoenix, and gets a ton of boat traffic. But, there are some protected areas that are great for tubing. Good bass, yellow bass, walleye, sunfish, crappies and catfish. There have been several largies over 15 pounds out of Canyon.
Saguaro Lake is the lowest on the chain, and is maintained at a fairly constent water level, even in the drought years. It is only a little over a half hour from my door, and usually has good fish within the large cove I fish. But, as I have posted above, the esoterics are often compromised by idiot boaters who feel that the bigger the boat the less they have to be concerned with laws and sportsmanship. When verbally challenged, their standard reply usually includes the Hawaiian good luck sign...also known as California's most often used driving signal.
The rangers DO patrol the lake and they do write a lot of tickets for violations. But, on busy weekends, much of their attention is devoted to making sure that all the drunks keep going the right direction in the prescribed circle around the lake. They have to cleanup a fair number of "get-togethers". They can't be worried about the emotional stress of a couple of harrassed float tubers. However, to their credit, they did nail a couple of PWC operators a few weeks ago that were deliberately running circles around a guy and his kid in a small fishing boat...well within the "no wake" zone. Had them on the ranger boat for quite awhile, with their PWC tied off on the floating docks nearby. I'm betting they bought something they couldn't take home and eat. Did my old heart good.
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What that means is that there are a lot of spots for fishing (and the power squadrons). A map of the greater Phoenix area will show several reservoirs within one to two hours drive. If you stretch it to three hours, you have everything from trout lakes in the high country to some of the best bassin' and catfish ponds in the country.
Some of my favorites are Lake Pleasant, damming the Agua Fria River, northwest of Phoenix (1 hour). In addition to big largies, it kicks out a lot of hefty white bass and in recent times some stripers. The dam was raised a few years ago and they pump water in from Lake Havasu (Colorado River) across the desert. This has introduced stripers to the lake and they are approaching 30 pounds now. There used to be good fishing for crappies and sunfish, but the rapid water fluctuations, when the lake is being drawn down for irrigating cotton, leaves their nests high and dry in the spring and the numbers have dropped off. It has also affected the bass.
On the Verde River are Horseshoe Lake and Bartlett Lake. Horseshoe used to be my favorite tubing lake. Rough road getting in and no motors allowed kept the "rifraff" off the water. It was fantastic for big crappies, largemouth, smallmouth and flathead cats to 60 pounds. They flushed (emptied) it three years ago after the minimum pool dropped to the point it would not sustain the fish in it...during the drought. Now they are not letting it fill anymore, because of a stupid bird that nests in the brush that has grown up in the dry river channel. And they have adopted a plan to maintain the lake in the future for "native species only"...no more gamefish...just the native chubs and suckers...that aren't worth catching and you couldn't keep anyway.
Bartlett Lake below Horseshoe is a great lake for lots of smaller largemouths (2-3 pounds) and quantities of crappies. It also is a great lake to night fish for big flathead cats. Much of the year you take your life in your hands to try to tube it. Wall to wall PWC and skiers, with no protected areas. You gotta have more guts than brains.
On the Salt River, there is a string of 4 lakes, beginning with Roosevelt. It is the largest, but was down to 11% capacity before our early spring rains, and is only at 23% at present. Fantastic fishery for largemouth, smallmouth, walleye, BIG crappies and catfish...including flatheads over 60. There are also several species of bluegill and other sunfish.
The next lake down the chain is Apache. Without a doubt, one of the best western waters for smallmouths. Also some good largies, yellow bass, walleyes, resident trout (deep cold water) and the ubiquitous catfish. Like the other lakes below Roosevelt, it is in a canyon and is only accessible in a couple of spots by road...but miles of productive shoreline for boaters. It is also reached only by unpaved road, with some steep grades, so it keeps a lot of the crazies off the lake.
Canyon Lake is the second lake up from Phoenix, and gets a ton of boat traffic. But, there are some protected areas that are great for tubing. Good bass, yellow bass, walleye, sunfish, crappies and catfish. There have been several largies over 15 pounds out of Canyon.
Saguaro Lake is the lowest on the chain, and is maintained at a fairly constent water level, even in the drought years. It is only a little over a half hour from my door, and usually has good fish within the large cove I fish. But, as I have posted above, the esoterics are often compromised by idiot boaters who feel that the bigger the boat the less they have to be concerned with laws and sportsmanship. When verbally challenged, their standard reply usually includes the Hawaiian good luck sign...also known as California's most often used driving signal.
The rangers DO patrol the lake and they do write a lot of tickets for violations. But, on busy weekends, much of their attention is devoted to making sure that all the drunks keep going the right direction in the prescribed circle around the lake. They have to cleanup a fair number of "get-togethers". They can't be worried about the emotional stress of a couple of harrassed float tubers. However, to their credit, they did nail a couple of PWC operators a few weeks ago that were deliberately running circles around a guy and his kid in a small fishing boat...well within the "no wake" zone. Had them on the ranger boat for quite awhile, with their PWC tied off on the floating docks nearby. I'm betting they bought something they couldn't take home and eat. Did my old heart good.
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