WHITE MOUNTAINS AND RIM LAKES Updated reports: Recommended Waters to Fish Fishing is good at Show Low Creek and East Fork Black River, fair to good at Little Colorado River in Greer, Sheeps Crossing, Woods Canyon Lake and Willow Springs Lake, and fair at Big Lake and Nelson Reservoir. Trout Stocking Schedule Week of August 12 - 16 Bear Canyon Lake - 225 rainbow trout Willow Springs Lake - 1,200 rainbow trout Woods Canyon Lake - 2,926 rainbow trout East Fork Black River - 1,567 Apache trout West Fork Black River - 50 Apache trout Little Colorado River in Greer - 605 Apache trout Sheeps Crossing - 517 Apache trout Week of August 19 - 23 Bear Canyon Lake - 225 rainbow trout Willow Springs Lake - 1,200 rainbow trout Woods Canyon Lake - 1,825 rainbow trout East Fork Black River - 784 Apache trout West Fork Black River - 50 Apache trout Little Colorado in Greer - 250 Apache trout Sheeps Crossing - 258 Apache trout Show Low Creek - 250 rainbow trout Silver Creek - 528 Apache trout MOGOLLON RIM LAKES Note: Warm water temperatures are pushing trout into deeper water. Fish deep and target the early morning or evening hours. BEAR CANYON LAKE – Fishing is fair to good. The lake will be stocked this week with 225 rainbow trout. BLACK CANYON LAKE – Fishing is poor to fair for trout. Anglers have been catching some rainbow trout and bass. The water level is low, and launching trailered boats will be difficult. CHEVELON LAKE – Fishing is fair for boat anglers using lures and fair for shore anglers. WILLOW SPRINGS LAKE – Fishing is fair to good. The lake will be stocked this week with 1,200 rainbow trout. Some boat anglers were having luck drifting bait 15-20 feet under the boat. Kelly from Peoria issued a Willow Springs Lake warning: On Aug. 17-18, I took my son up fishing at Willow Springs Lake. We fished from the boat on Saturday and on the shore on Sunday. On Sunday, we parked in the overflow parking area, and while we were fishing someone stole two batteries out of the back of my truck that were under some garbage bags. I didn’t know if anyone else had any problems, I just thought I would let you know. They work in groups because there were two guys by us with binoculars and not fishing -- just watching us. WOODS CANYON LAKE – Fishing is fair to good. The lake will be stocked this week with 1,825 rainbow trout. The store is open, and boat rentals are available. WHITE MOUNTAINS LAKES Note: Warm water temperatures are pushing trout into deeper water. Fish deep and target the early morning or evening hours. BECKER LAKE – Fishing is poor to fair. Fish early or late in the day for best results. With warm water temperatures, please play and release the fish quickly without taking them from the water to minimize stress and reduce mortalities. Becker Lake is open to catch-and-release fishing, with artificial fly and lure only, and single barbless hooks only. BIG LAKE – Fishing is fair. Warm water temperatures are pushing the fish into deep water, so anglers should be fishing deep. The best action has been in early morning and late evening with nightcrawlers and Power Bait. Shore anglers should try fishing off outer rocky points adjacent to deep water. Avoid fishing small coves since they are shallower and will have warmer water. An algae bloom is present on the lake, plus some larger algae that is clumping together. Algae is getting caught on trolled lures, so boat anlgers should try anchoring or drift fishing in deep water. The store is open, and boat rentals are available. The lake level is somewhat low, but boat ramps near the store and at South Cove are accessible. The boat ramp at Railroad Cove is very low and launching trailered boats here will be difficult. Report from Jeremy Hoffman, fishing manager at the north Phoenix Sportman’s Warehouse: For those who go out to the lake with a boat, try trolling a cowbell with a small in-line spinner, KastMaster, or Wooly Bugger attached to the end with a 2-foot long section of 6-pound fluorocarbon line. When times are tough on this lake you can usually count on this to work. The key is to troll just fast enough to get the blades on the cowbell spinning. Once you catch one, make another pass through the same area to see if you can get another. If you do manage to catch another one, cut off your cowbell and just attach whatever it was that you were fishing behind it to your main line and start working that area. This is a very effective way of locating the active fish. CARNERO LAKE – Fishing is poor. The lake is very weedy. CLEAR CREEK RESERVOIR – Fishing is poor for trout, but fair to good for bullheads, bass and catfish. Boats can be launched at the official boat ramp, but will have difficulty reaching the canyon above the highway bridge due to shallow water and vegetation. CONCHO LAKE – Fishing is poor. The lake is very low and weedy. CRESCENT LAKE – Fishing is fair. Anglers have been catching some rainbows on PowerBait and nightcrawlers. Fish early and late in the evening. The store is closed. Access to the boat ramps on the west and south sides is good. FOOL HOLLOW LAKE – Fishing is poor to fair for trout and good for catfish and sunfish. Anglers are catching catfish at night on worms and prepared catfish baits. Sunfish are numerous around the fishing piers. Use a very small hook and a tiny piece of worm to catch these sunfish. GREER LAKES – All Greer lakes (River, Tunnel and Bunch Reservoirs) are low, and fishing is poor to fair. Water levels at River and Bunch are below the concrete curb at the end of each boat ramp. Boats will have to be carried to the water. Boat launching at Tunnel Reservoir is still accessible, but the lake is low. HULSEY LAKE – The lake was drained following the Wallow Fire to help reduce expected flooding on Escudilla Mountain and has not been stocked since the fire. LEE VALLEY LAKE – Fishing is poor. Recent surveys caught Arctic grayling averaging eight inches, but also found the pH to be very high. There is a strong algae bloom on the lake that appears to have killed the Apache trout and are likely stressing the grayling. The lake is low, and launching a trailered boat is difficult. LUNA LAKE – Fishing is poor to fair. Some anglers are catching some trout on PowerBait in the early morning and late evening hours. Recent surveys caught rainbow trout ranging from 13 to 14 inches. LYMAN LAKE – Lyman Lake State Park is open to overnight camping, which will be allowed through November 4. Fishing is poor for bass and fair to good for catfish. Monty Lambert, Park Manager at Lyman Lake State Park, with a report on Lyman Lake: Fishing has slowed down with the monsoon rains. Walleye are still being caught; bass and channel cat have slowed down. Carp have been very active but no one has been fishing for them. Water level is rising -- most submerged obstacles are no longer an issue for boats. NELSON RESERVOIR – Fishing is fair. Anglers are catching rainbow trout on PowerBait and worms. Fish early in the morning and late in the evening. RAINBOW LAKE – Fishing is poor for trout and fair for catfish and bullheads. The lake is very weedy, and boating is difficult. White Amur (grass carp) were stocked into the lake under a special permit to control the nuisance aquatic weeds that plague Rainbow Lake every year. Please release these fish if incidentally caught so they can do their job at eating weeds. SCOTT RESERVOIR – Fishing is poor to fair. Fish early in the morning or late in the evening for trout. The water is turbid, but the lake level is good. Try catfishing at night with worms, chicken livers and prepared baits. SHOW LOW LAKE – Fishing is fair. Anglers are catching some catfish on chicken livers and prepared baits and a few trout on worms. The concession store is open, and boat rentals are available. WOODLAND LAKE – Fishing is poor for trout, but fair for bass and catfish. The lake is weedy around the shoreline areas. WHITE MOUNTAINS STREAMS Note: All campgrounds along the East Fork Black River have reopened along with the entire length of Forest Road (FR) 276. EAST FORK of the BLACK RIVER – Fishing is good. Runoff from thunderstorms is still causing slightly high water conditions that are off-color, but anglers are still catching stocked Apache and brown trout on worms and corn. The stream will be stocked this week with 784 Apache trout if water conditions remain suitable. All campgrounds along the East Fork are now open, and FR 276 has reopened along its entire length. The East Fork Black River is now accessible from Buffalo Crossing and from the north. WEST FORK of the BLACK RIVER – Fishing is fair at the FR 68 road crossing. The stream will be stocked this week with 50 Apache trout at the FR 68 road crossing. The water is clear with moderate flows. Fishing has been poor below and above this crossing due to previous fish kills following the Wallow Fire. Vehicle access to the West Fork Campground will remain closed through this year. LITTLE COLORADO RIVER in GREER – Fishing is fair to good. The stream will be stocked this week with 250 Apache trout. The stream has seen some spikes in flow following heavy thunderstorms, but they usually come down fairly quickly. SHEEPS CROSSING – Fishing is fair to good. The stream will be stocked this week with 258 Apache trout. Monsoon rains have caused some spikes in flows, but they usually come down fairly quickly. SHOW LOW CREEK – Fishing is good in the large pool below the dam. The stream will be stocked this week with 250 rainbow trout. SILVER CREEK – Fishing is fair to good. The stream will be stocked this week with 528 Apache trout. The stream is open to general fishing regulations (bait, lures and flies are legal, with a six-fish daily bag limit) from April 1 through September 30. The upper section is closed to angling during the general regulation season. azgfd.net/artman/publish/FishingReport/Fishing-report-Aug-22.shtml
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 23:57:46 +0000
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