Region 1 Fishing Report October 24, 2016

Weekly Fishing Report – October 24, 2016

Arizona Game and Fish Department

White Mountains and Rim Lakes

 

Recommended Waters to Fish

Fishing is good at Woods Canyon Lake, Fool Hollow Lake, Show Low Lake, River Reservoir, and Bear Canyon Lake due to a heavy stocking of rainbow trout in late September.  Big Lake, Becker Lake, and Chevelon Lake should be improving with cooler water temperatures.  Silver Creek is in the catch and release season, but fishing is excellent.  Tiger Trout are starting to be caught more at Woods Canyon, Willow Springs and Becker Lakes! Patterson Ponds in St. Johns were stocked October 13 with catchable channel catfish! Stocking Season is over and will begin next spring!

Water		Fishing Rating
		Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor
Mogollon Rim Lakes
	Bear Canyon Lake		X
	Black Canyon Lake				X
	Chevelon Lake		X
	Willow Springs Lake		X	X
	Woods Canyon Lake		X
In-Town Lakes (Pinetop/Show Low)
	Fool Hollow Lake		X	X
	Rainbow Lake				X
	Scott Reservoir			X
	Show Low Lake		X
	Woodland Lake				X
	Patterson Ponds		X   (Catfish)
White Mountain Lakes
	Becker Lake		X
	Big Lake		X
	Bunch Reservoir			X
	Carnero Lake		X	X
	Clear Creek Reservoir				X
	Concho Lake				X
	Crescent Lake			X
	Hulsey Lake			X
	Lee Valley Lake			X
	Luna Lake		X	X
	Lyman Lake			X
	Nelson Reservoir		X	X
	River Reservoir		X
	Tunnel Reservoir			X
White Mountain Streams
	East Fork Black River		X	X
	Little Colorado River/Greer			X
	Show Low Creek			X
	Silver Creek	X	X
	Sheep’s Crossing/Little Colorado				X

 

 

 

MOGOLLON RIM LAKES

 

BEAR CANYON LAKE – Fishing is good.  The lake was stocked heavily with rainbow trout last month!

 

BLACK CANYON LAKE – Fishing is poor and the water is low.  The access road and parking areas will be closed to vehicles through approximately Oct 29 for paving.  Pedestrian access to the lake shore is allowed, however please note no parking is allowed on the adjacent, maintained Forest Service roads.

 

CHEVELON LAKE – Fishing is good for stocked rainbow trout and good for wild brown trout.  The access to Chevelon Lake is difficult, requiring a long steep hike down to the dam area. Fishing regulations on Chevelon Creek upstream and downstream of the lake (to Chevelon Crossing) match lake regulations, artificial fly and lure only with a 2 trout daily bag limit.

 

WILLOW SPRINGS LAKE – Fishing is good/fair. The lake was stocked with rainbow trout last month for the last time! Boat fishing is good. Water temperatures are dropping and the lake is fully mixed, allowing trout to be found at all depths.  Rainbows can be caught on PowerBait or roostertails. Tiger trout are more aggressive (like brown trout), try using lures from shore or trolling, but can be caught on PowerBait. Kastmasters, spinners, spoons, or flies like wooly buggers or nymphs work well. Meal worms or night crawlers seem to be catching Tiger Trout as well. Tiger trout can be distinguished from rainbow trout by their worm-like or blotchy pattern on their body compared to the rainbow trout small black spots.  Tiger Trout count toward your 6 trout bag limit.

 

WOODS CANYON LAKE – Fishing is good. The lake was stocked with rainbow trout last month for the last time! Boat and shore fishing is good. Water temperatures are dropping and the lake is fully mixed, allowing trout to be found at all depths.  Rainbows can be caught on PowerBait or roostertails. Tiger trout are more aggressive (like brown trout), try using lures from shore or trolling, but can be caught on PowerBait. Kastmasters, spinners, spoons, or flies like wooly buggers or nymphs work well. Meal worms or night crawlers seem to be catching Tiger Trout as well. Tiger trout can be distinguished from rainbow trout by their worm-like or blotchy pattern on their body compared to the rainbow trout small black spots.  Tiger Trout count toward your 6 trout bag limit.

 

PINETOP/SHOW LOW/ST. JOHNS LAKES

 

FOOL HOLLOW LAKE – Fishing is good/fair for trout. The lake was stocked heavily with rainbow trout last month and water quality has improved.  Lake level is low, but boats are launchable.

 

RAINBOW LAKE – Fishing for trout is poor. The lake is low and weedy. Try fishing for bullheads or catfish using a worm on the bottom, or for green sunfish with a worm in rocky areas!

 

SCOTT RESERVOIR – Trout and catfish fishing is fair.  Try fishing for catfish using chicken liver at night on the bottom. A fish consumption advisory (FCA) for mercury in largemouth bass was issued by ADEQ. This FCA advises adults to eat only 2.5 ounces of largemouth bass per week and for children under 12 to eat 0.5 ounces per week.

 

SHOW LOW LAKE – Fishing is good for trout.  The lake was stocked heavily with rainbow trout last month.  Water temperatures are dropping and the lake is fully mixed, allowing trout to be found at all depths.  Fishing for big walleye should be good.  Try trolling or casting Rapala type lures at dusk/night.

 

WOODLAND LAKE – Fishing is poor. The lake is low and weedy.

 

PATTERSON PONDS – This is a community fishing water in St. John’s.  A regular fishing or a community fishing license is required to fish here.  Channel Catfish and sunfish fishing is good.  Catfish were stocked recently!  The pond daily bag limits in the community fishing waters (2 trout; 2 catfish; 5 sunfish) regulations apply.

 

WHITE MOUNTAIN LAKES

 

BECKER LAKE – Fishing is good.  Water temperatures are dropping and fishing is picking up for large rainbow trout and Tiger Trout.  Try fishing with midges, minnow patterns, or pistol petes.  Tiger Trout catch rates are increasing.  A recent survey found many colorful rainbow trout in the 18-20 in range.  Tiger Trout are also coloring up and being caught more.  They are around 12 in.  Becker Lake is open to catch-and-release only for trout, artificial fly and lure only; single barbless hooks only. No trout may be kept.

 

BIG LAKE – Fishing is good. Water temperatures are dropping and fishing is picking up.  The algae bloom has receded.  Cutthroat Trout are fishing well.

 

CARNERO LAKE – Fishing is fair for rainbow trout and tiger trout because of the low water and thick weeds, but can be good if you can get to an open spot of water. Tiger trout are aggressive fish and like to chase flies and lures.  There is a 2 fish bag limit is on this lake and gear is restricted to artificial flies and lures only.

 

CLEAR CREEK RESERVOIR – Fishing is poor for trout, but fair for sunfish, bullheads, and bass.

 

CONCHO LAKE – Fishing is poor.  The lake is stocked with trout only in the spring, but catfish were stocked in early summer and should still be biting.  Try a night crawler on the bottom.

 

CRESCENT LAKE – Fishing is poor because of low water and thick weeds, but can be fair/good if you can get to an open spot of water.

 

GREER LAKES (River; Tunnel; Bunch) – Fishing is fair at Tunnel and Bunch, but is good at River Reservoir.  River Reservoir was stocked heavily with rainbow trout last month.  The wild brown trout should be more active with the cooler water temperatures.  The irrigation season is over and the lakes are starting to fill slowly, but may still be difficult to launch a boat.

 

HULSEY LAKE – Fishing is fair. High pH levels have prevented stockings since early summer, but the lake is filling with precipitation, improving water quality.

 

LEE VALLEY LAKE – Fishing for grayling is fair.  Small boats are launchable. Apache Trout will not be stocked here this year and surveys did not find any this fall. Recent survey found > 12 inch, healthy grayling, with full stomachs.  Grayling were feeding on scuds, damselfly midges, and beetles.

 

LUNA LAKE – Fishing is fair to good.  The fishing has been on and off, but anglers are catching some large trout.  Water temperatures are cool and the lake is mixed, allowing fish to use all depths of the lake.

 

LYMAN LAKE – Lyman Lake State Park is open. Fishing is fair for bass, walleye, carp and catfish. Use corn or night crawlers for carp and catfish.

 

NELSON RESERVOIR – Fishing for trout is fair.

 

WHITE MOUNTAIN STREAMS

 

EAST FORK of the BLACK RIVER – Fishing is good/fair.  The stream was stocked last month. Wild brown trout are also present in the stream and should be getting more active as the spawn approaches.

 

LITTLE COLORADO RIVER in GREER – Fishing is fair.  The stream was stocked last month for the last time this year.  Wild brown trout are also present in the stream and should be getting more active as the spawn approaches.

 

SHOW LOW CREEK – Fishing is fair.  The stream was stocked with rainbow trout last month.

 

SILVER CREEK – Fishing is excellent. Bait fishing and harvest of trout is CLOSED.  Stream regulations are catch and release with artificial flies and lures with single barbless hooks only as of October 1.

 

SHEEPS CROSSING/LCR – Fishing is poor and not recommended.  This stream was not stocked this year due to a pathogen in our hatcheries.  Please check the Department’s webpage for more information.