Urban Fishing Report
The final catfish stocking of the spring season is the week of June 11-16 at all Phoenix and Tucson area urban waters.
Fishing is good to excellent for anglers using worms, hot dogs, stink baits, or shrimp fished on the bottom. If you want to use bobbers, rig up a slip bobber and fish 8 to 12 feet deep.
Catfish can be caught throughout the day, but are most active when the sun goes down. Most catfish are from 13 to 16 inches, but some lunkers over 3 pounds are being hauled out of the lakes.
Bluegill fishing is good for anglers using worms and mealworms fished under a small bobber in 3- to 6-foot depths. For more bluegill success, use 2- to 4-pound line, size 10 or 12 hooks, and just enough bait to cover the hook.
Action for largemouth bass is fair with the best baits finesse plastics fished in the early morning hours.
At Green Valley lakes (Payson) fishing for trout has slowed down since stockings wrapped up on May 11. However, fishing for bass, bluegill and crappie is good. Anglers using worms and meal worms under a small bobber are enjoying plenty of action.
LAST STOCKING
All Urban Fishing Program waters in Phoenix and Tucson areas
June 1 catfish
NEXT STOCKING
Catfish the week of June 11-16 (this is the final spring stocking)
Green Valley Lakes (Payson)
May 11 trout (heavily stocked, including many 12- to 20-inch fish)
No further trout stockings over the warm summer months. Stockings resume in late September.
Spring Catfish Stocking Season Ends Week of June 11-16
The spring catfish stocking season ends the week of June 11-16. This will be the seventh bi-weekly delivery of channel catfish this season. Every stocking includes 14,000 pounds of channel catfish delivered from Arkansas to the 20 Urban Fishing Program waters in the Phoenix and Tucson areas.
The urban program fish suppliers are in Arkansas and log thousands of miles on their large rigs to truck catfish into our park lakes during the spring stocking season. Warming lake temperatures and air temperatures make it impractical to haul live fish into Arizona’s urban lakes and ponds during the heat of the summer. Consequently, there are no scheduled fish stockings for July, August, and the first half of September.
Catfish stockings resume again in mid-September when lake and air temperatures cool enough to safely transport fish across the hot desert and into the urban waters.
Anglers can still fish for catfish, bass and bluegill at urban waters throughout the summer, but the action is generally slower.
Interactive Fishing Map
The Arizona Game and Fish Department’s recently launched Fish&Boat interactive fishing map has been upgraded to include easier navigation features, Google-based travel directions, and links to stocking schedules.
Finding out where to fish and lots of other great information is just a mouse click away. The upgrades will be available online beginning June 14. Just visit gis.azgfd.gov/fishandboat and you will find 150 of Arizona’s best fishing lakes, streams and urban ponds on a Google-based platform. Besides showing how to get to each fishing spot, the interactive fishing map also provides information on the type of fish species there, the available facilities and concessions, and even special fishing regulations that might apply.
“The Fish&Boat site has been a real hit with anglers since its first release in March. We are pleased to bring new improvements to the fishing map making it even more helpful and fun for anglers to use,” says Eric Swanson, the urban fishing program manager who spearheaded creating the new site.
Remember the Web… www.azgfd.gov for updated stocking schedules, fishing clinics, public events, and other great fishing and outdoor information. Also check out the web for Weekly Fishing Reports, to submit your fishing photos or to send us your latest fishing report. We are also on Facebook.