'If you can get to the high country right now, go'

 

RORY'S TIP

by Rory Aikens

It's a crazy weather week again. Keeps life interesting -- snow in May, ya gotta love it.

Expected to "return to normal" this weekend though.

The full moon was May 17 and the last quarter is May 24. The new moon is June 1.

Now that you are oriented to weather and some celestial movements, let's chat about fishing.

First things first -- a lot of the high country lakes are still providing anglers larger winter hold-over trout in addition to stockers. Woods Canyon and Willow Springs are two of the tops.

Anglers at Big Lake are routinely catching nice rainbows, large cutthroats and even some brookies. Crescent Lake is great right now.

The streams are certainly worth a visit, from Tonto and Christopher creeks below the Mogollon Rim to the two forks of the Black River in the White Mountains, plus the Little Colorado River in Greer and Sheeps Crossing on the flanks of Mt. Baldy. Saw a family along Tonto Creek this past weekend with a lovely stringer of trout.

For those looking for trophy-sized trout, Becker Lake near Springerville is one of the top producers right now. Don't forget, it's now catch-and-release only there with artificial lures and flies. DON'T use bait at Becker (sounds like a song).

If you can get to the high country right now, go. This is the prime time for trout fishing.

However, even with a little precipitation and even some high country snow this week, it's been pretty dry and windy at times, so please be careful out there, especially with campfires. Take along a jacket and a smile.

Here's another piece of good news -- Gila trout are being stocked again this week in Frye Mesa Reservoir on the flanks of Mt. Graham. This is the only place in Arizona where you can fish for these native trout. You might even go for the "Grand Slam of Mt. Graham" and try for a Gila trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, Apache trout (another native) and brook trout. They can all be found in various waters on this interesting mountain towering above Safford.

Closer to the Phoenix area, you can now fish the entire length of the Lower Salt River -- Salt River Project is drawing water from Saguaro Lake rather than from Bartlett Lake, adding miles more fishing opportunity for anglers. The Lower Salt is scheduled to be stocked this week with trout, but you might also be able to catch bass, sunfish and catfish as well in the deeper pools. Be sure to get your Tonto Pass before you go or along the way -- they don't sell it along the river.

The Lower Salt is a ball. Besides being a great place for beginning fly anglers (lots of room for back casts without snagging vegegation), it's a wonderful place to make like Huckleberry Finn and fish with night crawlers. The secret is using light line (no more than 6-pound test), and a small hook (I like No. 6 or 8) with a night crawler, and little or no weight.

Personally, I like a very small split shot, just enough to cast but not enough to take the worm to the bottom. You want the worm to float freely in the current. Cast at a 45-degree angle upstream, and simply let the current carry the bait, mending your line (taking in the slack line) as it floats downstream. By the way, you can do the same thing with a casting float and a fly, such as a woolly bugger, even with spinning equipment. It's a good first step to fly fishing.

It's simple, easy and fun. You can use a similar technique on our energetic mountain streams for rainbow, brown and Apache trout.

Okay, onto the desert impoundments. It's mostly post-spawn time, although it is possible to still find some largemouth bass spawning. Typically, those bass will be spawning in deeper water in the coves, not in the backs of coves. But with all this weird weather, who knows? Mother Nature is throwing us curves (more like knuckle balls).

Take your pick -- Pleasant, Bartlett, Saguaro, Canyon, Apache and Roosevelt are all good producers. Havasu has superb fishing. Lake Powell this time of year can be a dream when the winds don't blow. They are having to wait in line at the Powell fish cleaning stations because so many fish are being caught. No kidding. Mead will provide you some decent fishing and lots of desert solitaire in the dry air.

With the full moon this week, using submersible lights isn't the most viable technique, except after when the moon sets. But the moonlight fishing is still quite the experience.

Don't forget Lees Ferry -- anglers up there are raving about the fishing for wild rainbow trout, saying it hasn't been this good in years. Very high flows, so don't plan to wade and fish, it's mostly drift fishing right now.

There are also some co-o-o-o-l fishing opportunities (for cool water fish). Lake Mary is providing some pretty good northern pike fishing opportunities, as well as some decent sized yellow perch as well. Long Lake (such as the photo on the top right from Long Lake) also has some huge pike, but it can be tough to fish on windy days.

Lower Lake Mary has some chunky hold-over trout. Fish it now, it may dry up considerably this summer. Remember, this is an ephemeral lake. By fall it might revert to being a huge elk meadow again.

It's that time of year when reports don't matter, but getting out does. Pick your lake and go -- the bite is on everywhere. It's not "you should have been here yesterday" it's more like "you want to be here today, tomorrow or the next day."

Don't miss out. Go catch some tail-jumping memories. Maybe I'll see you out there.