How Wallow affects fishing up to Mother Nature

RORY'S TIP

By Rory Aikens
Arizona Game & Fish

Want a place to catch trout that is just loaded with recently stocked rainbows?

Then head for Show Low Lake, Fool Hollow Lake, and Scotts Reservoir in the Show Low area. Silver Creek (see photo on the right) is also receiving lots of Apache trout. Go catch one of these golden native salmonids.

These waters are all receiving extra trout stockings due to the Wallow Fire.

I know many of you are concerned about the possible impacts to some of our magnificent trout fisheries in the area of the Wallow Fire. A lot may depend on what kind of hand Mother Nature deals us following the fire.

Here’s why.

Following the Rodeo-Chedeski Fire, we all thought that Black Canyon Lake would likely be toast. We fully expected this small shallow lake near Heber-Overgaard to silt in from ash. It was already experiencing siltation prior to the fire.

Guess what?

A huge deluge from a thunderstorm caused near flood-like conditions and flushed out the debris and collected sediment from Black Canyon Lake. For the next several years (even now to some extent), it became one of our most fertile, productive trout lakes. It’s was a Rocky like comeback from the brink none of us really expected.

That’s not to say something similar will happen with those lakes in the area of the Wallow Fire. But it does demonstrate that there are often too many imponderables in nature to make more than just general predictions. In other words, there is cause for concern but not alarm.

For small streams, the story can be a little different however.

Ash-laden water is typically low on oxygen or even devoid of it, and this can cause significant if not wholesale fish kills. Keep in mind that while this can seem tragic, it is usually short term. Once again, it depends on what happens with rainfall, runoff, erosion and vegetative responses in the season or even seasons following a fire. Lack of vegetative cover can result in increased flows, erosion and sometimes cause scouring of the streams.

During the Rodeo-Chedeski Fire, the upper watershed of Canyon Creek was seared like it was a chimney with a pine knot burning fiercely below. A small herd of elk was caught in this chimney-like canyon climbing the Mogollon Rim and burned to a crisp -- some in mid-stride. We expected the worst for this classic stream fishery near our hatchery. It really didn't happen. Yes, in the short term the creek was impacted. However, within two years we witnessed very good reproduction in the creek and it did not scour out nearly as much as expected.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens following this monstrous fire in the White Mountains.

Okay, onto the fishing information from the here and now.

Full moon is June 15, which means this is a great time to fish at night along a shoreline, especially for those bottom feeders such as catfish and carp. Seeing a full moon reflected on the water is good enough reason for many of us to be out at night, catching some hard-fighting catfish or carp is a thrilling bonus.

At most of our huge desert impoundments, both catfish and carp are what we call “under-utilized” resources. For all you anglers, that simply means you have lots of opportunity to reel in fin-flapping fun on the end of the fishing line.

Here’s what to do. Get a stout pole with 10 to 20-pound test, some treble hooks (you can have two hooks per line, and two poles if you have a two-pole stamp), a slip sinker and load up on corn, dough bait, hot dogs and chicken liver.

Don’t forget, you can chum. I generally take one or two cans of corn and just toss out handfuls into the area we are going to fish. That will often attract lots of gilled critters from catfish to bluegill. The increased feeding activity of those fish sometimes attracts predatory fish as well, such as bass or even flathead catfish.

Cast out, reel in enough line until you feel a slight resistance, then place your rod horizontally across two forked sticks. We will then take a bobber and place in one the line between two eyelets on the fishing pole (so the line moves freely through the bobber). This is what’s called a “strike indicator.” Then sit back, when the bobber starts a bobbing, pick up the fishing pole, reel in to make solid contact with the fish, then rear back with the fishing rod and set the hook (I always shout “fish on”).

My top picks for Mr. Whiskers and Senior Carp are Saguaro, Pleasant, Roosevelt, Bartlett and Canyon. All our urban program lakes are also liberally stocked with some superbly sized channel cats. But in reality, pick a lake, any lake – they are all loaded with these fun bottom dwellers.

Go catch some great memories. Maybe I’ll see you out there.

Note: If you have a fishing report, send it to "Been Fishing? at bfishing@azgfd.gov

Tonto Creek Hatchery Stocking Report, June 5-11

Tonto Creek -- 436 rainbows
Christopher Creek -- 364 rainbows
Haigler Creek -- 558 rainbows
East Verde River -- 600 rainbows
Silver Creek -- 630 Apache trout


Note: All these creeks are stocked weekly right now.