If cooler weather is what you seek, try our Pike fishing adventure at lake Mary just south of Flagstaff. With a tremendous winter our lakes up north are full and the Pike have grown big and mean! Pike fishing is some of the most exciting to be had no matter what type of gear you like to use. Conventional gear fisherman are having great success throwing spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and jerkbaits. as the water temps start to drop at the end of summer a buzz bait will be the ticket! Fly fisherman are having fun throwing big streamers and bunny leaches, with pink yes pink being the favorite color.

The night bite at Lake Pleasant is also worth mentioning. 6″ and 7″ Roboworms in “Aarons Magic” or “After Dark” are catching plenty of largemouth after the sun goes down. These bass are gorging themselves on Crawfish at night, so try to fish the type of rock that will be holding these craws.

 Roosevelt Lake has shown signs of breaking wide open, although it hasn’t happened quite yet. The best action we’ve had out here has been in the evenings and again after dark. 7″ “Aarons Magic” roboworms and 10″ Berkeley Power Worms have been doing the trick out here. We have also seen short bursts of schooling activity with the largemouth right before dark. If you are lucky enough to be around some fish chasing on the surface, make sure to have a topwater bait ready to fire at them.

 The fly fishing action up north has been solid as usual for this time of year. Oak Creek Canyon continues to produce lots of rainbows and some browns. We were able to catch some early morning hatches this week and take advantage of the dry fly bite. Most of our fish have been coming on #14 and #16 Parachute Adams early in the morning, with some fish falling for nymphs later in the day as well.

 The White Mountains have also been pumping out some big fish over the past couple of weeks. The sight fishing the big Rainbows, Browns, and Apache’s on Earl Park Lake has been effective. Most of these fish are falling for big dry fly’s. Big streamers are producing some big bites up here as well.

This report was written by Hook Up Outfitters Guide Josh Bertrand

Lake Pleasant has been fishing great for bass and stripers.  The story this time of the year is anglers are anticipating boils, and we now have boils!  Stripers and largemouth are chasing bait over open water, and if you can get on these boils, the topwater action is fantastic!  It’s taking a little more hunting than we would like to see to find the boils, but we’re only in the beginning of this season, and we’re seeing improvements almost daily.  Conventional gear anglers should use clear topwater baits like the Sammy 65 or little Gunfish, or small swimbaits like the Little Dipper or Swing Impact in natural baitfish patterns.  Almost all the boils are on fry.  Fly anglers can mop up with small streamers in white and olive stripped quickly through the fish.

Lake Mary has been kicking out some great Pike fishing.  Jerkbaits and buzzbaits have been producing good numbers and size of fish up north, and what a great time of the year to get out of the desert and enjoy that area.  Try Pointer 100’s in black/gold or perch colors, and fly anglers try gold and chartreuse clousers or yellow bunny leeches.  Most of the fish we’re seeing are 2-5 pounds, but there are some big ones coming here and there.

Oak Creek is starting to fish well for browns.  There are some hatches coming off, so some dry fly action, but most of the fish are still munching the nymphs or the streamers.  Sight casting a leech or bugger can very effective this time of the year in the deeper pools.  The whole key is stealth!

Other lakes fishing well are Roosevelt Lake, Saguaro Lake, and some of the white mountains lakes like Earl Park, Crescent and Pacheta.

Lake Pleasant is fishing great.  Largemouth are in the shallows and sight fishing is the game of choice.  Hunting fish in the brush is the best technique, and casting baits or flies that are visual are really important so you can see the action go down.  We had an 11 pound fish on conventional gear and a 7 pound fish on a fly rod last week back to back, both sight fished.  This is an exciting time to be fishing! 

Barlett Lake is starting to pick up.  Action has been good for numbers of fish.  Look for the best bite to still be on reaction baits, cranks and spinnerbaits.

Roosevelt is starting to really turn on!  We’re seeing good numbers of largemouth, and some big ones mixed in, moving up in masses in to the shallow brush.  Senkos, flippin, and some topwater action is the deal right now.  This lake should only get better and better!

Saguaro and Canyon Lakes have been fishing good.  Fish are starting to chase bait, and some giants are on the prowl looking to spawn.  Look for these lakes to really turn on this week.

Lake Pleasant is seeing a ton of fish moving shallow to gear up for spawn.  This is the best time of the year to get out and do some sight fishing for largemouth.  Fishing this time of the year is a lot like hunting, you’re stalking the bass in the shallows and casting to fish you see.  This is very exciting stuff!  There are also some deeper stripers starting to stage out in pre-spawn.  These are easiest to get on bait, as we’re seeing fish as deep as 150 feet.

Lake Havasu has continued to kick out some incredible smallmouth fishing.  Large numbers of 3-4 pound smallmouth are littered all over the lake.  This is mostly sight fishing as well, but on the windy days they’ll take reaction baits well.

Roosevelt Lake and Alamo Lake continue to be a little tough.  It’s only a matter of time before these pop, and when they do it’s going to be lights out!

Trout fishing has continued to be a little slow due to run-off conditions.  If the weather stays warm, look for the high country stuff to come in to play in the next couple weeks!

Make sure you got your shorts and flip flops on this time of the year!  It is incredible weather to fish in.  We’ll see you on the water!

Lake Pleasant has been fishing good, but should be on fire after some warm weather.  Stripers are starting their pre-spawn groupings in the deep channels, and we’re catching large numbers of fish deep on spoons and cut bait.  Most of the fish have been small, but there are some large ones mixed in, so it makes it worth the effort.  Largemouth bass have been up and cruising the shallows, and should completely lock on to spawn this week.  Jerkbaits have been the go-to bait, as well as clousers for the fly anglers, but this will start to transition to a solid sight fishing deal.  This is the season we all wait for if you love sight fishing!

Saguaro Lake is starting to pull together as well.  Some early spawners are moving up and eating aggresively.  Both conventional and fly anglers are having success in the middle channel of the lake on any baitfish imitiation.

Lake Havasu has been on fire for smallmouth and largemouth!  Swimbaits, jerkbaits, and now sight fishing will be the deal for the next couple months.  This is a fantastic time of the year to get out on this lake.

Roosevelt and Alamo lakes should totally explode this week with fantastic fishing for largemouth!  These lakes are all about the brush, so look shallow and come geared up with heavy line.

Trout fishing will remain tough for the next few weeks during run-off.  If temps stay high, run-off should move quickly, and fishing should get right back on track.

We look forward to seeing everyone on the water!

Lake Pleasant continues to be the highlight of the bass fishing.  Two weeks ago a new state record striped bass was caught on topwater.  The fish weighed in just under 30 pounds.  There are still a lot of stripers and largemouth pushing bait in the backs of the creek channels.  Shallow water tactics continue to be the best offering.  Conventional anglers are catching fish on jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, and crankbaits.  Fly anglers are still using clousers and baitfish pattern streamers.  With the cooler water temperatures, the fish’s metabolism slows so the feeding windows are not as big, but when you are in the right place at the right time, life is good!

There is still some good fishing to be had on our other desert lakes as well.  Saguaro Lake has a decent spoon bite happening.  Roosevelt is a good option for deep cranking.  Canyon Lake is the place for tossing big swimbaits in hopes of one big bite, and San Carlos lake is still kicking out giants and jigs and crankbaits but is slow on bites.

Trout fishing in oak creek canyon has slowed.  Winter months become more technical.  Slow drifts through deeper holes is the best way to hook up.  We are fishing tiny midges and nymphs on 7x.  The stream is beautiful right now with a mix of snow on the ground.  For beginners or for more action, deadhorse state park has been kicking out tons of little rainbows in the ponds.  This is a great place to learn fly fishing.

Urban carp fishing has been solid.  We are still able to sight fish carp on the fly this time of the year, which makes a unique and exciting option for a half day of fishing in town.  There are dozens of ponds and lakes throughout the Phoenix area that are home to several species of carp. 

Bass fishing right now is remaining stable.  Lake Pleasant is still kicking out a mixed bag of largemouth, stripers, and whites.  The fish are still pushing bait in the afternoons, so conventional and fly anglers have a good shot at our freshwater grand slam.  Most of the bait right now is 4-5 inches, so upsized presentations are important. 

Roosevelt Lake is kicking out good numbers of fish deep.  Spoons and plastics fished in 30-60 feet are catching lots of fish. 

San Carlos is on it’s last leg, and while the numbers are way down, the quality is way up.  5-10 pound fish are being caught on a regular basis on jigs and cranks.  This is slow fishing, but the rewards can be great!

Canyon Lake is starting to kick out some big swimbait fish.  We’re not seeing the double digit fish yet, but consistant catches of 4-8 pound fish are becoming more the norm.  Big huddleston and baitsmith trout swimbaits are the key here.

Saguaro Lake is still kicking out some great fishing.  Finesse plastics and smaller swimbaits are kicking out good numbers of largemouth bass, and fly anglers are catching largemouth and yellow bass on clousers and baitfish flies on 200-300 grain sinking lines.

Trout fishing remains decent in the Sedona area.  The browns have quieted down, but the rainbows are still looking to eat.  Most of the action has been on nymphs, but on the warmer days you can still find some fish sipping.

The White Mountains are still kicking out some big browns!  We had a 26, 28 and 29 inch brown in the last couple weeks.  Sight fishing and stripping streamers are the ticket here.  We got some much colder weather last week, so this will be close to the end, but some small stream fishing will remain for a while.  Call us for the most up to date info on locations up here.

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  We look forward to seeing you all on the water!

Pike fishing at Lake Mary has slowed a bit this week, but still remains decent.  The fish are still reacting to jerkbaits and clousers retrieved quickly anywhere there is grass.  The weather has been great, and there isn’t a more beautiful spot to relax and enjoy good fishing.

Trout fishing remains hit and miss with the warm weather.  Look for the temps to break in the next couple weeks, and fishing will improve greatly!!!

This week, the fishing was a little slower than it has been, but still overall good. 

Lake Pleasant continues to be the best bet for topwater action.  The striper boils were a little broken up this week, which made it more important to run around a lot in search of feeding fish, but they were still cooperative when we found the right schools.  The fish are still crashing fry, so downsized baits are still the name of the game.  Little swimbaits and topwaters and small streamers in clear and grey tones are the ticket right now.  We also started to see some good sized largemouth chasing bait with the stripers this week, which is a good sign of things to come.  As the lake drops, more and more fish will chase together, and multi species days will become much more common.

Pike fishing at Lake Mary continues to be excellent.  big fish count days are still the norm.  As the water heats up, the fish are turning to surface baits.  Buzzbaits and large prop style baits ripped on the surface are the ticket.  Even though the temps are climbing in to the 90’s, this is still a great break from the desert heat!

Trout fishing has slowed quite a bit this week with the onset of the heat.  Look for the monsoons to spur this back in action.