Happy Holidays!  Our December has been filled with cooler weather, some snow in the high country, some rain in the desert, and overall cooler temperatures.  The fishing has remained good throughout the state, and looks to stay in a holding pattern for a while.

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. 

We are finally back on line with the reports!  Just in time for the cooler weather.  What a fall we had here.  Lots of great fishing all over the state, and conditions look well for a fantastic 2010!

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!