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| Gone fishin': Catching up is a day's work | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Chris Hansen Orf, Get Out | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| September 13, 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
We’ve all seen the bumper sticker that says “A bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work,” so as the weather begins to cool off, it’s time to play hooky from the daily grind and put that axiom to the test. Here are the best fishing spots within a short drive of the Valley. A few great AZ fishing holes: Canyon Lake Where: 16802 N.E. Highway 88 What to catch: Rainbow trout, largemouth bass, yellow bass, sunfish, channel catfish, walleye State record catch: 16-pound, 7.68-ounce, 20-inch largemouth bass by Randall E. White of Mesa on April 22, 1997 Info: (480) 288-9233 or canyonlakemarina.com Lake Pleasant Where: Two miles north of state Route 74 off Castle Hot Springs Road What to catch: Largemouth bass, white bass, striped bass, crappie, sunfish, channel catfish State record catch: 27-pound, 4.48-ounce, 42.25 inch striped bass by Noel Arnold of Wittmann on Aug. 8, 2007 Info: (602) 372-7460 or peoriaaz.com/lakepF.htm Roosevelt Lake Where: 30 miles north of Globe on state Highway 88 What to catch: Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, sunfish, channel catfish, flathead catfish State record catch: 7-pound, 0.96-ounce, 22.75-inch smallmouth bass by Dennis K. Barnhill of Mesa on March 18, 1988 Info: (602) 225-5200 or americansouthwest.net/arizona/roosevelt_lake/ Saguaro Lake Where: U.S. 60 to Power Road (north) and follow signs What to catch: Rainbow trout, largemouth bass, smallmouth yellow bass, crappie, sunfish, channel catfish, walleye, tilapia State record catch: 7-pound, 8.8-ounce, 20-inch tilapia by Tim Alan Schoenecker of Gilbert on March 31, 2002 Info: (480) 986-5546 or saguarolakemarina.com Willow Springs Lake Where: From Payson travel east on state Route 260 toward Heber. At the top of the rim turn left onto FR 149 (Willow Springs Lake turnoff) about one mile past Woods Canyon Lake turnoff (FR 300) What to catch: Largemouth bass, brook trout, cutthroat trout, rainbow trout State record catch: 15-pound, 9.12-ounce, 32.5-inch rainbow trout by Harold Wright of Sun City on Sept. 29, 2006 Info: (928) 535- 4481 The gear: What you need to get started FISHING LICENSE You need a fishing license to drop a line in the water, and you can get a pass that runs from January through December for $23.50 at most marinas, Bass Pro Shops in Mesa and most Wal-Marts. Check the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Web site (azgfd.gov) for a list of places to pick up a fishing license. ROD AND REEL, FISHING LINE, HOOKS Bass Pro Shops in Mesa has everything you need to get started and then some, with hundreds of rod and reel choices and racks and racks of hooks and lures. For the beginning angler, Bass Pro Shops may be intimidating, so you might want to just head out to Wal-Mart, where a fishing starter kit (a Zebco 404Spin Combo costs $18) includes rod and reel, pre-loaded line, hooks and a variety of lures in one tidy package. BAIT Earthworms can be purchased at Bass Pro Shops and Wal-Mart, and plenty of rubber and plastic lures are also available. A 346-piece Bass bait kit, with a variety of different colored worms, water bugs, jerk baits, lizards, grubs and frogs, retails for about $30 at Bass Pro Shops. FISHING TOOL Chances are a fish is going to swallow the hook, or you’re going to get your line tangled in vegetation or on the rocky bottom of a lake, so you’ll need a fishing tool to dislodge hooks and cut line. Fishing tools come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and Wal-Mart sells an all-in-one tool that has needle-nose pliers, a screwdriver with changeable heads, wire cutters, a pocketknife and a bottle opener for about $13. TACKLE BOX A tackle box houses all of your lures, line and hooks, and smaller tackle boxes. They range from the small (plastic storage boxes for lures that cost about $2) to the large (a box with three racks that costs about $35). Contact Chris Hansen Orf by email, or phone (480) 898-5684 |
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Susan mcKinlay
Great information and awesome photos!! Suggest removal of this commentSeptember 14, 2007