Arizona Fisherman

Types of Fish:
Rainbow trout and brown trout. I also heard a rumor that they stock arctic grayling but I can’t confirm or deny this.

What you’ll need:
A state fishing license and a trout stamp. An urban fishing license is not good enough.

Animals to watch out for:
Black bears, snakes, mountain lion, eagles, wild ducks and other assorted birds. Oh and there are tons of crayfish (crawfish) whatever you want to call them in the lake. Just like a lot of other lakes and rivers in Arizona the crayfish are not a natural predator and do more harm to the lake than they do good. The time I was there last year people were catching them in traps and having huge crayfish cookouts.

Directions:
These two links should give you the basic idea of how to get there. Directions from Phoenix and from Tucson.

Camping locations/What to expect:
Since the lake is easier to get to than most expect to see people but not as many as you will see at Woods Canyon. The main portion of the
campground is usually pretty full. If you’re like me and you’d rather be alone, instead of turning right into the main campground just keep driving along the dirt road past it. There are tons of spots off to the left and right to camp where you can feel free to be as loud as you’d like without disturbing the other “campers”.

Review:
The lake itself is large and very full right now. It’s still very cold at night so make sure to bring some warm clothes. As of last weekend there was still some snow on the ground and it was very windy on the lake.

The fishing itself was terrible for us last weekend. A friend and I used spinners, spoons, flies, and eventually sank to using power bait and gulp as a desperate alternative just to catch some fish and we ended up getting totally skunked. I got one trout to hit on a pink rooster tail but he came up short on the lure and I just missed him. We saw some other folks having some luck on worms. I’d personally wait another couple weeks until Game and Fish has taken the time to properly stock the lake. By far the best place I’ve found to go fishing is on the very south end of the lake but your going to have to do some walking to get there. The trail alongside the lake is manageable but it’s up and down a lot of rocks and may be difficult for a child or someone with a cooler. I think there’s a way to park at the southern edge and then hike in but I haven’t found a way. If anyone has details on how to drive there please feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email and I’ll update the article.

I want to like Bear Canyon Lake but I tend to look for places that are a little more remote. I went fishing there in the Fall of 06 and caught 10-15 rainbow trout in a day so I can’t say the fishing is all that bad you just need to go at the right time. That’s all for now. The first trip of the year was plenty of fun but the fishing was pretty poor, I’m heading off at the end of May to do the Black River for the first time this year. I can’t wait!