Fort Apache Indian Reservation waters
NOTE - Ice fishing holes cannot exceed 9 inches in diameter. Never go out on an ice-covered lake alone, and never go out on the ice if there is any question of its safety. Always let someone know of your plans and when you will return. Dress warmly and be safe out on the ice! Call WMAT WORD at (928) 338-4382 for the latest fishing report, ice conditions and access information.

A-1 LAKE - Lake is covered with ice. Ice is 12-16 inches thick. Ice thickness varies across the lake; safe but use caution. Road access is good. Try rainbow Powerbait, orange jigs and small Z-rays.

BIG BEAR LAKE - Road access is good. Lake is covered with ice. Ice is 8-10 inches thick and varies across the lake; safe but use caution. Try nightcrawlers, lime-twisted Powerbait and black jigs.

BOG TANK - Road access is good. Lake is covered with ice and snow. Ice is 6-8 inches thick ands varies across the lake; safe but use caution. Try salmon eggs, yellow Powerbait and night crawlers.

BOOTLEG LAKE - No road access.

CHRISTMAS TREE LAKE - Call Hon-Dah Ski and Outdoor Sport at 1-877-226-4868 to make reservations for fish camp and 2010 summer season.

COOLEY LAKE - No road access.

DRIFT FENCE LAKE - No road access.

EARL PARK LAKE - Arizona state Route 473 closed until May.

HAWLEY LAKE - Arizona state Route 473 closed until May.

HORSESHOE LAKE - Road access is good. Lake is covered with ice. Ice is 10-14 inches thick and varies across the lake; safe but use caution. Try nightcrawlers, rainbow Powerbait and white Maribou jigs.

LITTLE BEAR LAKE - Road access is good. Lake is covered with ice. Ice is 6-10 inches thick and varies across the lake; safe but use caution. Try small black jigs, orange Powerbait or corn.

PACHETA LAKE - No road access.

RESERVATION LAKE - No road access.

SUNRISE LAKE - Sunrise is ice covered. Ice is 18-22 inches thick and varies across the lake; safe but use caution. Try nightcrawlers, salmon eggs, pink Powerbait, Rapala jigs and bright jigs. Road access is good.

STREAMS - Try nightcrawlers, rainbow Powerbait and small spinners.

BLACK AND SALT RIVERS - Try small spinners, Z-rays, Kastmasters, nightcrawlers and Rapala's.

TONTO LAKE (Tribal members only) - No road access.

The following information was received from the Arizona Game and Fish Department Jan. 20:

Mogollon Rim waters
Forest Service gates are locked on the Rim roads - no access.

White Mountain waters
Note: Contact the US Forest Service in Springerville for up to date information on road and forest conditions at (928) 333-4372. Highway 261 and 273 are closed to Big and Crescent Lakes. Snowmobile access is allowed.

BECKER LAKE - Freezing and thawing conditions prevail. Unsafe ice.

BIG LAKE - Highways 261 and 273 to Big Lake are closed for the winter except for snowmobiles. Big lake is ice-covered. Always check ice thickness before ice-fishing on the lake.

CARNERO LAKE - Forest Roads 117 and 117A are inaccessible to vehicles due to snow, although the roads are accessible by snowmobiles. Ice thickness is approximately 11 inches. Always check ice thickness before ice-fishing on the lake. Fishing is fair. Try jigs.

CLEAR CREEK RESERVOIR - No reports since the December snow storm.

CONCHO LAKE - There are currently no fishing opportunities. The lake is slowly filling up. There are private property owners on the northwest side of the lake and they have closed that portion of the shoreline to public access.

CRESCENT LAKE - Highways 261 and 273 to Big and Crescent Lakes are closed to vehicles, except snowmobiles. The lake is ice-covered. Always check ice thickness before ice-fishing on the lake.

FOOL HOLLOW LAKE - Fool Hollow Lake has some ice-cover. Unsafe ice conditions. The amount of ice-cover can change rapidly with changes in daily weather patterns. The lake has some open water. Fishing is poor to fair. Try worms, salmon eggs, Power Bait, lures such as Rapala's, crank baits, spinners and spoons, and flies such as woolly worms and woolly buggers. The lake is open to electric trolling motors and up to 10 hp. gas motors.

GREER LAKES - All Greer Lakes are ice-covered. Check ice thickness before ice-fishing on the lake. Bunch and River Reservoir are usually the most productive ice-fishing lakes. Try worms and jigs with an attached worm off the boat ramp area.

HULSEY LAKE - The lake is ice-covered. Check ice thickness before ice-fishing on the lake.

LEE VALLEY RESERVOIR - Highway 261 and 273 are closed to the lake, except for snowmobiles. The lake is ice-covered. Always check ice thickness before ice-fishing on the lake.

LUNA LAKE - The lake is ice-covered. Check ice thickness before ice-fishing on the lake. Try ice-fishing in the bay near the dam with worms or jigs with an attached worm.

LYMAN LAKE - No Reports. The lake may have some ice along the shorelines. The Lyman Lake Recreation Area is managed by Lyman Lake State Park and camping is available. There are also cabins for rent. Lyman Lake has a fish advisory, so check with the State Parks Office at the lake for details. Also, contact the Arizona Game and Fish Department's Region 1 office at (928) 367-4281. There are no motor restrictions on Lyman Lake. The store is closed.

NELSON RESERVOIR - The lake is ice-covered. Unsafe ice. Check ice thickness before ice-fishing on the lake. The amount of ice cover can change rapidly with changes in daily weather patterns.

RAINBOW LAKE - The lake is mostly ice-covered. Unsafe ice conditions. The amount of ice cover can change rapidly with changes in daily weather patterns.

SCOTTS RESERVOIR - The lake is 60 percent ice-covered as of January 11. Unsafe ice conditions. The amount of ice cover can change rapidly with changes in daily weather patterns.

SHOW LOW LAKE - The lake is 100 percent ice-covered as of January 11. Unsafe ice conditions. The amount of ice cover can change rapidly with changes in daily weather patterns.

WOODLAND LAKE - The lake is full, spilling, and nearly all ice-covered as of January 11. Unsafe ice conditions. The amount of ice cover can change rapidly with changes in daily weather patterns.

White Mountain streams
Highways 261 and 273 are closed for the winter. Most forest roads are inaccessible. Streams are mostly ice-covered.

SILVER CREEK - Fishing is fair. Silver Creek on Arizona Game and Fish Department property is currently open to artificial lure and fly only, barbless hooks, and catch-and-release fishing from Oct. 1 through March 30. The upper section is open to fishing. Try small lures such as Mepps, Rooster tails, and Panther Martin spinners, and flies such as woolly worms, woolly buggers, peacock ladies, prince nymphs, zug bugs, shrimp patterns, midge patterns, and small bead head nymphs. If trout are rising try Adams, midges, and caddis fly patterns in sizes 16, 18, and 20.

Creeks below Mogollon Rim
Most of the Rim streams this week will probably be inaccessible due to snow and some could have turbid flows. This is good news for our reservoirs.

Central Arizona waters

ROOSEVELT LAKE - Lake Elevation is 2,130 feet (76-percent full). Tonto Creek runoff is 11 cfs while inflow from the Salt River is at 188 cfs. These flows could change dramatically this week if we receive the expected precipitation.
      A couple fishermen decided to brave the weather over the weekend. A Rapala X-rap enticed one bite.
      They moved to the points and used some red sweet beavers on a ¼-ounce jig near brush and picked up some more.
      The trolling crappie bite has been a bit disappointing on both the Tonto and Salt ends. They are biting light and seemingly less often. Even the professionals are having a tough time. During storms, the crappie bite can slow even more. Winter crappie are often a fair-weather fish.
      The bass fishermen are having better success, using jigs and spoons where the substrate drops off. Anglers who like to live on the edge and risk a snag among the submerged trees and overhanging vegetation with a Texas rigged worms are having success.
      When weather fronts move through the state, try the rocky shorelines for smallmouth bass.

APACHE - Lake elevation is 1,904 feet (90 percent full). The wind was just right for some exciting times on Apache. While Roosevelt was calm Apache was rolling. An angler still caught six healthy bass in 40 minutes in the morning on the east end of the lake, but the bite died after that. He was using jigs with minnows and John Deere grubs.
      Game and Fish is not stocking trout this year in Apache but bass, yellow bass and bluegill fishing is good for those anglers who partake in the scenic drive. One of the anglers mentioned how colorful the bass are at Apache. I've notice that as well during our surveys. A quick glance at a largemouth might make you think it's a smallmouth for a second. The coloration is vibrant with real good modeling especially on the younger specimens. Water temperatures ranged between 49 and 53 degrees.
      A father son duo caught one largemouth on a jerkbait in real shallow water at the east portion of the lake. Drop shot produced three bass on a point in the lake. Rat-L-Traps worked well on the flats on the west portion the lake. All these fish were real shallow below 5 feet of water. In all they caught 10 fish with three over the slot. Weather was cold and cloudy all day with a light wind.

CANYON LAKE - Lake elevation is 1,656 ft, which is 94-percent full. Swimbaits are enticing some pretty large bass. One angler heard a couple 9 pounders were hauled in last week. When it rains, this lake can have magnificent water falls coming off the cliffs.

SAGUARO LAKE - Lake elevation 1,525 feet at 94-percent full. Use KastMasters bumped on the bottom to catch a boatload of yellow bass as well as some largemouth. The technique entices some catfish as well. Another productive technique is the trusty drop shot.

Colorado River waters

LAKE POWELL - No recent reports. Winter conditions prevail.

LEES FERRY - Courtesy Lees Ferry Anglers:
      Fly Fishing: Fishing has been off the charts: We are still drifting the channel for the most part, the water is still too high to wade and have much success. The trout look as healthy as I have seen in the 17 years that I have been here. We are catching fish of all sizes, from a healthy 10-inch trout to a whopping 22 inches.
      These fish are all over the San Juan worm and the zebra midge.
      The flows are supposed to go up just a bit for the month of January and we predict fishing will be as good if not better.
      Walk in: This section is fishing well, had a couple anglers give a report that they cannot remember the walk-in ever fishing so well this time of year. They reported catching fish with every thing they threw. One reported after releasing a trout he was rinsing his hands in the water with his rod on the ground next to him. Next thing he knew his rod was headed out in the river, he had caught another fish while his flies were just hanging there in the river. I would say these fish are pretty active in the walk-in section. T
      Spin Fishing: All the reports I have receive for spin fishing are good. Most folks are using the large glo-bugs while drifting and cashing in. And I am getting other reports that gold spinners are doing well. And the marabou jig is producing a good number of trout. T
Courtesy Terry Gunn, Lees Ferry Anglers.
      Recent Fishing Conditions: High Water = Big Healthy Fish. Many of you probably remember that for many years the winter months at Lees Ferry were considered prime season...this winter should be no exception. Current water releases from Glen Canyon Dam are higher than they have been since the beginning of the drought in 1999. High water moves food around and gets the fish in a feeding mood and makes for very predictable and good fishing. The reason for the high water is an effort to equalize Lake Powell and Lake Mead. If there is sufficient snowpack the higher than normal water flows will continue for a year or more with a goal to release 10.765 MAF (million acre feet) compared to the 8.23 MAF of water that has been released every year since 1999. This bodes very well for the current and future fishing. Fishing has been getting better every year for the past several years and I predict that we will see fishing this coming year that rivals the banner years in the 90's. The peak fishing periods of 1984-1988, and 1994-1999 were all preceded by high water years.
      Recent Fishing: My client from 12/11 said that he caught more pounds of trout in his first day of fishing at Lees Ferry than in all his previous days of fly fishing combined. The fish are fat, strong, and hungry. The current high flows will continue for December and increase slightly in January and drop in Feb., and lower again in March. The high water is likely to stimulate a strong spawn, we are already seeing a few fish spawning in the normal places.
      With the higher water flows we are drifting and fishing from the boat using a "heavy nymph rig" which is a 9 to 12-ft leader, strike indicator, split shot, and dual fly rig. The higher water limits the areas that you can wade so drifting can be more productive. We have been seeing a bunch of fish feeding on the surface eating midges and black flies; these fish are very selective but can be tough.
      The current fish population is better than we have seen in many years with several different year classes present in good numbers and all in perfect physical condition. You may remember from my previous reports my mention of our prolific spawn of 2007 and that the river was full of small fish that disappear from the time that they reach 3" and reappear when they are 12" long...well, they showed up in mass in June. They are everywhere! For the first time in many years we are catching fish of all sizes, from 10'' to 20" which is typical of a very healthy river. The only downside is that our average caught fish size has decreased; the river is still chock-full of big fish but the challenge is getting your fly past the smaller, and not so smart fish.