Black River

[yotebuster]

I've been looking at making a trip to the black river this spring. Would love to do a canoe trip down it if possible. Just curious if there is enough flow in any area to make that possible. I understand that the fishing probably gets better when the flows go down, so maybe fishing and canoeing at the same time aren't possible. I've never been there, maybe canoeing altogether isnt possible, and maybe I would need to just do a backpack trip in? Thanks in advance for any info you can give me on it!

[THOR]

Trout or Smallmouth? Fly Fishing or Spinning?

[Red Rabbit]

No canoeing/rafting is allowed on the Black between the WMAT and SCAT. You could use a WW canoe on the day stretch below the SRC bridge.

[audsley]

Not that there aren't people on this site who can tell you about the Black River, but you might want to get acquainted with this site:

 

http://www.azflyandtie.com/flyforum/forumdisplay.php?f=8 These guys are a bit more specialized.

 

I don't know whether your principal interest is in running the water and doing a little fishing at the same time, or if you're more serious about the fishing and just wondered if a canoe would help. Everyone who likes to stream fish should visit the reservation stretches of the Black River, and a canoe isn't needed.

 

 

[silenthunter686]

Try BlackRiverAZ.com some good Info.

 

[yotebuster]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm more interested in the fishing aspect, but thought that a float trip would be a cool way to get away from the crowds. My other plan was just to back pack into an area thats away from access points, sounds like that's the better option. I would be most interested in catching smallmouths, and I'd be using fly gear. I'll look into those other sites too, thanks a million. What time of year would be the best to go if you are backpacking? I'm assuming that all depends on flows, which are likely to be late this year with all the snowpack, is there anywhere you can check flows online? Thanks again.

[SDHunter11]

We used to pack into the Black River every year and kill the smallmouth. We caught most of our fish on jointed rapalas, but as long as you can place your cast up under some brush you shold be fine. We would camp down there for a couple days and not see a single person. Largest smallmouth we would catch would usually be around a 5lber. You just need to get away from the people and watch out for bears.

[royerj1]

I'd go in early July before the monsoons come. The roads can get pretty messy during the rains. Do the pack in deal and carry some protection for the bears in the area. Make sure you camp on the SC side as your allowed to carry there and not the WM side. Have a blast and take some pics for us.

[audsley]

You asked about on-line water flows. Yes, the site below. Don't expect fishable flows for quite a while. Maybe early May, but more likely mid-May this year I would think. Lots of snow to get rid of. Old timers told me the river can stay flooded during runoff and then suddenly drop some time in May. Then it's fishable.

 

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/az/nwis/current/?type=flow

 

And you don't need a boat to get away from the crowds. First of all, there aren't any crowds. On holiday weekends and at prime time in May, you'll find a few camps scattered along the river around Ten o' Diamonds and a few trucks at White Crossing and near the pump station, but the Black River is not a crowded place. You need to go there and see for yourself. You've already gotten away from the crowds just by getting to the river.

 

The fish move upstream as the water warms. Trout and smallmouth are mixed in some areas. Other areas are mostly or entirely one or the other.

[scoutm]

I've fished the black many times. My experience was the ten of diamonds area was the transition zone down stream small mouth upstream trout. Small crawdad patterns killed on small mouth. Ten of diamonds can get big crowds in June and July.

 

Another great trip is between wildcat crossing up to buffalo crossing. We would hide a bike at buffalo crossing drive to wildcat and fish our way up stream and camp along the way - we would take 3 days to do the trip. We always did the trip in during the last two weeks of May.

 

Both trips are great.