AGFD 9/27/19 Fishing Report

[Outdoor Writer]

 

FISHING REPORT       Sept. 27, 2019 Arizona Game and Fish Department     TIP OF THE WEEK   On Tuesday, Oct. 1, the catch-and-release season at Silver Creek opens. (Silver Creek is pictured below.) That means the upper section also opens to fishing for the first time since early spring. We stocked trout that averaged 2 pounds into this section Wednesday. This catch-and-release section of Silver Creek requires trout to be immediately released unharmed, and is artificial flies and lures only with single-pointed barbless hooks. No trout may be kept. This segment of Silver Creek is open for fishing from Oct. 1 through March 31 of each year. See more fishing regulations.     Top picks for this weekend are Kinnikinick Lake (stocked with brown trout this week), Ashurst Lake, Silver Creek (catch-and-release season begins Saturday), Show Low Creek meadows, Rose Canyon Lake,  or other trout-stocked waters.   This week's weather seems to have been the ticket to kick off some great fall trout fishing.   Now to the high flows earlier this week  in the Salt River chain of lakes. The heavy run-off and flows not only left hazardous debris, it likely will make bass fishing difficult for a few days. Please be safe and watch out for debris, especially at Canyon Lake and the Lower Salt River. The Salt River Project reported that significant runoff entered Canyon, resulting in the need to pass storm water through Mormon Flat Dam, Stewart Mountain Dam and into the Salt River. Releases from Stewart Mountain dam peaked around 48,000 cfs at 10 a.m.  on Monday, Sept. 23.   The good news: water temperatures will take a sharp drop, and once bass become accustomed to these new temps and stable weather that should provide better "living conditions," fall bass fishing should bust loose.   See the daily water report from SRP.   Remember that the Fall Fishing Forecast is out.  Your complete guide of ratings and reports for more than 70 waters statewide is written primarily by our regional fishing experts. See the forecasts. MSA donates $25,000 to Canyon Creek Fish Hatchery   A big "thank you" to the Mogollon Sporting Association for its $25,000 donation to our Canyon Creek Fish Hatchery to help bring Gila trout to streams along the Mogollon Rim.  Gila trout are one of two native trout found in Arizona and are being raised at the Canyon Creek hatchery. Fossil Creek open to fishing Saturday, Oct. 5-April 30 Remember Fossil Creek is a catch-and-release roundtail chub fishery with a fly and lure single-pointed barbless hook regulation.. See pg. 15 of our Fishing Regulations for details of this Special Regulation fishery. Catch of the Week Send your fishing reports and photos to BFishing@azgfd.gov -- one will be selected for Catch of the Week   Pena Blanca Lake     Rafael L.  said he caught and released this bass at Peña Blanca Lake on Friday, Sept. 13. H said measured more than 20 inches long. "I didn't have a scale to weigh it," he wrote, "but it definitely weighed over 5 pounds."   What's been stocked this week (Water temp in parenthesis if available)   Rainbow trout: Show Low Creek (meadow), Oak Creek, Silver Creek (61), Frances Short Pond (61), Woods Canyon Lake (58). Brown trout: Kinnikinick Lake (63).  Channel catfish: (week of Sept. 16).: "Core" Community waters.   See the stocking schedules Thank you, anglers! Arizona fishing opportunities wouldn’t be possible without the Sport Fish Restoration Program. It was created through the Dingell-Johnson Act of 1950 (Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act) and the Wallop-Breaux amendments of 1984. Through a federal excise tax paid by manufacturers on fishing gear and motorboat fuels, it provides grant funds for fishery conservation, boating access, and aquatic education. Save time, buy online Grab a license online (that helps conserve all species of wildlife, not to mention provides funding that goes back into fishing opportunities) and go "Fish AZ". SEE MORE REPORTS

[Heat]

Thats pretty cool about the donation to the hatchery to produce Gila trout for stocking into Mogollon Rim waters.