trout123 Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 Im headed down to Tempe from about April 8th to the 18th for an archery tournament and I figured I might as well bring the fishing rods. Gonna be fishing from the shore and not to picky about species as long as they put up a fight lol. Any tips about spots or baits would be really helpful as its gonna be my first time there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeth Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Biggens. people say its sketchy. be prepared for meth heads. I think it's fine. 33.38169802474933, -112.30260496501619 park in lot on left and walk down trail. Small fish 1-2 lbs with occasional larger. kind of a lame spot. 33.557071, -111.575727 - Anywhere along this trail and if you get nothing at least its very scenic. I'd go here if it were me. Has the most options to fish points, coves, flats, ledges etc all accessible from shore. lhttps://goo.gl/maps/tbzx26Lj3J2zQhXV8 -the most scenic. watch out for snakes. https://goo.gl/maps/9CY5fqdBT4RULeo99 I've caught plenty of biggs here. Double digit potential. - if you are up for an adventure and want smallmouth. I highly recommend going here however if the road has not been graded recently or if it just rained good luck. Parts of the road can be washed out and you will definitely need a vehicle with 4wd so make sure if you are using a rental to get a truck, jeep etc. This is the most scenic of all because you drive past all the other spots and through the mountains Even if you don't fish this the drive alone is worth it. https://goo.gl/maps/B2sfJZTYR1kMhN2Q7 -This lake has a ton of shore access but is a bit of a drive. I would get up early and make a day trip out of it taking either the highway there or the route via the previously mentioned lake which like i said is the most scenic but it is a dirt road that can get sketchy if you are just in a car. plenty of people do it in a car, i have but if you get stuck you are f#$*&! https://goo.gl/maps/Dmj9rFam8FATpn148 If you decide to take the highway here i'd highly recommend stopping at the arboretum https://www.btarboretum.org/ for a couple hours. much better than the botanical gardens in phoenix. maybe bring a lunch and visit here and then dive to roosevelt for the evening bite. Also there are plenty of dumb little ponds around that have bass. I wouldn't waste much time fishing Tempe town lake. not sure how many bass are left in there between algae blooms and them draining it completely dry not too many years ago. don't forget to stop at the gas station or grocery store and get the stupid pass you need to park at any of these areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCdockskipper Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 About 4 years ago, we were in Arizona for a few days & I ended up fishing the 3 ponds to the north of the Phoenix Zoo (you can see them & the parking situation on any map). They get their water from the Canal & flow into from one to another. Each had its own personality as far as depth, amount of vegetation, water clarity, etc. However, being that you will be going in April, you will most likely be in the midst of the spawn or post spawn, so shallow baits will probably be the ticket for each lake. They were pretty rural for a city park and while they had some pressure (midweek during the summer), there were some nice 3 to 4 lb bass there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trout123 Posted January 24, 2021 Author Share Posted January 24, 2021 6 hours ago, zeth said: Biggens. people say its sketchy. be prepared for meth heads. I think it's fine. 33.38169802474933, -112.30260496501619 park in lot on left and walk down trail. Small fish 1-2 lbs with occasional larger. kind of a lame spot. 33.557071, -111.575727 - Anywhere along this trail and if you get nothing at least its very scenic. I'd go here if it were me. Has the most options to fish points, coves, flats, ledges etc all accessible from shore. lhttps://goo.gl/maps/tbzx26Lj3J2zQhXV8 -the most scenic. watch out for snakes. https://goo.gl/maps/9CY5fqdBT4RULeo99 I've caught plenty of biggs here. Double digit potential. - if you are up for an adventure and want smallmouth. I highly recommend going here however if the road has not been graded recently or if it just rained good luck. Parts of the road can be washed out and you will definitely need a vehicle with 4wd so make sure if you are using a rental to get a truck, jeep etc. This is the most scenic of all because you drive past all the other spots and through the mountains Even if you don't fish this the drive alone is worth it. https://goo.gl/maps/B2sfJZTYR1kMhN2Q7 -This lake has a ton of shore access but is a bit of a drive. I would get up early and make a day trip out of it taking either the highway there or the route via the previously mentioned lake which like i said is the most scenic but it is a dirt road that can get sketchy if you are just in a car. plenty of people do it in a car, i have but if you get stuck you are f#$*&! https://goo.gl/maps/Dmj9rFam8FATpn148 If you decide to take the highway here i'd highly recommend stopping at the arboretum https://www.btarboretum.org/ for a couple hours. much better than the botanical gardens in phoenix. maybe bring a lunch and visit here and then dive to roosevelt for the evening bite. Also there are plenty of dumb little ponds around that have bass. I wouldn't waste much time fishing Tempe town lake. not sure how many bass are left in there between algae blooms and them draining it completely dry not too many years ago. don't forget to stop at the gas station or grocery store and get the stupid pass you need to park at any of these areas. Awesome! Thank you for the help, definitely gonna have to spend some time checking out the area. 3 hours ago, OCdockskipper said: About 4 years ago, we were in Arizona for a few days & I ended up fishing the 3 ponds to the north of the Phoenix Zoo (you can see them & the parking situation on any map). They get their water from the Canal & flow into from one to another. Each had its own personality as far as depth, amount of vegetation, water clarity, etc. However, being that you will be going in April, you will most likely be in the midst of the spawn or post spawn, so shallow baits will probably be the ticket for each lake. They were pretty rural for a city park and while they had some pressure (midweek during the summer), there were some nice 3 to 4 lb bass there. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camman Posted January 27, 2021 Share Posted January 27, 2021 It’s been 12 years since I was out in Tempe for grad school, be careful what lakes you fish as you will need an additional stamp to fish in lakes that receive trout. Not sure if its worth it for a non-resident license if you are only there for 10 days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Darth-Baiter Posted January 29, 2021 Super User Share Posted January 29, 2021 On 1/26/2021 at 9:02 PM, camman said: It’s been 12 years since I was out in Tempe for grad school, be careful what lakes you fish as you will need an additional stamp to fish in lakes that receive trout. Not sure if its worth it for a non-resident license if you are only there for 10 days Thanks for this. I’m hitting the first lake I’ve ever fished as a teen. grown man with a kayak now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User WRB Posted January 30, 2021 Super User Share Posted January 30, 2021 The Phoenix zoo property is just north of Arizona State U near Papago Indian reserve. I attended ASU in the early 60’s and those ponds were the original Dr Henshaw. Rom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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