Trout Fishing Tips

Roundtail chub are native to Arizona and are commonly referred to as "Verde Trout".  These fish live in the Verde River and are known to bite on many of the same lures and baits that trout do. 

The Arizona Fish and Game Department has been working the last few years to turn Fossil Creek into a prime fishery for Verde Trout.  On October 3, 2009, Fossil Creek will open for the first annual Verde Trout fishing season.

Fossil Creek will open the first Saturday in October every year and remain open through April 30th.  Only the middle 4.5 miles of the creek is open to fishing (there will be signs).

Since this is a special fishery, special rules are in place including:

• Single Barbless hooks only
• Artificial lures and flies only
• Catch and release only

The fishery is open to both spin and fly fishers alike, provided they follow the rules mentioned above.  Of course, all other Arizona Fishing Regulations remain in effect as well.

The AZ Fish and Game Department hope that this fishery will help anglers learn more about its native fish. 

Other fish can also be found in Fossil Creek including the Speckled Dace, Longfin Dace, Desert Suckers, and Sonora Suckers.

You can find more information about each of these fish, by clicking here.  Just click on each of the pictures on the web page for more detailed info.


Fossil Creek is located on the Tonto and Coconino National Forests approximately 15 miles east of Camp Verde and 5 miles west of the town of Strawberry. You can find it by driving along Forest Service Road 708.

Labels: arizona, AZ trout, Fossil Creek, Roundtail Chub, Sucker Fish, Verde Trout

The Arizona Fish and Game Department is co-sponsoring a trout fly fishing workshop at Becker Lake for anglers on October 4, 2008.

The 3 and half hour workshop is open to the public and will feature one-on-one instruction on the use of lures and artificial flies to improve angling success. Fly-fishing techniques, proper use of trout lures and presentation, use of casting bubbles with flies and trolling techniques will also be covered. There will be demonstrations on fly tying and methods of cooking and smoking fish.

Bring your own equipment if you have it .... otherwise equipment will be provided for those who don't have any.

There will be a morning session and and afternoon session with each session limited to 20 people. The cost is $10 per person. You must pre-register at the Pinetop Office if you want to participate. For more information, call (928) 367-4281.

Labels: arizona, Becker Lake, fly fishing workshop

This year's Winter Trout Derby will take place on January 19, 2008 in Litchfield Park, Arizona. The derby will begin at 7 a.m. at Tierra Verde Lake Park and run til 3 p.m.

The trout derby is open to everybody, so bring the whole family. They'll be food, prizes, and giveaways. Bring your own pole and tackle.

No fishing licenses are required for the day, but there is a small fee per person wishing to participate in the derby. Fees are $4 for kids 15 years of age and under; $6 for folks 16 and older. No pre-registration is required.

For more information about the Winter Trout Derby, you can all (623) 935-9040.

Labels: arizona, Litchfield Park, Winter Trout Derby

In the past two weeks, I've made several trips to Lynx Lake in Prescott, Arizona to enjoy the fall trout fishing action. I've been teaching my nephews and their friends how to trout fish ... so we've taken full advantage of their days off school.

As usual, we've managed to walk away with our daily bag limit on each fishing trip. But in addition to sharing our boy's excitement when they reel in their catch, one of the more interesting things to me is watching others around us get skunked.

It doesn't take long before they start moving in closer to us (thinking we've found a secret trout hole), and eventually they start asking our secret - of which I'm always happy to share (especially when there's kids involved).

Anybody can bait a hook and throw it into a lake and wait for trout to swim by. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. But the good anglers are always paying attention to the little things .... such as outdoor temperatures (especially water temps), where trout are rising, and other things.

These are the things that separate intermediate trout fishers from advanced ones. If you want to be a successful trout fisher, you need to understand these things and adjust your fishing tactics accordingly. And the longer your fishing day, the more changes you may have to make.

Fall is one of the best times of the year to be out trout fishing. Water temperatures are cool, and so trout are usually actively feeding near the surface. Pay attention to where they're rising (or jumping). That will tell you where they're feeding - and if you look closely, you may even see what they're feeding on!

Trout are lazy fish - they don't want to work hard for a meal. So if you can get your baited hook to them (rather than wait for them to swim by and find it), you'll have a greater chance of catching trout.

For more trout secrets and tips, check out the "Trout Fishing Tips" eBook. Take advantage of the fall trout season while you can!

Labels: arizona, Fall trout fishing, lynx lake, trout fish, trout fishing, trout secrets, trout tips

Lynx Lake is one of the nicest fishing lakes in Prescott, Arizona. I spent much of yesterday fishing there with family and friends ... and despite the water levels being very low (lowest I've seen in 30 years), we were still able to catch our limit of rainbow trout.

And of course, as we continued to reel in trout after trout, folks continued to ask us to share our secret - which we were happy to do. But few realized that as the weather changed, so did our fishing tactics - which is what allowed us to keep catching trout when others weren't.

We started off the morning fishing spinners - which worked well. The water was cool and the trout were feeding on the surface. So spinner were very effective.

But by about 10 am, the sun was starting to get a bit warm. As we took our off jackets, we knew water temperatures were rising and trout were no longer feeding on the surface of the water. So we put away the spinners and rigged the poles for bottom fishing.

My favorite bottom fishing rig consists of adding an egg sinker above a snap swivel, and then adding an 18-20 inch leader with a treble hook to the swivel. I like to use the 1/2 oz. egg sinkers because it gives me greater casting distance. We were also using 6-lb test line.

There were three of us fishing yesterday, and some of us used nightcrawlers and some of us used powerbait (all colors). Another thing we did was to add a bit of trout attractant to the leader and bait (many anglers don't think to do this).

Bottom fishing worked very in the late morning and early afternoon hours. And because we were able to recognize when trout changed their feeding zone, we were able to keep catching fish (when others weren't).

These are the kind of secrets that I've revealed in the "Trout Fishing Tips" eBook. Learning to recognize changing weather and feeding patterns is one of the biggest secrets of trout fishing.

Not only did we catch our trout limit yesterday, but we had a fun watching the bald eagles catch their trout too. And I was even fortunate enough to catch some great photos of the eagles. You can check out some of our pictures below.

Labels: arizona, lynx lake, secrets of trout fishing, trout fishing, trout fishing tips