Super Bowl Sunday
It is going to be 80 degrees today and there is a nice layer of clouds in the sky. I haven't been fishing since I moved to Dobson Ranch on December 15th. My neighbor Scott caught a bass out of a Ranch pond in early December when we went out for a few hours.
Now that it's warm, I am getting the itch to go after 'em. I want to spend this year exploring the urban bass fishing in the Phoenix area. My neigborhood has a pretty good sized lake system.
Dobson Ranch:
Look at all the water I highlighted on this zoomed out map:
And this is only my part of Mesa.
Notice the canal that splits through the middle of the picture. There are many canals in the city and they all have fish, I've heard. There are lots of neighborhood lakes all over the Phoenix area and I have caught bass out of the ones I have fished --- which is four, I believe. Most of the ponds, and even the fountains, use water out of the canals that have fish in them. In Ahwatukee, I caught many, many bass out of a tiny pond/fountain that I don't think anyone would expect to find fish. I wouldn't have ever bothered if I didn't see two bass cruising the side while walking a dog.
There is also the Tempe Town Lake that is stocked with trout, bass, and catfish. Upriver from the lake, there is a small set of ponds where the Salt River barely flows towards the lake. The river bottom is normally completely dry this far into town, but now they let a small creek run from the big resevoirs to keep the Tempe Town Lake full. The ponds are not part of the man-made Tempe Town Lake, so there is a lot better habitat like reeds, rocks, and weed mats. I can't wait to check those out --- once I figure out how to get down to them.
I will not focus on the ponds/lakes that are run by the Urban Fishing Program because the AZGF already has plenty of information on them and they get too much fishing pressure to be very good.
The post preceding this one shows a decent bass I caught out of an urban pond about a mile from Dobson Ranch called the ASU Research Ponds. I would like to go there some nights this year and try for some catfish. The area has lots of room to set up for night fishing and it's farely romote and safe. There are supposedly some big catfish in a lot of the ponds and canals. I will also try Dobson Ranch, of course.
Some links to places to investigate:
Bass Oasis near the airport -- private access, but you can pay to fish.
Gilbert Canal! Check out the bass this guy caught!
Stripers, smallmouth, and TARPON in canals?!? I don't know what he caught, but no way was it a tarpon -- there a lot of reasons that it couldn't be tarpon, but here's the most obivous: they live in salt water. However, the rest of the article is very intriguing.
This from a forum dated 03/05 at www.azbasszone.com: "you might want to try out the Val Vista lakes to if only for the fact if you remember the young kid who caught that 11lb largemouth that qaulified him for the junior big bass championship came from that lake. The crossroads are Baseline and Val Vista pull into the Fry's parking lot and park in front of the store and walk that long bank that borders the parking lot. True that bass was caught jeeez I think 6 years ago BUT them genes could still be swimming around.".
This one is from 01/05: "If you like "commando fishing" the Dobson Ranch golf coarse has a few lakes in it. In the early 90s we used to catch some really nice fish in there, 3 to 5 lbs. I'm just to fat to run the the greenskeepers anymore. Park in the apartments to the south and find a hole in the fence. Best on summer nights!What about Ocotillo. In 91/ 92 a kid caught a 12 lber out of there. Go down Price just past Queen Creek rd, on the left will be some new office buildings and a park. The pond is right there. They used to have security that would show up and boot you, don't know about security these days. ".
Of course, I am a Dobson Ranch resident, so I don't need to "commando" and I have always found either public places or fairly hidden spots on other lakes. I have never been run off. Kock on wood!
Another 01/04: "...where mcdowell hits the new 202 freeway. so take val-vista to were it hits mcdowell and turn left till u hit the canal. the fishing there is slow now since its winter. last year in the summer i cought 2 about 2lbs bass in about an hour on a crankbait that runs about 5 feet. ".
Now that it's warm, I am getting the itch to go after 'em. I want to spend this year exploring the urban bass fishing in the Phoenix area. My neigborhood has a pretty good sized lake system.
Dobson Ranch:
Look at all the water I highlighted on this zoomed out map:
And this is only my part of Mesa.Notice the canal that splits through the middle of the picture. There are many canals in the city and they all have fish, I've heard. There are lots of neighborhood lakes all over the Phoenix area and I have caught bass out of the ones I have fished --- which is four, I believe. Most of the ponds, and even the fountains, use water out of the canals that have fish in them. In Ahwatukee, I caught many, many bass out of a tiny pond/fountain that I don't think anyone would expect to find fish. I wouldn't have ever bothered if I didn't see two bass cruising the side while walking a dog.
There is also the Tempe Town Lake that is stocked with trout, bass, and catfish. Upriver from the lake, there is a small set of ponds where the Salt River barely flows towards the lake. The river bottom is normally completely dry this far into town, but now they let a small creek run from the big resevoirs to keep the Tempe Town Lake full. The ponds are not part of the man-made Tempe Town Lake, so there is a lot better habitat like reeds, rocks, and weed mats. I can't wait to check those out --- once I figure out how to get down to them.
I will not focus on the ponds/lakes that are run by the Urban Fishing Program because the AZGF already has plenty of information on them and they get too much fishing pressure to be very good.
The post preceding this one shows a decent bass I caught out of an urban pond about a mile from Dobson Ranch called the ASU Research Ponds. I would like to go there some nights this year and try for some catfish. The area has lots of room to set up for night fishing and it's farely romote and safe. There are supposedly some big catfish in a lot of the ponds and canals. I will also try Dobson Ranch, of course.
Some links to places to investigate:
Bass Oasis near the airport -- private access, but you can pay to fish.
Gilbert Canal! Check out the bass this guy caught!
Stripers, smallmouth, and TARPON in canals?!? I don't know what he caught, but no way was it a tarpon -- there a lot of reasons that it couldn't be tarpon, but here's the most obivous: they live in salt water. However, the rest of the article is very intriguing.
This from a forum dated 03/05 at www.azbasszone.com: "you might want to try out the Val Vista lakes to if only for the fact if you remember the young kid who caught that 11lb largemouth that qaulified him for the junior big bass championship came from that lake. The crossroads are Baseline and Val Vista pull into the Fry's parking lot and park in front of the store and walk that long bank that borders the parking lot. True that bass was caught jeeez I think 6 years ago BUT them genes could still be swimming around.".
This one is from 01/05: "If you like "commando fishing" the Dobson Ranch golf coarse has a few lakes in it. In the early 90s we used to catch some really nice fish in there, 3 to 5 lbs. I'm just to fat to run the the greenskeepers anymore. Park in the apartments to the south and find a hole in the fence. Best on summer nights!What about Ocotillo. In 91/ 92 a kid caught a 12 lber out of there. Go down Price just past Queen Creek rd, on the left will be some new office buildings and a park. The pond is right there. They used to have security that would show up and boot you, don't know about security these days. ".
Of course, I am a Dobson Ranch resident, so I don't need to "commando" and I have always found either public places or fairly hidden spots on other lakes. I have never been run off. Kock on wood!
Another 01/04: "...where mcdowell hits the new 202 freeway. so take val-vista to were it hits mcdowell and turn left till u hit the canal. the fishing there is slow now since its winter. last year in the summer i cought 2 about 2lbs bass in about an hour on a crankbait that runs about 5 feet. ".
posted by John at 9:27 AM
2 Comments:
OK, Kickass! We went fishing again. I caught a decent sized bass as opposed to the 8 inch baby bass I caught back in December.
Next time we go, we will leave the kids at home and have no time liabilities so we can relax and fish and fish and fish and...
Allright, where is the bass I caught today? How long does it take you to post dude???
: )
See you in the AM for some fat bass catchin'
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