Today river

[Kenneth Wiley]

So I've come to the conclusion that getting a tonto year parking pass for Arizona . Since they cover all tonto areas including grande canyon.

Anyone hear anything as far as hot spots here in Arizona urban and main lakes ? I want to go more local and pop some panfish with the girls

Went to saguaro
And one of the sheriffs told me all circle k and walgreens sell them. Soooo hot footed it back in the lancer to power rd to walgreens and got a one day pass. ..went to Phon d sutton instead and had a blast with teaching the daughters to use spinning rod setups. They've had zebco types till now. They did quite well despite my oldests combo having crapola line. Changed to crappie max 4 lb since when she used my rod with the crappie max she loved it. It's inexpensive , sensitive and does not birds nest ever.

The fish...well there are bites in the still water areas but with the flow rate super high due to them releasing dam water most of the faster water is so strong anything less than 1/8 to 1/4 ounce anything gets swept downstream in seconds. I did see the fly fish guys pullin some decent wild rainbows. The recent stocked ones are size range from fry to a few inches . Should do good in a few months in growth terms but the wild ones are already decent size just too finicky for lures quite yet.

Should be an interesting year in the az fishing world

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Can't be a fisherman without more gear than is required. LOL

[Kenneth Wiley]

I've been learning or should say relearning a lot david. I have 3 main fields of focus
Panfish
Bass
Carp
I now have a good arsenal of gear and tackle as well

[Leo Nguyen]

Thanks for the info provision. Please, do keep us informed. I may be visiting my father-in-laws this year, so, any info on the fishing in AZ would be great.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Thanks

[Kenneth Wiley]

Lol nothing wrong with mouth diareah . All info is a give and take and I learn every day

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Okay got ya!
Didn't know if you were new, old hand or what. I'll keep my posting to a dull roar after this. I have been known, on occasion, to get a little mouth diarrhea going on here! LOL

[Kenneth Wiley]

Yes on the drifting I'm very aware of the jackery involved lol. Trying to teach my autistic teen daughter while the cheap southbend line kept spoolin on her was quite entertaining I can say. I have the spinners from McDonald shown in my main photo that are killer on pan size species. He no longer makes spinners but one eBay seller has a ton of them. I cut a beetle spin twin tail in thirds and put one long one in white or black on the single size 14 hook that is at it's end. We did ok despite the reel, however the ones we caught were the barely above fry size.

The big issue is we still have to do shore fishing so I'm wanting to stick to where I know hits will come along well. I can also get a permit for Dobson ranch lakes where my parents are. Their ponds have some whopper panfish with aggressive habits

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

...Most of us are going to be fascinated to learn THERE IS any sort of fishing world in AZ!
When I lived there in the 70's I was unaware of one.
1. In my experience, DNR blanket passes are a good deal... If you use them.
If they languish on the back floorboard of your Lancer, well, they may be money ill spent.
2. I use a line called. "Mr. Crappie" and it is quite nice. I chose the high viz yellow type.
3. The trouble with rivers, etc, is they move. This forces you to flow with them, or try to hold position. Trout guys employ what's called a "drift," where they use the current to sweep their flies along, and hopefully, past the nose of hungry fish.

River fish are forced by the movement of the water to react quicker than their still water cousins, or see a potentially good meal swept away. This works to the anglers advantage if he adapts to it.
It may be problematic, though, when mixed with kids.

Drifting a bait demands a lot of attention, forward thinking and constant interaction to keep the bait out of trouble, and kids are not known for their focus. A compact slip float could help if you suspend the bait in the strike zone - 1 foot above bottom. It is also highly visible, a visual technique teens would gravitate towards.
Let it drift near rocks (front and rear), eddies, the dividing line between fast and slack water and any woody cover. These are all places fish shelter from the current to await passing morsels. Expect hang ups though. That's the nature of the ever changing river.

Keep up the good info