Fishing Apache Lake

BY: Lee Allen,Patrick Amory

apache lake 10.01.05 Bliss in a Boat Apache Lake gleams with possibilities

The bass boat bobs gently in the quiet of Apache Lake's predawn skies. A blanket of stars twinkles as night quickly trades place with day. Sounds of sleepy campers stirring mingle with the splash and slurp of fish feeding near the marina. Early rising anglers float their boats off trailers and engines cough to life on October 1. A new day. A clean slate. And proof that while a thousand fishing trips can go by, indistinguishable from one another, one suddenly comes along with a promise of perfection.Naturalist John Muir observed that anglers become a part of the waters they fish: "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."

As the sun rises, it infuses the sky with a blue not found on artist palettes and mottles the clouds.

Leaving the no-wake launch ramp, decisions must be made. Where to? How to? The Arizona Game and Fish Department report indicates that the 17mile-long Apache Lake is 95 percent full, with "horrible" fishing for smallmouth bass but a good shot at largemouth.

So conventional wisdom would send anglers east, past Davis Wash and Burnt Corral and the backside of Roosevelt Dam. Naturally, I am drawn westward toward Ash and Alder creeks.

by Lee Allen photograph by George Stocking Poet Robert Frost would approve the road less traveled, as cloudbanks cast shadow puppets across the mountains. My troubles evaporate with the mist.

No matter how many times I fish certain waters, they're always different. A certain cove, sunken riprap or a deepwater ridge yields results on one visit but nothing the next time. With daylight established and a slight ripple on the water, we ponder the options-bait-casting, spin-casting or fly-casting? Factor in wind, weather and water temperature. Will they bite on topwater lures like a Zara Spook or a pencil-type stickbait? Will they strike shallow at a small-billed Rapala crankbait or go deeper with a thicker Fat Rap? Do they want the flash of a teardrop twin-bladed spinnerbait or the zigzag of a Z-Ray? Will they wait deep in the thermocline pockets for a Senko or a Wired Worm or a Johnson spoon?

Decisions. Decisions. None of them wrong. Fickle as teenagers, some days they crave burgers, some days tacos. Fishing offers no guarantees, only possibilities.

Asked how he picked a lure, professional bass angler Jimmy Houston replied, "Whatever lure is lying loose in the boat gets tied on first." If that works for a man who's made millions chasing fish, it ought to work for me. And so it does. A largemouth bass running a gravel bank and an aggressive channel catfish hiding along a mud line taste treblehooks before I pull them in and let them loose to fight another day.

As daylight dwindles, the water gets choppy, the fish go deeper and anglers head home-thankful for another perfect day on the water, with or without a bucket of fish.

A lifelong angler, Lee Allen was honored last year as Arizona Outdoor Writer of the Year and received Hall of Fame status from the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Writers and Photographers. He lives in Tucson.

George Stocking of Phoenix, not a fisherman, found the sunrise on the lake moving and memorable.

► when you go

Location: Approximately 65 miles east of Phoenix. Getting There: There are two routes to Apache Lake. For a paved route, from Phoenix take U.S. Route 60 east to Globe and State Route 88. Turn north (left) onto State 88 and drive 35 miles to Roosevelt Dam. Turn south on 88, (also called Apache Trail) and follow for 5 miles to Apache Lake. For a shorter, but rougher route from Phoenix, take U.S. 60 to Apache Junction and paved State Route 88 (Apache Trail) north for 18 miles to Tortilla Flat. Follow State 88, which becomes an unpaved road past Tortilla Flat for another 15 miles to Apache Lake. Additional Information: Apache Lake Marina & Resort, (928) 467-2511; www.apachelake. com. Tonto National Forest, (928) 467-3200; www.fs.fed.us/r3/tonto. Arizona Game and Fish Department, (480) 981-9400; www.azgfd.gov.

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