Taking the Black Bass Roughnecks

Like baseball, hotdogs, and apple pie, the black bass is native Americana. Once limited to waters in the east and deep south, this pugnacious critter, whose jutting jaw invites a fight, now is firmly established in all 50 states. For Arizona anglers, the largemouth and smallmouth black bass have been a gift from heaven . . . and the fish hatcheries. The black bass is responsible for development of a major method of fishing called baitcasting. It also has led otherwise normal people to fanaticallyinvest upwards of $10,000 on fancy bassboats, rods, reels, lures, and electronic devices, all geared to outwit this piscatorial roughneck. Author James A. Henshall, whose Book of the Black Bass helped immortalize the species back in 1881, said it best: “Inch for inch and pound for pound, the gamest fish that swims.” Few Arizona anglers will dispute this claim. More than any other fish, the largemouth black bass and his smallmouth cousin have put Arizona on the fishing invest upwards of $10,000 on fancy bassboats, rods, reels, lures, and electronic devices, all geared to outwit this piscatorial roughneck. Author James A. Henshall, whose Book of the Black Bass helped immortalize the species back in 1881, said it best: “Inch for inch and pound for pound, the gamest fish that swims.” Few Arizona anglers will dispute this claim. More than any other fish, the largemouth black bass and his smallmouth cousin have put Arizona on the fishing map. Although records fail to trace exactly where and when the first bass arrived in the state, the event probably occurred soon after Teddy Roosevelt dedicated the reservoir that bears his name in 1911. Today, largemouth bass are found in all but higher elevation waters of the state. While big reservoir lakes attract most of the attention, bragging-size bruisers also are taken from lonely ranch tanks (ponds) hidden across the state's vast rangelands.

Generally speaking, the best reservoir lakes are those basin-typeimpoundments with an abundance ofshallow shoreline for spawning and avast watershed that flushes in nutrientsfor rapid fish growth. Aside from theColorado River lakes that are coveredin another article in this issue, the mostproductive of such impoundments areSan Carlos Reservoir on the Gila River,Roosevelt Lake on the Salt, HorseshoeLake on the Verde system, Lake Pleasant on the sporadic-flowing Agua Fria,and Alamo Lake that catches runoffdown Bill Williams River. The majorcanyon-type reservoirs that lack exten-sive shallows are Apache, Canyon, andBartlett lakes.

The major threat to bass in Arizonais drought. Nevertheless, even when areservoir goes dry, the comeback ofbass populations often is amazing. Forexample, three years ago San Carlossuffered a total fishkill, as irrigationdemands sucked the lifeblood from thisdrought-stricken reservoir. That sameyear fish populations also werethreatened in Roosevelt and Pleasantlakes, while the Salt River Project com-pounded the problem by choosing thisperiod to drain Bartlett Lake for neededdam repairs.The fishing picture was bleak backin 1977, with no sign of relief. Then,just as suddenly, the rains came. Twosuccessive winters of heavy runoffswelled reservoirs to capacity, and fishpopulations boomed. Now, three yearslater, San Carlos, Bartlett, and Alamoare rated three of the finest bass lakesin the Southwest.

The hub of central Arizona bassaction is the Verde and Salt River chainof reservoirs. Roosevelt Lake, the oldest reclamation dam in the system,continues to be outstanding. The inlandstate bigmouth record of 14 pounds,two ounces came from this granddaddyreservoir, and it could well be brokenagain from these same waters.

The next reservoir down on the Saltis Apache Lake. Although rated goodfor largemouths, Apache gains greatestrecognition from the booming popula-tion of hard-fighting smallmouth bass.These “bronzebacks” find the lake'ssteep cliffs and rocky shorelines to theirliking, with winter and early spring themost effective time to fish.

Canyon Lake is the smallest in theSalt River chain, but it boasts diversification. Along with largemouth bass,there are trout (seasonally planted during winter months), walleye pike, andbarrel-chested Florida bass. A closerelative of the largemouth bass, theFlorida version grows faster and larger.

Many anglers are afraid to spendweekends fishing Saguaro Lake becauseof the competition with high-speedboats and waterskiers. Because of thisthe reservoir is underfished, with a highpercentage of lunker bass dying of oldage. If you can catch this lowest SaltRiver lake shy of boats, there is no finerplace to work a surface lure than alongBagley Flat.

Other choice central Arizona basswaters are Lake Pleasant, which is bestknown for being the only inland reservoir with white bass, plus Bartlett andHorseshoe lakes on the Verde River.The latter two impoundments also havefair numbers of smallmouths.

When San Carlos Reservoir nearGlobe isn't being tortured by drought,it is unbeatable for bigmouths. Here'show Western Bass Association champion Fred Ward puts it: “The lake is phenomenal. It isn'tuncommon to catch and release upwards of 50 fish a day, even duringthe heat of summer. There is no placein the world I'd rather be at dawn witha bass rod in my hand than back in aSan Carlos cove, casting a topwater lurewhile watching coveys of quail parad-ing down for a morning drink.” Fred adds that the serenity of themoment abruptly ends when that firstbig bass comes charging out of thedepth to smash the slowly moving plug.

A different kind of wildlife serenades anglers fishing the cactus-rimmed shoreline of Alamo Lake. Here “desertcanaries”, or wild burros, lend a braying backdrop for the bass and bluegill fishermen. Alamo is the only major reservoir in the state that doesn't rely on threadfin shad as the basic bassfood. Instead, Alamo is a classic bass-bluegill lake, with an abundance of both species. Located 37 miles north of Wenden, Alamo also features an outstanding State Park campground, with electricity and hot showers.

The Prescott area lays claim to Willow, Watson, and Granite Dells lakes, plus several fine bass ponds scattered across the open expanse of Chino Valley. Stehr Lake, west of Strawberry, in spectacular Fossil Creek Canyon, may look lonely, but it gives up lots of bass and bluegill to mostly local anglers.

Out in the plateau flatlands between Winslow and St. Johns, bass are taken from Cholla Lake, Clear Creek Reservoir, Cement Dam Reservoir, St. Johns Reservoir, and Lyman Lake.

There is no sportier way to fool a bass than with a flyrod popper. When I'm chasing this kind of excitement, I head for several pretty little impoundments in southern Arizona. Arivaca Lake, northwest of Nogales, is one of the best. Fish it with a popping bug in the middle of the week and you'll likely have most of the coves to yourself. Bass aren't large, but there are plenty of them.

Peña Blanca and Patagonia lakes are larger and bass are bigger, while farther east, in the rolling grasslands near Patagonia, a respectable crop of bigmouths inhabit Parker Canyon Lake.

The five Cluff ponds, located 5 miles north of Pima and U.S. 70, also are prime flyrod waters for bass. In addition, numerous stocked ranch ponds exist all across the southern tier of counties.

No rundown on Arizona bass fishing would be complete without mentioning two excellent smallmouth bass streams. The first is Verde River, where bronzebacks were first stocked in the 1940s. The mouth of Oak Creek, Brown's Spring, and the Childs area are the best bets when water conditions are right.

However, the best smallmouth bass stream in the state, and perhaps in the Southwest, is the forty some miles of Black River from McDonald Canyon to Black River Crossing. Initially planted in the mid-1960s, bass populations have exploded. In more remote stretches, it isn't uncommon to catch and release 20 smallmouths from a single pool. The most successful way to fish the Black is with a pack on your back.

Bass have become the big time fish of Arizona. The reasons stem from the fact that this scrappy fighter adapts well to various waters and will readily attack the first lure that wiggles past his nose. It also is because this allround favorite has no prejudices. He can be as easily snookered by a worm on a fifty-cent cane rod as by a fivedollar lure on a graphite rod.