An Arizona license lasts a year from the day it is bought and covers two lines, trout and the Colorado River lakes on the California and Nevada borders. The current regulations run through December 31, and the 2027-28 regulations take effect on January 1. Bald eagle nesting closes parts of several waters through the winter, last year stretches of the Verde and Salt rivers, the Tonto Creek inlet to Roosevelt Lake and an arm of Lake Pleasant; Game and Fish announces the list each December.
What to fish for in early November
Arizona in the cold months is two places: open low-elevation water where the bass slow down and striped bass and planted trout keep anglers busy, and a mountain high country of frozen lakes and roads closed by snow. Below the dam at Page the river fishes on midges every month, and the cool months bring stocked trout to the lower Salt, the Prescott and Tucson lakes and the city ponds.
Striped Bass
Herds shad across open water and stays catchable through the cold, often holding deep.
Where. Pleasant, Havasu, Mead and Mohave, and Lake Powell.
The striped bass waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Lake Powell about 62F Best Thu, Nov 5, A+Today's forecast Lake Mohave about 67F Best Mon, Nov 9, A+Today's forecast Rainbow Trout
Planted in city ponds, valley lakes and the lower Salt while the water is cool, with the Willow Beach hatchery stocking its pier and Bullhead City's parks, and wild in the river below the dam at Page.
Where. Lees Ferry, the Lower Salt below Saguaro Lake, the Prescott and Tucson lakes, Willow Beach and the city ponds.
The rainbow trout waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Colorado River at Lees Ferry about 54F Best Mon, Nov 9, FToday's forecast Big Lake about 46F Best Wed, Nov 11, B+Today's forecast Lynx Lake about 56F Best Thu, Nov 12, A+Today's forecast Largemouth Bass
Slows down and holds near deep structure, biting best on the warmest afternoons.
Where. Roosevelt, Pleasant, Saguaro and the other Salt River lakes, and the backwater lakes above Imperial Dam.
The largemouth bass waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Lake Pleasant about 69F Best Sun, Nov 15, A+Today's forecast Patagonia Lake about 64F Best Tue, Nov 10, A+Today's forecast Martinez Lake about 71F Best Tue, Nov 10, A+Today's forecast Smallmouth Bass
Holds deeper than the largemouth on the rocky points and bluffs of the Colorado River lakes and stays catchable on a slow bait through the cold.
Where. Lake Havasu and Lake Powell.
The smallmouth bass waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Lake Havasu about 69F Best Fri, Nov 6, A+Today's forecast Crappie
Schools in the deeper water of the desert reservoirs through the cold and bites on minnows around brush and the mouths of coves.
Where. Roosevelt and the Salt River lakes, Lake Pleasant, and the Tucson lakes, Patagonia and Parker Canyon among them.
Usual water now is that water's normal for this point in the season: a lake's modeled seasonal curve or a river gauge's long-run average, not this year's reading. The forecast link reads this week's.
What changes soon
Nothing on this report's calendar for Arizona in the next six weeks.
Every date for Arizona from November to February (2)
- Thu December 31Arizona's current fishing regulations end at midnight.
- Fri January 1Arizona's 2027-28 fishing regulations take effect.
This week's fishing reports
This report covers the season. For what was caught this week, read the people who report on this water.
Arizona's one regular winter source is Game and Fish's monthly fishing report, an email bulletin not quoted here, whose water-by-water reports the department also posts to SportfishingReport: last winter on November 30 and February 6, after monthly posts through the fall, for the Flagstaff, Prescott and Rim waters, the Phoenix lakes, Mead, Mohave and Powell. The Willow Beach hatchery posts its stocking dates, and the AZ Fly Shop in Phoenix writes a monthly where-to-fish column. The Lees Ferry shop's report has carried the same May 2025 text under a fresh date, and no reporter could be found for the White Mountains, Tucson or Yuma.
Where to fish in Arizona, area by area
Each water links to its live forecast. The engine outlook in these areas was generated November 3, 2026, for the 14 days from that date; good hours are the hours at or above a B+.
Lake Powell and Lees Ferry
Lake Powell · Colorado River at Lees Ferry
The vast canyon reservoir behind Glen Canyon Dam, reaching from Page far up into southern Utah, and the fifteen miles of cold, clear tailwater between the dam and Lees Ferry, reached by boat from the ramp at the ferry or on foot along its lower end. Stripers and bass in the lake, rainbow trout below the dam.
Who reports here. Last winter the lake's only dated post was the Utah biologist's November survey, on the forum Wayne Gustaveson started, and nothing followed until late March. The shop report for the river carries a fresh date over text from May 2025, so read what it says, not when it says it.
Engine outlook
- Best: Mon, Nov 9, F0 good hours57F measured Nov 3 at COLORADO RIVER AT LEES FERRY, AZ7900 cfsat COLORADO RIVER AT LEES FERRY, AZon this water
- Best: Thu, Nov 5, A+10 good hours61F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 5h
Lake Havasu
Lake Havasu · Colorado River (Parker Strip)
The reservoir behind Parker Dam on the Colorado, shared with California along its western shore, desert water known for redear sunfish of record size, for smallmouth, largemouth and striped bass, and for the river below the dam running past Parker.
Who reports here. A local guide posts dated reports on a booking site that could not be read here. Game and Fish's monthly report is the other source, and it posted nothing for this lake to the fishing-report site last winter.
Engine outlook
- Best: Fri, Nov 6, A+9 good hours69F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 5h
The Phoenix lakes and the Salt
Lake Pleasant · Roosevelt Lake · Saguaro Lake · Canyon Lake · Lower Salt River
The desert reservoirs within a drive of Phoenix, the Salt River chain from Roosevelt down through Apache, Canyon and Saguaro and Lake Pleasant on the Agua Fria, bass and crappie water that stays open all year, and the stretch of the Salt below Saguaro Lake that is stocked with trout in the cool months.
Who reports here. The AZ Fly Shop's monthly column picked a water near the city each month last winter, the river below the dams in February among them. Game and Fish's report of November 30 covered Lake Pleasant and Bartlett Lake, and none followed for these reservoirs through the winter.
Engine outlook
- Best: Sun, Nov 15, A+12 good hours68F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 12h
The White Mountains and the Rim
Big Lake · Fool Hollow Lake · Luna Lake · Woods Canyon Lake · Silver Creek
The high lakes and streams of the White Mountains and the Mogollon Rim, six to nine thousand feet up in the pine forest of east-central Arizona, where trout water freezes in a cold winter and the roads to some of it close with the snow.
Who reports here. No winter reporter for these waters could be found, and the newest dated report on their ice that turned up was Game and Fish's from 2015. Call its regional office in Pinetop before driving up.
Engine outlook
- Best: Wed, Nov 11, B+8 good hours48F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 4h266 cfsat LITTLE COLORADO RIVER AT GREER, AZ10 mi away
Flagstaff and Williams
Upper Lake Mary · Lower Lake Mary · Ashurst Lake · Kinnikinick Lake · Kaibab Lake
The lakes of the pine country around Flagstaff and Williams, Upper and Lower Lake Mary, Ashurst and Kinnikinick on the plateau southeast of town and Kaibab, Dogtown and Cataract around Williams, with Oak Creek and West Clear Creek running down off the Rim toward the Verde, trout water that ices over in a cold winter while the forest roads to some of it close.
Who reports here. Game and Fish posted reports on these waters to SportfishingReport on October 30 and November 30 and again on February 6, lake by lake and creek by creek, with the stream flows; none came in December or January.
Engine outlook
- Best: Tue, Nov 10, A9 good hours53F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 5h
The Prescott lakes
Goldwater Lake · Lynx Lake · Watson Lake · Willow Lake · Mingus Lake
The small lakes in and around Prescott, Goldwater and Lynx in the pines south and east of town and Watson and Willow among the granite boulders of the Dells, with Mingus Lake on the mountain above the Verde Valley, stocked with trout in the cool months beside their bass and sunfish.
Who reports here. Game and Fish's reports of October 30 and November 30 covered these lakes, the trout bite picking up as the water cooled; none followed in the winter months.
Engine outlook
- Best: Thu, Nov 12, A+13 good hours56F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 13h
Payson and the Rim creeks
Tonto Creek · Canyon Creek · Haigler Creek · East Verde River · Knoll Lake
The creeks that run off the Mogollon Rim north and east of Payson, Tonto, Canyon and Haigler creeks and the East Verde, with Knoll Lake and Blue Ridge Reservoir up on the Rim itself, small trout water in the ponderosa where the roads on top close in snow.
Who reports here. Game and Fish reported these waters on October 30, November 30 and February 6, giving the stream flows each time; nothing else dated turned up for the winter.
Engine outlook
- Best: Thu, Nov 12, A8 good hours50F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 4h
Lake Mead and Lake Mohave, the Arizona side
Lake Mead · Lake Mohave · Willow Beach · Colorado River at Bullhead City
The Arizona shore of the two Colorado River reservoirs, from Temple Bar on Lake Mead to Willow Beach and the cold reach below Hoover Dam on Lake Mohave, and the river past Bullhead City below Davis Dam, across the water from Laughlin. An Arizona license covers both lakes from shore or boat.
Who reports here. The Willow Beach hatchery posted about twenty stocking notices between mid-November and late February, for the fishing pier there and for Bullhead City's parks, and Game and Fish's report of November 30 covered both lakes.
Engine outlook
- Best: Mon, Nov 9, A+13 good hours67F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 13h
Tucson and the southeast
Patagonia Lake · Pena Blanca Lake · Parker Canyon Lake · Roper Lake
The lakes of the grassland and oak country south and east of Tucson, Patagonia in its state park near Nogales, Pena Blanca close to the border, Parker Canyon in the Canelo Hills near Sierra Vista and Roper Lake by Safford, stocked with trout in the cool months beside their bass, crappie and sunfish.
Who reports here. Game and Fish's report of October 30 found the three lakes in the far south all very low, and no report followed through the winter, though rainbows went into the Sierra Vista lake as late as February 23.
Engine outlook
- Best: Tue, Nov 10, A+13 good hours66F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 13h
Yuma and the lower Colorado
Colorado River at Yuma · Martinez Lake · Mittry Lake · Imperial Reservoir
The lowest reach of the Colorado in Arizona, the backwater lakes above Imperial Dam, Martinez and Mittry, and the river on past Yuma, warm desert water for bass, catfish, crappie and bluegill on the California line. An Arizona license covers the river and its lakes from shore or boat.
Who reports here. No dated winter report could be found for the river or its lakes.
Engine outlook
- Best: Tue, Nov 10, A+12 good hours70F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 12h
The rules from November to February
What changed this time
- On Lake Mead and Lake Mohave striped bass are unlimited and the catfish limit is 25, approved on January 16, 2026, to match Nevada.
- The 2027-28 regulations take effect on January 1, 2027. The proposals published for comment in June 2026 changed only named waters, among them Maricopa Lake, four Tucson community lakes, Lee Valley Lake and Creek, Cluff Ranch Pond 3 and spearfishing on Lake Powell; the Commission's final decision was not found when this was read.
Read on October 20, 2026, from the Arizona Game and Fish Department (its 2025-26 fishing regulations, its license pages, its releases on the Lake Mead and Lake Mohave limits and the 2027-28 proposals, and its notice of the eagle closures).
Licenses, and which state's rules apply
- A license is needed at 10 and older; children under 10 fish free. A license is good for one year from the day it is bought, and every fishing license covers trout and fishing two poles at once. A general fishing license is $37 for residents and $55 for nonresidents; a combination hunt and fish license $57 or $160; a youth combination license, ages 10 to 17, $5; and a short-term combination license $15 a day for residents and $20 for nonresidents.
- An Arizona license covers the Colorado River and its lakes on the California and Nevada borders, Lake Mead, Lake Mohave and Lake Havasu among them, from shore or boat; the old Colorado River stamps are gone. No Utah stamp is needed to fish Lake Powell on an Arizona license.
Bait, gear and fish you cannot keep
- Never more than two lines at once. Angling means one line with up to two hooks, or one lure, or up to two flies or lures, and a line must be attended. Bows, crossbows, spears, gigs, snares and snagging take only carp, buffalofish, mullet, tilapia, goldfish and shad, unless a water's own rules say otherwise.
Lakes, ponds and rivers
- Statewide daily limits, with many waters set differently: four trout, six bass, ten striped bass, six walleye and ten catfish; crappie, sunfish and northern pike unlimited, a pike killed or released at once; one grass carp of at least 30 inches; roundtail chub catch and release. Possession is twice the daily limit. Community Fishing Program waters allow four catfish and four trout a day on lakes and two on ponds, and two bass of at least 13 inches on lakes, one on ponds. On Lake Mead and Lake Mohave striped bass are unlimited and the catfish limit is 25. These rules run through December 31, and the proposals for the next booklet change only named waters.
- Bald eagle nesting closes parts of several waters through the winter, set by the land managers and announced by Game and Fish each December. Last winter stretches of the Verde and Salt rivers were closed to entry from December 1 to June 30, floating through allowed; the Tonto Creek inlet to Roosevelt Lake was closed within 1,000 feet of the nest on land and 300 feet on water; and part of Lake Pleasant's Lower Agua Fria Arm was closed from December 15 to June 15.
Read on these agency pages: AZGFD: 2025 & 2026 Arizona Fishing Regulations (PDF, revised January 30, 2026), AZGFD: New bag limits for lakes Mead and Mohave (February 9, 2026), AZGFD: Input sought on proposed changes to Fishing Regulations (June 24, 2026), AZGFD: Closures benefit eagles during breeding season (December 2, 2025).
The season at a glance
What these months usually do
Each lake's own seasonal curve, the one the engine scores the lake on: what these dates usually do, modeled rather than measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Lake | 47F | 40F | 37F | 37F | 38F |
| Knoll Lake | 50F | 41F | 39F | 39F | 41F |
| Lake Havasu | 70F | 60F | 53F | 56F | 61F |
| Lake Mohave | 68F | 58F | 51F | 53F | 58F |
| Lake Pleasant | 70F | 61F | 54F | 55F | 58F |
| Lake Powell | 63F | 55F | 52F | 48F | 50F |
| Lynx Lake | 57F | 47F | 42F | 42F | 46F |
| Martinez Lake | 72F | 62F | 56F | 58F | 63F |
| Patagonia Lake | 65F | 56F | 51F | 52F | 55F |
| Upper Lake Mary | 54F | 45F | 40F | 40F | 43F |
Each river's own gauge: its average for these dates across the years it has recorded, measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado River at Lees FerryCOLORADO RIVER AT LEES FERRY, AZ, 1987 to 2026 | 54F | 53F | 50F | 47F | 47F |
The moon from November to February
| Month | New moon | Full moon |
|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | Mon, Nov 9 | Tue, Nov 24 |
| December 2026 | Tue, Dec 8 | Wed, Dec 23 |
| January 2027 | Thu, Jan 7 | Fri, Jan 22 |
| February 2027 | Sat, Feb 6 | Sat, Feb 20 |
The U.S. Naval Observatory's dates, on local time.
Daylight in each area from November to February
Worked out for one place in each area, on its own clock.
| Area | Shortest day | Earliest sunset | Latest sunrise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Powell and Lees Ferryat Lake Powell | 9h 37m, Dec 21 | 5:10pm, around Dec 6 | 7:41am, around Jan 6 |
| Lake Havasuat Lake Havasu | 9h 51m, Dec 21 | 5:28pm, around Dec 5 | 7:45am, around Jan 7 |
| The Phoenix lakes and the Saltat Lake Pleasant | 9h 54m, Dec 21 | 5:21pm, around Dec 5 | 7:36am, around Jan 7 |
| The White Mountains and the Rimat Big Lake | 9h 54m, Dec 21 | 5:10pm, around Dec 5 | 7:25am, around Jan 7 |
| Flagstaff and Williamsat Upper Lake Mary | 9h 48m, Dec 21 | 5:15pm, around Dec 5 | 7:36am, around Jan 6 |
| The Prescott lakesat Lynx Lake | 9h 50m, Dec 21 | 5:20pm, around Dec 5 | 7:38am, around Jan 7 |
| Payson and the Rim creeksat Knoll Lake | 9h 51m, Dec 21 | 5:15pm, around Dec 5 | 7:33am, around Jan 7 |
| Lake Mead and Lake Mohave, the Arizona sideat Lake Mohave | 9h 45m, Dec 21 | 5:27pm, around Dec 6 | 7:50am, around Jan 6 |
| Tucson and the southeastat Patagonia Lake | 10h 6m, Dec 21 | 5:21pm, around Dec 3 | 7:25am, around Jan 9 |
| Yuma and the lower Coloradoat Martinez Lake | 9h 58m, Dec 21 | 5:32pm, around Dec 4 | 7:43am, around Jan 8 |