Lake Havasu, AZ

[fishin58]

Heading down to Mesa, AZ March 9-16. Has anybody fished Lake Havasu? Looking at a charter fising trip, anybody have any recomendations? Stripers or Largies?

[SledNeck]

Thats during spring break isnt it?

oMG Lake Havasu is WILD that time of year.

[fishin58]

Hopefully just the front, I think we are goin to try and go there Thursday-Friday. Hopefully avoid the crowds. There is also a striper tourny that weekend, site says that it pulls in 20,000 anglers. DOH

[SledNeck]

There are many other bass lakes in Az. Might wanna look into them.

[fishin58]

Lake Pleasant is about 45 mins out of Mesa...might have to give that a whirl.

[SledNeck]

Do some reaserch and find out where the best bass fishing is that time of year. I heard that Lake alamo is pretty good for largemouth too.

[Ray Esboldt]

The upside...plenty of pontoons to skip a bait under.

[SledNeck]

YEP, I would definatley go to lake Havasu and just leave the rods at home. Its a great time. Maybe fish a different lake on a different day.

[Flooringuy]

Pleasant is a pretty good lake.Big bass and crappies. Havasu isn't to bad either. But considering spring break, I would go else where to fish.

I'm from AZ just moved back this year.

There's quite a few lakes around the metro area.

[TonkaBass]

i think I have heard that the columbia river in AZ is pretty good for smallies anyways

[Central Bassman]

Slednecks i was going to post the same thing you did in your first post!!! That would be a good time!!

[Prairiefire]

I fished Alamo and Havasu about that same time frame about 8 years ago. Alamo was slow for us, but supposedly is a lot better now. On Havasu there were a lot of boats running around but you could get away from the traffic. Actually the best fishing is in the really shallow bays that most boats cant get into. The largemouth and smallmouth are spawning and the water is ultra clear so the bed fishing can be really fun. My dad was down there last year and he went to a tournament weigh in; the pros he talked to said the lake is loaded with fish right now. The striper fishing could be hit or miss that time depending on weather, it was slow when we were there beacause the bigger fish were up the river spawning or staging. I think you'll enjoy it down there and the clubs can offer some different sport in the evenings. It was mostly California girls on spring break when we were there.

[KMR85]

Fishin58, I have been to Saguaro Lake which is not too far from Mesa. It's an hour drive or so, but I have not fished it. My grandparents have a place in Mesa and we have gone to the lake when visiting them. One of the marina owners had this ~10+ pound largemouth that would hang out around one of his docks. I never saw it but my uncle did; the marina owner/worker would hold a minnow just off the surface of the water and that big largemouth would come up and eat it out of his hand. It was either Saguaro Lake or Canyon Lake as those are the only lakes we have gone to. I think Saguaro is an alright bass lake. It might be worth looking into.

[Tim_Anderson]

I fished Havasu a few years back in March. Did most of my fishing from shore. Did manage to catch some really nice bass, both large and smallmouth. They were pre-spawn. Also caught some nice stripers as well. A good area to try is around the "London Bridge" replica. Also, if you cross the bridge and go out onto the peninsula, there is a fishing pier out there. That's where I got the stripers, both day and night. Pay special attention to the baitfish...all the bass really key on the shad down there. Bring some snagging hooks, and catch your own and cast them out immediately. Watch out for Loons and grebes! Good luck.

[fishin58]

Awesome, thank you all for the info, I might just do that from shore. We are goin for a little nightlife, but the wife would prefer me not too pursue the big game at night! MIght have to pack a couple rods in the golf bag now. I had thought about renting or charter. Renting is crazy on prices I think. Charter is around 250-400 for a day plus they supply the rods etc and the boat and put you on fish. But if there is fish to be caught from shore, I will prolly do that.

[fishin58]

Here is the Report, we did not make it up to Havasu. I did however rent a boat and went out to Saguaro lake. Which is about a 1/2 hour outside of Mesa. It is a deep river/resevoir system.

The fishing was tough and I was out there pretty much blind. But it was nice to be on the water! I did not catch a fish....I talked to an older couple who were from Quebec, they have not had to much success on Saguaro either. They had fished it about a dozen times this year.

They had ran into another boat that had been drop-shotting and had done quite well.

The Canucks managed about a 3 pounder while I was talking with them. I have never heard a 70 year old man swear at his wife to get the net!! He was pretty excited!! The wife did not think it was too funny, mine or his!

They were drop shotting right next to the reeds in Bass Cove. I enjoyed my time on the water and I would do it again, now that I have a game plan. I rented a little aluminum boat with a 9 horse for about 120 bucks for the day.