Lake Pleasant and Reports
Thursday, February 2nd, 2023
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Report: At Lake Pleasant (report courtesy of Sportsman's Warehouse), water temperatures are around 51 degrees. The main body of the lake reports have been very good for bass and crappie. Stripers are busting shad. Bass are shallow, currently chasing baitfish and poppers. Try some baitfish imitations on intermediate line. The catfish bite has also continued to remain strong as well, hitting on night crawlers and stink baits. If you're looking to do more active fishing then Senkos, try drop shots and skirted jigs for the bass. As for the crappie, the bite has started to pick up with anglers having the best success on 2-inch grubs bounced off the bottom.
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2015
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Report: From AZGFD
LAKE PLEASANT – (Lake elevation 1,676 feet, 65 % full)
Striper fishing has slowed. Try anchovies on dropshots, fishing 15-60 feet deep. Water temperature before this week’s storms was around 55 degrees. Spoons and swimbaits also can be effective.
Dec. 22 report from Warren Risberg:
Hello, anglers: Happy Holidays!
As a full time guide exclusively at Lake Pleasant I have fished December alone every other day, just about averaging 14 days thus far for this month. I can tell you from experience you do not need anything fancy to catch striped bass, channel cats, carp, flatheads and white bass other than frozen cut anchovies!
Keep your rigs simple with a hook and a split shot about 18 inches from the hook and 9-10-pound fluorocarbon fishing line. Castle Creek is consistent with current water temps at 57.5 today (Dec. 22) and dropping. Boaters pick spots in Castle Creek and anchor and work different depths, and all you shore fishermen walk as far north into Castle Creek as you’re willing to go and use one bait on the bottom and on another, use a slip bobber and set the bait off the bottom. Maximize your chances!
Fishing today in Castle Creek if you were willing to layer up was fantastic as I alone caught a good handful of nice striped bass the 4-5-pound range.
Monday, November 30th, 2015
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Report: From AZGFD
LAKE PLEASANT – (Lake elevation 1,669 feet, 65 % full)
Nov. 30 report from Barry Worman of the Arizona Striper Fishing Facebook page:
I went fishing again last weekend. Me and many other members from Arizona Striper Fishing have been nailing huge striper in the current fall conditions. The north end of the lake keeps producing good fishing. The fish can be found in water from 2-35 feet deep with a lot of fish suspended about 21-30 feet down. The striper and white bass are chasing shad the first few hours at sunrise and last 2 hours before sunset. The Acosta family shared these awesome big striper that they caught casting with Alabama Rigs using hollow belly swim baits from AZ custom baits. The paddle tail swimbaits, Kastmaster spoons, and jigging spoons have been very successful. The last few trips we have been catching nice 2-3 pound largemouths also in the mix. Night fishing is still possible but I only saw one boat on the water once the sun went down. The temps are making it a little cold now to be night fishing but it is still possible if you’re willing to tough the conditions.
Friday, November 27th, 2015
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Report: From AZGFD
Lake Pleasant
Jim N.: While fishing Lake Pleasant on Monday we found striper action in the Agua Fria, catching 1-3-pound fish on live bait, then the Castle Creek area at night catching 2-6-pound channel cats on homemade stinkbaits ,then a bonus fish: a 40-pound flathead catfish on live bait with a bright moon overhead. Good luck fishermen. Jim, Jimmy, Tyler, Team AZ.
Friday, September 4th, 2015
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Report: From AZGFD
Tim G: I had a great time last evening on Lake Pleasant. A novice fisherman, I took my little boat out to an area just south of the main boat ramp. At dusk the strippers were breaking water chasing bait fish. I cast my surface popper just beyond the splashes and reeled into it. Although I only caught four medium strippers, in that hour at sunset I had a RIOT. So that's what it's all about. You don't have to have the big boat and top gear to have a great time. Just GO!
Friday, August 21st, 2015
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Report: From AZGFD
The nighttime striper bite at Lake Pleasant still is one of the best bets going. Take anchovies, set out a high-quality submersible light, drop some ‘chovies deep (80-plus feet), and wait for the “zing.” We're at the tail end of the new moon phase (quarter moon Aug. 22) and using submersible lights at night will still be effective
Saturday, August 15th, 2015
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Report: Lake Pleasant
Jim N.: Fishing at Lake Pleasant is great, while fishing the mouth of Humbug cove at 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. we boated top-water white bass, striped bass, largemouth to 2 pounds -- considering the water temp of 83 degrees and that species like whites and stripes can lose weight in such temps makes them feed heavily but for shorter periods making them harder to find for most anglers.
We followed the stripers out of the cove, saw largemouth in the water by rock piles where stripers and whites were. Stripers went deep, bass stayed shallow by islands west side of Humbug/main bay. We used the Keitech swim minnow with the painted minnowhead. We boated bass on drop-shot with my son getting a nice channel too.
My son and I can hardly wait for the cooler fall temps and dangerous storm season to pass.
Friday, August 7th, 2015
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Report: From AZGFD Release
Lake Pleasant
Rob C. of Goodyear: Some friends and I have gone night fishing for stripers the last three Fridays. We've had some pretty good luck each time catching a lot of fish in the 12-15-inch range, and some in the 20-23-inch range using anchovies under a light in the northern end of the lake. Bigger fish tend to be around 40-50 feet deep, but it’s hard to get down that far because the little runts keep intercepting the bait at about 30 feet. It takes a while to attract the shad, but once they move in the big fish aren't far behind. Last week was a 37-fish night. Looking forward to going out again this Friday!
Tuesday, June 9th, 2015
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Report: June 9 report from Derrick Franks:
“Lake Pleasant fishing report by Striper Snatcher Guide Service. The lake is currently 89 percent full with a water temperature of 80 degrees. Every logistical component I monitor daily is in perfect alignment right now and will stay that way for a couple more weeks. I'm seeing several thousand striped bass and white bass in the areas I fish. When -- not where -- is the deciding factor of a successful catch.
Focus on shade lines. Find a west bank in the evening that provides shade and you will see shad and striper fry everywhere. With that said, it is extremely important to recognize the size and color of the bait in the water. I am currently using a 2-inch bait to emulate striper fry and a 4-inch striped bass pattern Rat-L-Trap to emulate the striped bass fry. The white bass are back like I've never seen before.
I'm seeing schools of just white bass in certain areas of the lake. Night fishing is also a productive way of catching striped bass right now. Just to be different, I am using a double rigged swimbait setup and catching two fish at a time all night. For more information on Lake Pleasant intelligence, please visit my website at www.stripersnatcher.com”
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2015
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Report: June 3 report from Warren Risberg of Www.reeleminadventures.com:
“Hello Anglers/Fisherman,
It seems most of the fisherman only have weekends to tackle the lake! But if you can find time to hit it during the week by 6 p.m. to sunset you can find some very fun shad boils near "reef buoys." I have been finding the boils in shallow water 15 feet deep and toward the shoreline. Keep a look-out for bushes and points, which produce good ambush spots for the fish. Be patient and watch the water consistently between those times. Even when you land a fish, keep an eye on the water to see where the boils/shad are moving! White or pearl colored swim baits are my bait of choice, as well as the clear Zara Spook Jr.
Right now the underwater green and white lights have been effective by attracting an abundance of fry, shad and baby stripers as bait fish. This is what I have been seeing on my lights within the past two weeks of consistent sunset/night fishing. Still able to catch large numbers of nice size striper bass and channel cats on cut bait frozen anchovies in around 50 feet of water. There is a plentiful supply of creatures in the shallows at night and as you know the fish are up there too eating those live baits!
Good luck, anglers!”
Lake levels are predicted to fall until August. -
Report: June 3 report from Warren Risberg of Www.reeleminadventures.com:
“Hello Anglers/Fisherman,
It seems most of the fisherman only have weekends to tackle the lake! But if you can find time to hit it during the week by 6 p.m. to sunset you can find some very fun shad boils near "reef buoys." I have been finding the boils in shallow water 15 feet deep and toward the shoreline. Keep a look-out for bushes and points, which produce good ambush spots for the fish. Be patient and watch the water consistently between those times. Even when you land a fish, keep an eye on the water to see where the boils/shad are moving! White or pearl colored swim baits are my bait of choice, as well as the clear Zara Spook Jr.
Right now the underwater green and white lights have been effective by attracting an abundance of fry, shad and baby stripers as bait fish. This is what I have been seeing on my lights within the past two weeks of consistent sunset/night fishing. Still able to catch large numbers of nice size striper bass and channel cats on cut bait frozen anchovies in around 50 feet of water. There is a plentiful supply of creatures in the shallows at night and as you know the fish are up there too eating those live baits!
Sunday, December 23rd, 2007
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Water Temp: 54-57
Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)
Report: Fished Lake Pleasant for the first time since moving out from CA this past summer on 12/23/07. On the water from 7:00am - 2:30pm out of the Red Ranger (think I saw Delw's Gambler as I was pulling out looking at his catfish photo). Was focusing primiarly on Largemouth but not much to talk about.
Started out on a main lake island trying to see what stage the fish were in (depth, structure, etc). Got 2 hits on a shakey head worm with a 10" straight tail worm but found they were biting the tail 4"-5" from the back (probably too big of a worm). Something left over from Clear Lake that works great but probably too agressive for Pleasant. Hooked 1 fish on an LV-500 but came off before I could figure out what species. Went into Castle Creek and had 1 small largemouth on a bomber 6a along with 6 either white bass or small stripers. No takers on the drop shot or jig. Didn't see much activity on the depth finder other than a fish here and there in about 13-15 feet and every so often something in 40-50 feet. All bites came shallow for me today (15' or less). Water temps were 54-57 with some nice stain back in Castle Creek.
City: Scottsdale, Az
Saturday, August 25th, 2007
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Water Temp: 85.5
Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)
Report: Started out on Pleasant at safelight and fished until 7:30 AM. Water temps 85.5 degrees. I caught 5 fish on a buzzbait and lost that many on short strikes- yes I had a stinger hook on too!
City: GlendaleTips: Keep the buzzbait tight to the shoreline and have a sloooow retrieve, just chug it along.
Saturday, August 11th, 2007
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Water Temp: 85
Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)
Report: Hit pleasant at safelight with my buddy Martin. Started with buzzbaits and had to work hard for two decent fish, 3 pounds each. Lots of shad around and fish breaking the surface. Switcheed to whatever would land those busting fish in the boat. I used a Norman little 'N in Baby Bass and I caught two small stripers, mystery solved on the busting fish.
Headed off to the river and picked up six more fish on the old dropshot. Bold Bluegill, summer shad, and morning dawn w/ chart tip put them in the boat. I was using a 1/4 oz drop shot weight on a 18" leader, nose hooked the worm.
Off the water by 9:30 AM. water temps were 85+ degrees in the areas that we were fishing.
Same crazies skiing in the no ski zone in the river. One water skier came by so close I could have cleaned the crap out of his ears with my rod tip. Where's BC when you need him!! I want to be like Barney Fife, all I want is one bullet, that's all! I'll make the most of it.......
tightlines...
City: Glendale
Thursday, May 3rd, 2007
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Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)
Report: Float tubed South Bay for 5 hours, Picked up 20+ , All fish were post spawn in 15-20 ft. Drop shotted Aarons Magic Roboworms. All fish went between 1 - 2.5 lbs.
City: GoodyearTips: Drop shot leader was roughly 6 inches.
Saturday, January 1st, 2005
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Water Temp: 57
Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)
Report: Didn't have much luck on the deep points, but found smaller fish biting in the back of coves all day in 2-10 ft of water. Happy to catch 20 - 25 1 pounders then a few bigger. Good way to start out the new year.
City: Cottonwood
Saturday, February 22nd, 2003
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Water Temp: 55
Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)
Report: ished under lights at night.Caught75 white bass,1 crappie,3LM,3 strippers,1 channel,ish suspended at 20 t,water rising till spring.
City: phoenix azTips: call me with questions
Wednesday, January 1st, 2003
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Water Temp: 53.5
Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)
Report: Begining to ill ater 85' draw down, and is 27' lower than last year same time. Tough ishing now. North end lake starting to grow alge, main lake still clear with new colorado river water pumping in.
Tips: Fish being caught are real shallow 1-4' (reaction baits), or 50'deep (drop shot).
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