HookedFishing

Woods Canyon Lake

Mogollon Rim, Arizona: a stocked 55-acre trout lake in the ponderosa above Payson

Surface Area
55 acres
Max Depth
About 40 ft
Elevation
About 7,500 ft
Access
Roads open early April
Prime Season
May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep

Overview

Woods Canyon Lake is a 55-acre lake that the Arizona Game and Fish Department built for recreation on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, close to the edge of the Mogollon Rim about 30 miles east of Payson. At roughly 7,500 feet it sits in ponderosa pine well above the desert heat, which is why Phoenix anglers fill it on summer weekends. From Highway 260 you drive about four miles west on paved Forest Road 300, the Rim Road, then a mile north on Forest Road 105 to the lake; those roads are gated at the highway when snow closes them, generally from December into early April, so the fishing calendar is set by the plow, not the ice. AZGFD lists rainbow trout, tiger trout and green sunfish, with browns caught as well, and stocks rainbows and tigers from April into September. The lake is canyon-bound and deep for its size, about 40 feet, and it stratifies in summer, so once it gets hot the trout hold at 10 to 20 feet and there is no oxygen below that. AZGFD's one lake-specific piece of advice is that the water is loaded with crayfish and that crayfish imitations fished in spring and fall take the bigger trout; woolly buggers in brown and olive do that job for a fly rod, and small nymphs and dry flies fill in on cooler mornings and evenings. Motors are limited to a single electric, which keeps the water quiet for float tubes and kayaks, and there is a ramp and campgrounds nearby. Willow Springs Lake, Bear Canyon Lake and Chevelon Canyon Lake are the other Rim lakes within a short drive.

Hatching now · October

Active, none at peak

  • Chironomid/Midge

    ACTIVE
    • Black Chironomid #14-16
    • Red Chironomid #14-16
    • Zebra Midge #14-18

  • Leech

    ACTIVE
    • Woolly Bugger #6-8 (olive/black)
    • Marabou Leech #6-8

  • Crayfish

    ACTIVE
    • Clouser Crayfish #6-8
    • Near Nuff Crayfish #8
    • Rubber-leg Woolly Bugger (brown) #6

Angler reports

No reports on Woods Canyon Lake yet

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Hatch chart

Twelve months on Woods Canyon Lake

Month-by-month insect activity for Woods Canyon Lake
InsectJFMAMJJASOND
Chironomid/MidgeJanuary: absentFebruary: absentMarch: absentApril: absentMay: peakJune: peakJuly: activeAugust: activeSeptember: peakOctober: activeNovember: absentDecember: absent
CallibaetisJanuary: absentFebruary: absentMarch: absentApril: absentMay: activeJune: peakJuly: peakAugust: peakSeptember: activeOctober: absentNovember: absentDecember: absent
DamselflyJanuary: absentFebruary: absentMarch: absentApril: absentMay: absentJune: activeJuly: peakAugust: peakSeptember: activeOctober: absentNovember: absentDecember: absent
LeechJanuary: absentFebruary: absentMarch: absentApril: absentMay: activeJune: peakJuly: peakAugust: peakSeptember: peakOctober: activeNovember: absentDecember: absent
CrayfishJanuary: absentFebruary: absentMarch: absentApril: activeMay: peakJune: activeJuly: activeAugust: activeSeptember: peakOctober: activeNovember: absentDecember: absent
PeakActiveAbsent

Timing checked against

AZGFD confirms a stocked rainbow/tiger trout lake at 7,500 ft with a roughly April-November access season (arizona-leisure.com: best May-September), which matches our May-October window. No Woods Canyon-specific midge, Callibaetis, damselfly or leech timing source was found, so those rows are unchanged; the one lake-specific food source the agency names is crayfish.

How to fish it

Techniques

  • Float Tube

  • Shore Fishing

  • Small Boat

Season and regulations

Woods Canyon Lake is open to fishing year-round under Arizona statewide rules, but the access roads are closed by snow from roughly December to early April, so the practical season runs April through November. AZGFD's Mogollon Rim fishing guide gives the daily bag limit as 4 trout in any combination with unlimited sunfish, and restricts boat motors to a single electric motor.

Check the current Arizona Game and Fish Department regulations and stocking schedule before you go, since limits and stocking dates change with water and hatchery conditions, and confirm road and fire-restriction status with the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.

Facts checked against

Corrected the species list to add tiger trout and green sunfish, removed the unsourced 12 to 16 inch average, the 110 and 75 degree temperature claims, the three-hour drive and the 'finest in Arizona' framing, and replaced the 45-foot depth and 7,510-foot elevation with the roughly 40 feet and 7,500 feet given by the sources. Added the crayfish forage AZGFD highlights, the summer stratification, the electric-motor rule and the December to early April road closure. Confirmed the 55 acres, Apache-Sitgreaves location and Rim access via Forest Roads 300 and 105.