Verde River in the Verde Valley: smallmouth bass, catfish and winter-stocked rainbows in a desert river
Discharge
1,700
cfs
34 min ago
Water temp
—
not measured here
Gage height
8.42
ft
Ideal flow
80-300 cfs
published range
Hatching now · October
Midge
PEAKBlue-Winged Olive
PEAKCaddis
ACTIVEAngler reports
Reports filed here are stamped with the gauge reading at the moment they are published, so the first one sets the record for what 1,700 cfs fished like.
Hatch chart
| Insect | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midge | January: peak | February: peak | March: peak | April: peak | May: on | June: off | July: off | August: off | September: on | October: peak | November: peak | December: peak |
| Blue-Winged Olive | January: off | February: off | March: peak | April: peak | May: on | June: off | July: off | August: off | September: on | October: peak | November: peak | December: off |
| Caddis | January: off | February: off | March: on | April: peak | May: peak | June: on | July: off | August: off | September: on | October: on | November: off | December: off |
| Pale Morning Dun | January: off | February: off | March: off | April: off | May: on | June: peak | July: on | August: off | September: off | October: off | November: off | December: off |
Not yet verified
No published hatch calendar was found for this water, so this chart has only been checked for biological consistency. Treat the timing as a starting point and file a report if you know better.
The water
The Verde rises from springs in the Big Chino Valley near Paulden and runs through a remote Prescott National Forest canyon to Clarkdale. It is a warmwater river from the start: the upper reach is smallmouth bass and native fish water, not trout water, and the canyon is reached on foot or by boat from a few forest access points.
The Verde Valley starts at Clarkdale, upstream of Cottonwood and Camp Verde. Tuzigoot Bridge, Dead Horse Ranch State Park and the Verde River Greenway State Natural Area in Cottonwood are the easy access points, with the park's lagoons and the river both receiving rainbow trout every other week from early November through late March. Outside those months it is bass, catfish and sunfish.
Downstream, Camp Verde's Black Bridge, White Bridge picnic site on Highway 260, Rockin' River Ranch State Park and Beasley Flat put anglers and paddlers on the river. Rockin' River lists largemouth, smallmouth and redeye bass, channel and flathead catfish, panfish and the occasional winter rainbow. Below Beasley Flat the river enters the Wild and Scenic reach toward Horseshoe Reservoir.
Smallmouth are the fish that hold the Verde Valley together from spring through fall, with largemouth in the slow water and channel and flathead catfish in the deep holes. Arizona sets no limit on bass or catfish in the upper Verde from Granite Creek to Horseshoe Dam.
Trout are a winter visitor only. Arizona Game and Fish stocks rainbows at Tuzigoot, Dead Horse Ranch and Camp Verde from November through March and the survivors are gone by the time the water warms in spring. There is no wild trout population in the Verde main stem.
The Verde supports roundtail chub, Sonora and desert suckers and other native species. Roundtail chub are catch and release only statewide and must be released immediately; live baitfish may not be transported to the Verde above the Tuzigoot Bridge. Treat every sucker and chub as protected.
The Verde has no closed season. Winter storms and spring snowmelt push the Camp Verde gauge into the hundreds or thousands of cfs, and from June through October it settles at a base flow of roughly 60 to 160 cfs that is easy to wade. No shop publishes a fishing flow target for the Verde, so this page compares the gauge to 80 to 300 cfs, the wadeable base-flow band in the USGS record.
An Arizona fishing license is required. The statewide trout limit is 6 and there is no limit on bass or catfish from Granite Creek to Horseshoe Dam; roundtail chub are catch and release. Confirm in the current Arizona Game and Fish Department regulations.
Facts checked against
The old copy called the Verde a desert trout river with wild rainbows and browns near Sedona and put the Greenway in Camp Verde and Clarkdale downstream of it: the Verde Valley is a warmwater smallmouth and catfish river with rainbows stocked only from November to March, the Greenway is at Cottonwood, and Clarkdale is upstream. Removed the brown trout section, the 8-14 inch average and the 'only free-flowing desert trout river' claim; added the AZGFD chub, bass and baitfish rules. Gauge 09506000 near Camp Verde confirmed. Ideal flow changed from 100-2,000 to 80-300 cfs, based on the USGS record.