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Apache Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The Salt River reservoir behind Horse Mesa Dam in the Tonto National Forest, with bass, walleye, yellow bass and trout, reached by the Apache Trail.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
78 / 79 F
Wind
W 10 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Apache Lake offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. Today brings clear skies, wind W around 10 mph, steady pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 79. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:04 AM-11:04 AM and 9:32 PM-11:32 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassGood

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

Smallmouth bassGood

Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

WalleyeGood

Summer pattern: nightcrawlers and leeches on rigs or jigs near bottom, trolled crankbaits to find scattered fish, and the shallows after dark in clear lakes.

CrappieFair

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Tomorrow: Similar at 76 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Arizona requires a fishing licence from age 10, from $37.00 for residents. What a Arizona licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with AZGFD before you keep anything. The season dates for Arizona, read off the agency, are on the Arizona seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp78 F
High / Low79 / 61 F
WindW 10-13 mph
Pressure1011.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain7% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset06:36 / 17:41
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Apache Lake this week

The best day on Apache Lake this week looks like Tuesday Oct 27, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Tuesday, Oct 27 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:04 AM-11:04 AM and 9:32 PM-11:32 PM
Minor period
3:27 AM-4:27 AM
Sun
06:36 to 17:41
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 10 mph
Rain chance
1%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Apache Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Summer pattern: nightcrawlers and leeches on rigs or jigs near bottom, trolled crankbaits to find scattered fish, and the shallows after dark in clear lakes.

When to come: the Apache Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
Smallmouth bass
Walleye
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Apache Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 81 F, wind to 15 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 90 F, wind to 17 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 89 F, wind to 18 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Arizona requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Arizona fishing license; trout stamps and other special-use stamps are no longer required. Statewide limits apply unless AZGFD lists an exception. Bow fishing for catfish allowed (5 per day).

Access

Burnt Corral Recreation Site and Apache Lake Marina and Resort (SRP). Tow boats in from the east via SR 188 and SR 88; the Fish Creek Hill section west of the lake is limited to high-clearance 4x4s and UTVs without trailers (ADOT, Sept 2024).

About this water

An SRP reservoir on the Salt River formed by Horse Mesa Dam (1927), between Canyon and Roosevelt lakes in the Tonto National Forest, Arizona.

Fishing Apache Lake: the full guide

Horse Mesa Dam

Apache Lake is formed by Horse Mesa Dam, a 305-foot concrete thin-arch dam that SRP completed in 1927 between Mormon Flat and Roosevelt dams as part of a 1920s hydropower program; a pumped-storage unit was added in 1972. SRP describes the lake as a remote destination in the Tonto National Forest, known for boating, trout fishing and the canyon walls around it.

Fish and habitat

SRP lists channel and flathead catfish; largemouth, smallmouth, striped and yellow bass; bluegill; crappie; walleye; trout; and carp. AZGFD names Apache Lake among the places to catch smallmouth and yellow bass. In January 2026 more than 60 volunteers helped AZGFD sink more than 1,660 Christmas trees tied to cinder blocks at chosen spots in the lake to add cover.

Invasive species and advisories

Arizona lists Apache Lake as affected by quagga mussels and golden algae, so clean, drain and dry your boat before launching anywhere else. The state's site-specific consumption advisory puts Apache Lake largemouth bass in the orange category, meaning adults should limit how much they eat. Bow-and-arrow fishing for catfish is allowed here, with a limit of five.

Reaching the lake

SRP lists the Burnt Corral Recreation Site campground, an RV park and rooms at the Apache Lake Marina and Resort. SR 88, the Apache Trail, is a primitive dirt road between mileposts 220 and 229.2. When ADOT reopened the Fish Creek Hill section in September 2024, it limited it to high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles and UTVs with no trailers, and told drivers towing boats to the marina to enter SR 88 from the east at SR 188; check AZ511 for the current status.

Common questions

Can I tow a boat over the Apache Trail?

Not over Fish Creek Hill. ADOT limits that section to high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicles and UTVs without trailers and directs anyone towing to the marina to come in from SR 188 on the east.

What fish live in Apache Lake?

SRP lists catfish, largemouth, smallmouth, striped and yellow bass, bluegill, crappie, walleye, trout and carp.

Do I need a trout stamp?

No. Arizona dropped its special-use stamps, so a valid fishing or combination license covers trout.

Is fishing good at Apache Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Canyon Lake (AZ)8 miRoosevelt Lake13 miSaguaro Lake13 miSalt River15 miBartlett Lake26 miSan Carlos Lake54 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 33.5919, -111.3138 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.