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Bartlett Lake Fishing Report

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

The Verde's desert basin: saguaro-framed bass water an hour from Phoenix, with spring wildflower banks and a flathead night culture.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
68 / 75 F
Wind
NNW 8 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.

Bartlett Lake sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 8 mph, steady pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 75. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:05 AM-11:05 AM and 9:33 PM-11:33 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.

CrappieFair

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

White bassFair

Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

Tomorrow: Similar at 74 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 temp68 F
High / Low75 / 60 F
WindNNW 8-9 mph
Pressure1011.9 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:38 / 17:43
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 Bartlett Lake this week

The best day on Bartlett 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
9:05 AM-11:05 AM and 9:33 PM-11:33 PM
Minor period
3:28 AM-4:28 AM
Sun
06:38 to 17:43
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 9 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Bartlett 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.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: the spring run up the tributaries, then summer surface schools

A silvery temperate bass of rivers and large reservoirs, also called sand bass, that schools in open water after shad and runs up tributaries to spawn in early spring. Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

When to come: the Bartlett 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)
White bass
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 Bartlett Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 75 F, wind to 9 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 79 F, wind to 17 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 85 F, wind to 15 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

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 license. Bass 6/day standard: check AZGFD. Tonto daily/annual pass required for access.

Access

Bartlett Flat mega-ramp, Rattlesnake Cove, marina services; shoreline camping zones.

About this water

2,815 acres on the Verde River, Maricopa County, AZ. Phoenix's quieter desert bass lake.

Fishing Bartlett Lake: the full guide

The Verde alternative

Bartlett pools the Verde River behind the Mazatzals: less famous than the Salt-chain lakes but often better fishing: stained-to-clear water, flooded mesquite pockets, and a largemouth population that rides the river's boom-bust inflows. Wet winters paint the banks with poppies and detonate the spawn; drought years concentrate fish on the river channel's rock.

Reading the desert seasons

Spring is the show: bass flood the brushy coves (spinnerbaits, flukes in the flooded green), crappie stack the standing timber up the river arm, and the wildflower crowds share ramps with tournament trailers. Summer flips it nocturnal: topwater at dawn, then deep crank-and-worm on the channel swings: or join the flathead soakers after dark.

Flatheads in the dark

Bartlett runs one of Arizona's best flathead programs: live bluegill soaked on the river-channel bends and rocky points produces 30-plus-pound fish through the hot months. The night culture is its own society: lanterns on the beaches, rods in holders, patience by the cooler.

Practicalities of the basin

A Tonto Pass covers parking; ramps at Bartlett Flat and the marina handle traffic. The lake level swings with Verde management: check SRP elevations: low water exposes the river channel's structure map and concentrates everything. Watch for afternoon monsoon blows July-September: the basin funnels wind fast.

Common questions

Is Bartlett better than the Salt River lakes?

Different: fewer crowds, stronger flathead culture, and spring bass fishing that rivals anything on the Salt chain in good water years. Locals split loyalties by season.

When is the Bartlett crappie bite?

February-April in the river arm's flooded timber: minnows and jigs at 8-15 ft. High-inflow springs produce the banner years: watch the Verde flows.

Is fishing good at Bartlett 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

Saguaro Lake21 miSalt River21 miCanyon Lake (AZ)25 miApache Lake26 miRoosevelt Lake32 miLake Pleasant37 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 33.8550, -111.6330 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.
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 guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be 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.