Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data
Canyon Lake: SRP's reservoir behind Mormon Flat Dam on the Salt River, closed since Sept. 8, 2026, for a once-in-20-years dam drawdown.
Lake closed for dam work. Tonto National Forest closed Canyon Lake and all its ramps on 8 September 2026 while SRP lowers it about 54 feet for work on its dam, expected to take about 16 weeks from 16 September. No boats are allowed. No fishing report is published for the lake until it reopens. Source, read October 8, 2026.
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
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.
Live readings.
Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.
Latest readings
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.
The species that matter on Canyon Lake (AZ): seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. The top of this band is already stressful. In rivers fish mornings and evenings; in lakes WDFW notes rainbows turn sluggish and go deeper, so troll or suspend bait near the bottom.
Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.
Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
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 12 mph.
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 91 F, wind to 16 mph.
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 90 F, wind to 17 mph.
Arizona requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.
Arizona fishing license. AZGFD 2025-2026: crappie 15 a day; catfish 5 by bow and arrow, 10 by other legal methods; no fishing in the posted area below Horse Mesa Dam. AIS-listed water (quagga mussel, golden algae).
Closed to the public, ramps included, since Sept. 8, 2026, for SRP's drawdown (about 16 weeks from Sept. 16). In normal operation the lake is reached by State Route 88 (Apache Trail), and the marina rents boats.
Formed by Mormon Flat Dam (SRP, 1923-1926) on the Salt River, Tonto National Forest, Maricopa County, AZ. USGS has no gauge on the lake, so this page shows none.
Tonto National Forest closed Canyon Lake, including all boat ramps and access points, on Sept. 8, 2026. On Sept. 16 SRP began lowering the lake by about 54 feet to inspect and maintain the normally submerged parts of Mormon Flat and Horse Mesa dams, work done every 20 years (last in 2007 and 1987). SRP plans about four weeks of lowering, eight of work and four of refilling from Apache and Roosevelt lakes; boats are not allowed, the exposed lakebed is off limits, and State Route 88 stays open.
Mormon Flat Dam, a 224-foot concrete thin-arch dam built from 1923 to 1926, was the first of three hydroelectric dams SRP built on the lower Salt River, and it forms Canyon Lake about 45 minutes east of Phoenix. A pumped-storage unit added in 1971 keeps the lake level relatively constant in normal operation. The Canyon Lake Marina is run independently under a Forest Service permit.
SRP lists rainbow trout, several kinds of bass, channel catfish, bluegill, crappie and walleye. Two of AZGFD's inland hook-and-line state records came from Canyon Lake: a largemouth bass of 16 pounds 7.68 ounces (April 22, 1997) and a yellow bass of 2 pounds 2.56 ounces (Feb. 7, 2020), on the list updated Oct. 24, 2024.
AZGFD's 2025-2026 regulations set a daily limit of 15 crappie and allow bow-and-arrow fishing for catfish with a limit of 5 (10 by other legal methods). The posted area immediately below Horse Mesa Dam, at the head of the lake, is closed to fishing. Canyon Lake is on AZGFD's aquatic invasive species list for quagga mussels and golden algae, so boats that have been on it must follow AZGFD's AIS protocols.
Not during the 2026 drawdown: Tonto National Forest closed the lake and all ramps on Sept. 8, 2026, and SRP's schedule runs about 16 weeks from Sept. 16. Check SRP, the Forest Service or AZGFD for the reopening date.
No. SRP says boats will not be permitted while the level drops and normally deep hazards are exposed.
SRP says State Route 88 along the south shore stays open during the closure and refers travelers to ADOT for current road conditions.
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.
Pablo Ruiz QuinteroReadings 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.