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Lake Pleasant Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Phoenix's deep blue playground: stripers, white bass schools and desert-clear water.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
5 cfs
Air / High
96 / 99 F
Wind
S 10 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 09512800, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 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.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Lake Pleasant serves up more heat: the productive hours are the dim ones. The river is running 5 cfs, on the rise. Today brings clear skies, wind S around 10 mph, steady pressure near 1009 hPa and a high of 99. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassGood

Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassFair

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Similar at 98 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from AGUA FRIA RIVER NEAR ROCK SPRINGS, AZ.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 09512800.

22611005 cfs08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp96 F
High / Low99 / 80 F
WindS 10-17 mph
Pressure1009.2 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain7% cloud, 7%
Sunrise / Sunset06:05 / 18:51
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Overcast, 99/80 F, wind 21 mph, rain 7%

Fair or better. A 21 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

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

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall

The reservoir heavyweight. Follows shad and herring schools in open water year-round. Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

When to come: the Lake Pleasant 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
Striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 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 Lake Pleasant today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 102 F, wind to 12 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 100 F, wind to 13 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 96 F, wind to 8 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

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

No striper limit; standard AZ bass rules. Confirm with AZGFD.

Access

Two marina ramps plus north-side county park; night fishing popular and legal.

About this water

~10,000 acres (CAP storage) on the Agua Fria, Maricopa County, AZ. Pleasant Harbor and county park access.

Fishing Lake Pleasant: the full guide

The Valley's striper lake

Pleasant is the desert's deep one: stripers reproduce here, schooling with white bass over 100-foot water, largemouth hold the tumbled rock, and night fishing under lights beats the summer furnace. Winter turns the lake calm, clear and underrated.

Stripers in the desert

Pleasant's stripers (with white bass alongside) school the main basin year-round: winter jigging over 60-100 ft, spring topwater at dawn near the islands, summer nights under submerged lights. The CAP canal turnover keeps forage and oxygen cycling: the desert's most reliable pelagic fishery.

The largemouth edge

Tumbled boulders, flooded palo verde and the Agua Fria arm hold quality largemouth: reaction baits when wind pushes, finesse when the sun owns the water. February pre-spawn on the north banks starts Arizona's bass year.

Two-story desert water

Pleasant runs a split personality: striped bass fill the open water (dawn boils in summer, downlines at 40-80 ft midday) while largemouth work the cactus-lined coves. The CAP canal inflow keeps the lake cooler and deeper than Phoenix's other reservoirs: white bass and stripers school against the current when pumps run. Night fishing under lights beats the brutal summer days: anchovies down 30 ft fill coolers with stripers by midnight.

Common questions

Why does Pleasant's level yo-yo daily?

It is Central Arizona Project storage: canal water pumps in and out on demand cycles. The fish adapt; anglers watch the trend, not the hour.

When do Lake Pleasant's stripers boil?

May-September at dawn: schools push shad to the surface anywhere from the dam to Humbug. Keep a topwater or spoon rigged and run to splashes: windows last minutes.

Is fishing good at Lake Pleasant right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Bartlett Lake37 miLower Salt River44 miSaguaro Lake48 miSalt River48 miVerde River53 miCanyon Lake (AZ)54 mi
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