Share your catch
US

Woods Canyon Lake Fishing Report

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

The Rim's summer refuge: a spruce-lined trout pond at 7,500 feet where Phoenix escapes July and rainbows rise at dusk.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~47 F est.
Air / High
50 / 51 F
Wind
SSW 14 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.

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

Woods Canyon Lake asks for patience today: short windows, precise presentations. Today brings clear skies, wind SSW around 14 mph, rising pressure near 1013 hPa and a high of 51. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:02 AM-11:02 AM and 9:30 PM-11:30 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Tomorrow: Similar at 48 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 rainbow trout 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.

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp50 F
High / Low51 / 39 F
WindSSW 14-22 mph
Pressure1013.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain13% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset06:36 / 17:39
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Woods Canyon Lake this week

The best day on Woods Canyon Lake this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” fair at 3/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:02 AM-11:02 AM and 9:30 PM-11:30 PM
Minor period
3:25 AM-4:25 AM
Sun
06:36 to 17:39
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 15 mph
Rain chance
2%

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

Species guide

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

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

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. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

When to come: the Woods Canyon 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
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 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 Woods Canyon Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 25 mph gusts make boat control the real battle. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 55 F, wind to 25 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 59 F, wind to 20 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 59 F, wind to 14 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. Trout 6/day standard stocked rules: check AZGFD. No gas motors; day-use fees.

Access

Main day-use ramp and store (rentals), shoreline access throughout; Rocky Point picnic side.

About this water

55 acres at 7,500 ft on the Mogollon Rim, Coconino County, AZ. Phoenix's little cold-water escape.

Fishing Woods Canyon Lake: the full guide

The Rim lake ritual

Woods Canyon sits atop the Mogollon Rim: 55 acres of cold green water in the pines, 7,500 feet above the desert's heat. Summer weekends bring the Phoenix exodus: campgrounds full, shoreline dotted: and the little lake absorbs it with weekly rainbow stockings and a no-gas-motors calm that keeps the experience gentle.

Simple trout, honest methods

The program is classic put-and-take: shoreline bait soaking (worms and salmon eggs off the bottom), small spinners along the dam's rocks, and fly-and-bubble rigs at dusk when rises dimple the coves. Holdover fish and the odd brown reward early season and October: ice-out weeks fish best of all.

Beyond the stocking truck

Wild brook trout persist in the inlet's shadows, crayfish carpet the bottom (a kids' side-fishery all its own), and the store rents jons and canoes for trolling cowbells at 1 mph: the whole lake experience runs family-speed. Elk bugle in the September dusk: the Rim's amenities exceed the fishing.

Rim practicalities

The lake sits at the end of a paved forest road off 260: day-use fills by 9 AM summer weekends (arrive at dawn like the locals): and the season effectively runs April-November: snow closes the road most winters. The neighboring Rim lakes (Willow Springs, Bear Canyon) spread the crowd: a three-lake morning is the connoisseur's loop.

Common questions

When is Woods Canyon Lake stocked?

Weekly through the warm season (April-September typically): AZGFD posts the schedule. Ice-out and October's quiet fish best for holdovers.

Can you use a boat on Woods Canyon?

Electric or paddle only: the store rents jons and canoes. Trolling cowbells-and-worm at walking speed remains the lake's most productive method.

Is fishing good at Woods Canyon Lake 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

Roosevelt Lake46 miVerde River49 miFool Hollow Lake50 miBartlett Lake52 miShow Low Lake54 miApache Lake56 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 34.3350, -110.9400 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.