Roosevelt Lake

[martinman]

Has anyone heard how Roosevelt is doing right now with cats. It has been a couple months since I have been down there. I am sure things have changed a lot since mid-June.

Martinman

[azcatman]

I've made two trips lately and did real good on the Salt end. 3 fish one trip and 6 the next. They were between 18 and 60+ pounds. All caught on carp. There are pictures in the gallery of our last trip titled one nights haul. Good luck if you decide to go. It will be a while before I can get back since I start hunting antelope Friday.

[martinman]

Azcatman,

Thanks for the reply. I got a couple questions for you then...how are you catching the carp? I haven't ever tried to catch them before. I have usually used bluegill and caught them with a cast net.

Also, what type of water were you fishing in..depth, lower or upper portions of the Salt. I am sure the upper sections are too shallow by now to use a boat.

I think I may still have to wait to go until it cools down some more also because a Flagstaff fisher is just not used to the weather down south. hehehe!!!

Martinman

[azcatman]

Martinman, we caught them on worms and corn up in the river. Also threw a cast net but did not catch many. We were in about 10' feet of water on a bend about midway from the mouth to the diversion dam. I don't know why this spot produces but it does. We stumbled across it purely by chance and I don't know if the fishing will hold up at it. We use a pontoon boat but sometimes I use my champion bass boat. Hard to beat a pontoon though. Just so much more room. Hey I know all about the heat. I live just down I-40 from you in Holbrook. This fall should provide some very good fishing opputunities. Good luck and tight lines.

Azcatman

[martinman]

Azcatman and all other catfish lovers,

I noticed that the October major moon cycles will be on the 3rd (new moon) and the 17th (full moon - lunar eclipse). As the temperatures will be getting down into the more comfortable zones, which of these two time periods do you think would be more productive. I have fished both with success as you build up to these two dates, but I was seeking others' opinions as well. I just want to catch some nice flatties.

Martinman

[azcatman]

I find the best time is when ever you can get away!!!! Really though I have done well on both a full and dark moon and also have been skunked on both, but my personal prefernce is fishing on a dark moon. My suggestion to you is go on both cycles and see what happens. Maybe we'll see each other since I am going to be down that way myself as much as possible for the next couple of months. Nothing better than a weekend of catfishing and quail hunting. Tends to wear you out some. Just not enough hours in a day to do it all!!!!! The crappie fishing can be awesome that time of year also.....azcatman

[martinman]

I am sorry that it took me so long to get back on things, but here is my latest scoop on Roosevelt. I went fishing about a week ago and did better than I have in a while. I ended up breaking my personal best on channel cats with a 15lber. I know that it doesn't sound like much, but it is a whole lot better than a 6lber.

I caught three really good sized channels...a lot better than the 2oz channels that I kept catching earlier this year.

The only negative things about this trip was that I caught two turtles and that I can't find the FLATHEADS!!!! I don't know what I am doing wrong. I thought I had pulled out all the stops, but evidently they didn't want to see me too bad. If anyone has any advice, I would gladly take it. Oh well, maybe next time.

Martinman

[azcatman]

Martinman, where were you fishing? I have not been there in a while but will be there next weekend for a few days.I will be doing a cast and blast trip since it is the quail opener. Hope to find a few crappie and catch a little bait for the flats. Probably fish the salt end for the flatheads.

[Matthew Cook]

Biggest channel we have ever caught was 6 1/2 pounds, but we have never been to the Salt before. i am hopping we can make it this weekend. that 15 pounder must have fought like a monster. i know the ones we catch on our bass rods fight pretty good.

[explayer]

Can you fish the saly end without a boat And will twenty pound test be good enough thinking about going this wed or thursday

[martinman]

Azcatman-I was fishing a ways up the salt. I put in my little boat at Schoolhouse and followed the river channel up. There is a pretty pronounced bend a ways up the river that is away from the "cliffy" area. It almost looks like a road grader took a side blade and pushed a bunch of river rock along the one side of the bank. It is this bend where the "marshy" areas stop. The water depth is about 17 feet deep in the deepest areas. If you continue upstream, it quickly narrows to 3-5 feet of water that was really murky and brown....I hope this helps. Give me a shout through my e-mail if you want. ryan_martin77@hotmail.com.

The river has dropped a lot since I was there in the spring.

As far as fishing from the bank, there are a couple places, but I don't know how deep the spots are now. Most of the spots that I know of are near the diversion dam. I fish with higher pound PowerPro test line, but I know a lot of people who have caught large fish with 20lb test line.

Martinman

[martinman]

Matt-I was going to tell you that it was nice to catch something with a little more size. I got so irritated earlier this year because I had some nice sized live bait that was getting eaten by dumb little 8 inch long channel cats. That seemed to be all that I caught. To catch something a little bigger was great.

I have started using one-piece graphite rods. They are so sensitive when you get a bite and when you have something on the end of the line. Sometimes it can be a little fun trying to guess the size of the fish on the other end because it feels so different.

Guys, Fishing is great. I just wish I had more time and was closer to go out more often. When I go to Roosevelt, I have to make it as worth it as possible because it is a distance to get there.

Good luck to everybody.

Martinman

[azcatman]

Sounds like you were real close to where we were fishing a couple of months ago. The water was 10' then but it is now about 5'. I know of a few good flat areas off the main lake that I might try. I think the flats like the river with a little more current to it. As long as I get to do a little fishing I'll be happy. Hear tell that the crappie are starting to bite so maybe I can put a few bags of fillets in the freezer. They sure don't seem to last long!!!!!

[martinman]

Keep us up to date on how you do. I am going to try and go fishin next week if I can escape. I think the cooler temps have got my blood going again.

I hear you on feasting on those nice fillets. I just wish that I could convince my wife to like it also. At the same time, that just means more fish for me!! :cool:

Good luck guys with the fishing over the weekend!

Martinman

[AZflats]

Howdy Fellas,
Anybody fishing Roosevelt next week. I will be taking some vacation time and planning to spend at least two nights on the salt end.. Any recomendations, Is anyone else planning to be there?

* I got a wild hair up my a$$ last week and bought a down rigger for my pontoon boat.. I am going to try drifting it up and down the river draging carp.. Sounds crazy, but I have to try it..

Any thoughts on this?

~~ AZ CAT MAN~
Q~ Do you clip the spines off the carp you use for bait? How do you hook them? :confused:

[AZflats]

CATMAN~
Check out the attached photo of the mess of crappies my buddy and I caught earlier this year @ Roosevelt~

^ We filled up one cooler and then started letting them go.. We think we caugh over one hundred...

Q~ Where do you quail hunt near roosevelt?

[martinman]

Well guys,

Looks like I will be down on Roosevelt Thursday afternoon and evening. I am going to try and show a coworker what catfishing is all about. I figured we would try an all-nighter and see what what he is made of. I am really hoping that I can get into some real nice kitties.

Has anyone had any luck recently?

As well, I noticed on the state Game and Fish website that it says that all carp/goldfish must be caught and used in the same body of water. Can you use goldfish in Roosevelt? I didn't think that it was legal.

Martinman

[azcatman]

Let us know how you do martinman. I think that if you could catch goldfish from the lake it would be legal. I have never seen any though. I hope to be down there again in a couple of weeks. To Azflats: we hunt quail east of tonto basin. Or if i'm on the lake in the daytime I carry my shotgun and chase them that way. Nice bunch of crappie you got there. Did you catch them at night? We had a real tough spring down there this year for crappie. I did not get to do any cat fishing when I was down that way last weekend. Weather really sucked!!!!!

[martinman]

I will keep you guys posted on how things go. In regard to goldfish, I just thought about it this morning....a carp is related to a goldfish. If you look at them, their mouths are very similar and body scales are also set up much the same. Maybe that is what they are talking about.

Anyway, hope everyone had a good weekend!!

Martinman

[Matthew Cook]

finally, after numerous planed trips that failed, we are going to the salt river/ Roosevelt this weekend. we are leaving friday mourning and coming back sunday. we plan to drive out there and set up camp at schoolhouse. is schoolhouse right on the lake, like can you fish at your camp site? i have never been up that way before. i really want to fish buy that dam everyone is talking about. i forgot what it was called but i think it is up river. i just don't know anything about river fishing. if anyone can tell me anything about depth, location, structure... it would really help me out.
thanks guys

[azcatman]

Mathew, the campground is not anywhere near the lake. You will need to launch your boat at the ramp and head up river from schoolhose ramp. It can be a little tricky finding your way up river from there but just head east from the launch and work your way up river. If you have never been there then I would suggest taking a boat out during the day to find the river channel. It's not that hard to find but it's a lot easier to figure out with plenty of daylight. There are some cliffs to the northeast looking from schoolhouse and you head towards them and then cut towards the east before you get all the way to them. Maybe you'll see a boat coming out from the channel and get a good idea where to go from there. Not sure how far the diversion dam is from there but you'll need to watch your graph going in and try to locate the deep holes that are before it. The water has dropped quite a bit since the last time I was there so I really don't know the depths of the river. Just try and fish up river from the holes. Good luck and let us know how you do.

[AZflats]

Hey guys,
I just fished Roosevelt this last weekend with a buddy . We fished friday thru Sunday. We got skunked on the flatties, but got a few nice Blues.. Friday night I fished up the salt and saturday by Windy hill..
** Had better luck by windy hill..

* Had a lot of fun down rigging for small mouth by windy hill..
* i can't wait to hear how you do~
Good luck!

[Matthew Cook]

Blues?, i didn't know that there were blues in Roosevelt. if you have pictures of them we would love to see them. we will have all day to spend looking for a spot to fish friday night. will i know a good hole when i see one? also how far up the river will i have to travel to find a good hole. is the salt river a big, slow moving river or a small, fast moving river? i really want to think smart in picking a spot. i don't want to waste any nights just because i wasn't thinking. also where do you catch bait? i have heard that it is hard to catch bait there. thanks a lot for the reply

[azcatman]

First off there are no blues in Roosevelt. My grandparents were living there in the early 60's and all they fished for were channel cats. The first flathead I remember him catching was when he had a channel cat on and the flathead ate the small channel cat as he was bringing it in. Around 20# if I remember right

[Matthew Cook]

thats a pretty crazy story. i guess the hook was through the channels mouth and the flathead just barely got hooked.
azcatman, do you catch channels there often? it seems like a lot of people are catching channels right now.

[martinman]

Matt,

Do you have a boat?

If you do, I would recommend doing what AZcatman said, and launch from Schoolhouse and work your way up the river channel. The water level in the river channel has dropped enough to where you can't get up to the diversion dam. There are some places that you can fish from the bank, but they can be pretty limited.

Martinman

[Matthew Cook]

ya we have a 20 foot ranger bass boat. where is and how would you get to the diversion dam? do you just go straight up the river or is there a place where the river splits into two? also should i be looking for holes directly in front of the damn or a little before it?

[martinman]

Matt,


The diversion dam that I am aware of that is still in operation is up the salt a ways. The last time I was there, you couldn't get to it by boat because the water was about 3 feet deep and if you would continue up the river, it would probably be about 1foot currently.

What you need to do is shoot across the lake from the Schoolhouse ramp and find the river channel. As AZcatman mentioned, look for pronounced river bends that are about 10 to 25 feet deep. The deeper the better, but the more current the better also.

The diversion dam that I am aware of cannot be accessed by a boat right now. I think about the only time you can get to it is earlier in the year. There are a couple spots to fish from the bank up the salt, but I really don't think they are producing right now because the river is so low.

Martinman

[Koda]

Afternoon, we are planning on leaving Friday morning from Tombstone, going thru Queen creek to pick up young son then on up to Roosevelt Lake, We will be staying in the windy hill campground area, I belive it is called coyote campground there is a launch ramp located there on the west side of the camping area. We will be in a mainly light brown older Eldorado motorhome pulling a 20' fun&fish tracker pontoon, the pontoon has a blue top and a little fat guy will be driving ( me ) we will fish just east of salome cove on the north side of the lake, will try for cats and crappie at the same time, I bought a green flouresent fish light and seemed to work well at Patagonia and am wanting to try it out up there on crappie as well as cats if we have no luck there then will try around the haystack have caught a bunch of 2# to 4# cats in that area several years ago. If you see the three of us give a shout, we should be there around four to five friday afternoon and are going to fish until sunday noon. Best of luck to all, David

[Matthew Cook]

change of plans, we will be staying in the windy hill campground also. hey koda, do the lights have a green tube-light for a body and a big yellow light on the bottom? we have two of them. the neon light will attract the insect larva in the water witch will attract the shad and minnows that eat them. we just were out at pleasant last night. caught a lot of white bass on white pattle tail grubs. i am really looking forward to fishing this weekend. just hope i can catch some fish.

[Koda]

Matt the light I have is green only but we had shad swiming around it real thick but I did not have a net to try and catch them so had the better half make me a net for an old hoop out of a basketball bag and cut it to the lenth I wanted so it should work will find out friday night I recon, when you go into windy hill campground keep going and towards the end of the road there are several roads that go to the left I belive it is the secound left that will say coyote and several other camping areas, turn there and kind of bear to the secound right and you will find the launch ramp at the end of the camping area, I like that area because you can camp close to the ramp and your boat,
you have to pay at the entrance and the machine will not take over a five I belive so just a heads up on that. hope to see you all there Luck David

[AZflats]

~ How has the fishing been at Roosevelt? I was out earlier in the week and got skunked.. Only pulled in a few Blues near windy hill.. No luck up the river..

Catman:
How far from the lake must you be to fire your gun? Do you simply tie up the boat then hike to find quail? I bought a hunt lic this year, but never used it..

[AZflats]

Sorry for the repetative post, I forgot I already posted...

AZ CATMAN: I was under the imprestion that the Blue cat is similar to the cannel, only the Blue cat does not have any spots..

Please correct me if I am wrong.. Becouse I have been calling these spotless cats blues for a while..

Attached is a photo..

Please let me know.

[jim]

Easy to confuse the two and can't tell from the one you are holding.However larger Channels lose their spots generally so the only indicator is the rounded anal fin.

[azcatman]

Azflats, I would have to say you have been catching channels all this time. Don't believe there are any blues in Roosevelt. As for the hunting question there is not any distance rules regarding the lake. Just tie your boat up when you either see or hear quail and go get them. Just don't shoot towards the lake and have fun.

[Matthew Cook]

just got back from Roosevelt/ Salt river. fished one night in the lake and one night up the river. nothing, nothing, nothing. i couldn't believe it. not a bite both night. we tried to go up river and couldn't get up there because the water was to low. we fished in a rock pile up river and didn't get nothing. the second mourning we fished for bass and caught a bunch. a lot of little bass but there was also some good size ones too. we were using crank baits and only caught little ones and then switched to plastic worms and started catching them in the 2 to 3 pound range. it was very fun and kept our spirits up. i was talking to some of the tackle store clerks and they were telling me that in a couple weeks the flathead will start to span, and then lay there eggs in the spring. there was some pictures of some giant cats that they were telling me were caught in 5 feet of water in the dead of winter. they said now to november will be good. have you guys ever heard of this?

[martinman]

Anyone been out fishing lately?

I wanted to try Roosevelt again, but wanted to see if anyone had been out lately.

Martinman

[AZflats]

Not Roosevelt.
But fished Bartlet last week and got a few flatties.. Fished deep near the dam.

[tdpasser]

AZflats,
I going to Bartlett this weekend did you get you few flats at night or day?
I also like that area at Bartlett, when you say deep so you mean 30 feet or so?

[anakin]

I been mia for a while since i cant stand the cold & been lagging on the fishing.

Sorry to hear you didnt catch anything at the river Matthew. My girl & I cant wait for next summer to go back. Thinking about buying her a nice rod & reel for chrismas (abu 6500/ugly cat combo) for the big uns there.

Im will try to frequent the site more althought im not doing any fishing during these colder months. peace

[AZflats]

TD passer,
Sorry for the delay in responce to your message. I fished them that weekend 30'-45' deep.

I will be heading out to Bartlet on Thursday to Friday.. Should be real nice weather..
* I will let you know how I do..


ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS ARE TWO BIG FLATS!! Heck maybe three or four!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

[tdpasser]

AZflats thanks, winter seems so hard to get them flats to bite i would like to figure that out. i have a good spot in mind just need to get out there.

[martinman]

Okay everybody, I need your help and advice on this one...

I have caught several flatheads before, but none from Roosevelt. I am hoping to break that idea over this next year. I have caught fish out of Roosevelt and I also know for a fact that there are really big flatheads in that lake.

However, here are my questions:

1) I know the two best types of baits are small carp and bluegill. For some reason, I am having problems catching either. The largest bluegill that I have been able to catch are from my castnet, and they were about 5 inches in length. I would like to get some that are at least 8-10 inches but when I try to find them in the shallow structure, I never even get a nibble.

This past summer I also tried using waterdogs (ranging in all sizes), but still didn't have any luck. I tried at all depths and during all hours of the day.

2) Where are the flatheads during the winter months verses the spring and summer months. I know that the flatties will usually start working up the Salt River in the spring and summer. Are they usually in deep water during the winter, and if so, are they dormant or can you still catch some.

Below are the stats for what I have been using:

Rod/Reel: Abu Garcia 6500 with MH IM-6 graphite rods
Line: 65lb PowerPro braided line
Hook Setup: 4/0 or 6/0 circle hook on a 18" leader using a 3-way swivel and a 2-ounce bank weight with a leader running from it to the 3-way swivel

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Again, I am having no problems catching channel cats...even with some pretty decent size to them. My problem is that I am not catching any flatheads.




Martinman

[AZflats]

Martinman,
Hope you had a nice Xmas..
* In regards to your questions.. Let me be the first to throw my two cents in..

* Bluegill fishing in Rosevelt is a little bit more dificult during the winter. But you should be able to find them..
* I use a few ultralight rigs with a small hook and a peice of nightcrawler..
* Drop the offering into cracks in boulders and rocks submerged below the surface.. If you do not get any takers.. Rip apart a few night crawlers and start tossing the unhooked peices into the water near rocks, (around 3-4 feet deep.) The bluegills will usualy start coming up.. If this does not work.. Fish those same boulder areas from the shore and cast into deep water and drag the bait up slowly..

* Remember, Bluegills are preditory fish that like to ambush prey just like a bass.. They will associate to big boulders or brush piles to hid from preditors while at the same time be able to strike at minnos or other prey without exausting too much effort..

* The cast net will get you a bucket of shad when they are schooling, which this time of year will fill your stringer up with crappie.

* The carp should be easy to catch as well.. Prebait a cove with about one half can of hole corn.. (You can do this in the same areas you are catching bluegills.)

~ Rig up a line with a slide sinker and the smallest treble you can find.. Bait your hook with the corn and cast to the pre-baited area. Carps are fun to catch. And are what you need to get a big flathead.. I have never actualy caught a flathead using carp, but I have heard that it is a good idea to trim the tail and the spines from the fish before using them.. That should prevent the fish from taking you line all over the place and alow the catfish to easily swallow the offering..

* Now, your last question: WHERE ARE THE FLATHEADS?
~ (Secret tip.... KEEP MOVING LOCATIONS..)
* Move your rigs every couple of hours.. I don't think Cats are activly searching for food this time of year, but they probably won't refuse an easy meal if it is in the area.. If you fish a spot witout a bite for 2hours of more, move and try another..
~ I think the flatheads go pretty deep and will fish my baits as deep as 40 feet in some areas..

HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR!!