SOUTHWEST & CALIFORNIA LAKES FISHING MAP
Fishing Hot Spots
Desert reservoirs, cold trout tailwaters and California bass lakes: the Colorado River lakes from Powell to Havasu, Arizona and New Mexico, Northern California and Pyramid Lake, and Southern California. Tap any star or dot to see what it is and what to fish there.
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Fishing & access
Marine chart layers
Parks & rules
Safety: these are planning references. Use current official charts, weather and marine alerts and proper safety equipment before heading out.
Lake guides for this map
Month-by-month patterns, fish, ramps and rules for each water:
Fishing Hot Spots by area
Lakes and rivers. Tap one to fly to it on the map.
Stripers in the desert, giant bass on the coast
The big Colorado River lakes (Powell, Mead, Mohave and Havasu) are striped bass and smallmouth country, and Havasu also gave up a world-record redear sunfish. Below Glen Canyon Dam, Lees Ferry holds rainbow trout in cold, clear water, and the San Juan River below Navajo Dam in New Mexico is one of the best trout tailwaters in the West.
California is famous for giant Florida-strain largemouth bass in lakes like Castaic and Casitas, and for Clear Lake, the biggest natural lake in the state. The Delta has striped bass, largemouth and sturgeon. Up north, Pyramid Lake grows huge Lahontan cutthroat trout and Eagle Lake has its own strain of rainbow trout.
Rules: each state sells its own license, the state-line lakes may need a stamp from the other state, Pyramid Lake needs a tribal permit, and many lakes inspect boats for quagga mussels.
BigJoe’s gear for Southwest & California Lakes
What BigJoe would bring to fish these waters.
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