The Lake Havasu Fisheries Improvement Program (LHFIP) was revitalized this year and has been making habitat improvements that can help congregate fish and improve angler catch rates.

The program began in 1993 with the original goal of installing 875 acres of artificial habitat, building six shore access fishing facilities, and augmenting the 30,000 razorback suckers and 30,000 bonytail chub into Lake Havasu. These goals were all accomplished in the early 2000s and new goals of adding 800 brush bundles and maintaining the current 875 acres of artificial habitat and six shore fishing facilities every year were set in 2005.

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Boaters, anglers and other outdoor recreationists are advised that there is an algae bloom at Bartlett Lake. Some algae blooms can make people and pets sick. Harmful blue-green algae can:

Look like pea soup or spilled green paint
Discolor or leave streaks in the water
Be surface scum, mats or films
Appear as green dots or globs floating below the surface

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Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) aquatic wildlife staff from the Mesa region conducted largemouth bass surveys at Saguaro, Canyon and Roosevelt lakes in April. These surveys are conducted once every two years.

At Saguaro Lake, 124 largemouth were caught during the two-night survey. The largest was 23.6 inches, 9.4 pounds. At Canyon Lake, 173 largemouth were caught on the two-night survey, the largest being 25.5 inches, 11.7 pounds. At Roosevelt, 256 largemouth were caught on the three-night survey. The largest was 24.7 inches , 8.8 pounds. All three lakes appear to have ample habitat with the high water levels and a healthy bass population.   more...
AZGFD aquatic wildlife staff from the Yuma region sampled several sections of the lower Colorado River (the Yuma Division, Laguna Division, Parker Strip, and Martinez Lake) this spring. Overall, the numbers looked good, with lots of smallmouth bass and redear sunfish. Several of the redear sunfish were in the 1- to 3-pound range.

The Yuma Division had not been sampled in its entirety in a number of years, but with high water this year we were able to navigate more sections of the river and complete the bass survey there. Catch rates were up from the previous years with some pretty impressive pockets producing multiple bass in excess of 9 pounds.

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With the assistance of volunteers, AZGFD recently stocked 44,464 pure Florida-strain largemouth bass into Apache and Saguaro lakes. These fish were roughly 2 inches in size. A total of 6,312 of these Florida-strain largemouth were obtained due to the generous donation of $10,000 from Arizona Anglers.

If you'd like to volunteer to assist in fish stocking distribution or other department activities, please visit volunteer.azgfd.gov to register as a volunteer and see volunteer opportunities.   more...
Precaution taken after invasive mudsnails detected in creek 2.5 miles downstream of hatchery

The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) has confirmed the presence of New Zealand mudsnails, an aquatic invasive species, in Tonto Creek approximately 2.5 miles downstream of Tonto Creek Hatchery. AZGFD continues to conduct surveys in the area to determine the extent of infestation.

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