See every public fishing venue in Arizona on the map, with boat ramps, camping, parking and full rules for each one.
Salt River Project Canal System is a public river in Maricopa County, Arizona, managed by Arizona Game and Fish Department. You can fish it on an Arizona fishing licence — the separate trout stamp was abolished in 2013. Arizona has very few streams legally determined navigable, so on a reach crossing private land access is by permission, at bridges and road crossings, or on the public land it flows through — and most of Arizona’s trout water is on the Tonto, Coconino or Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. Native Apache and Gila trout streams are usually catch-and-release; tribal waters need a tribal permit. Public access confirmed via AZGFD Fishing Waters listing.
A warm Arizona desert river (the Verde, the Gila, the lower Salt, the Colorado divisions along the California line) — flathead and channel catfish, largemouth and smallmouth bass, yellow bass, common carp and sucker; the lower Salt is tubed and floated hard in summer.
It runs roughly 2 miles through the Mesa Region region. Anglers here mostly fish for bluegill, channel catfish, common carp, grass carp; green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, redear sunfish are also on record. The nearest other mapped waters on PiscaMaps are Chaparral Park Lake and Eldorado Park Lake.
Species from AZGFD’s Fishing Waters layer (per-water species flags), PiscaMaps water-type profiles and hand research.
Night fishing: No statewide night-fishing closure in Arizona; the Community Fishing Program ponds and some park waters set their own hours, and a few trout waters close seasonally — check the current Arizona Fishing Regulations for the specific water.
Boats: Most Arizona streams are wade access; the big reservoirs take trailered boats via a park or marina ramp. Every boat needs the watercraft AIS decal, and craft off the quagga-positive Colorado River lakes, Pleasant or Roosevelt must be clean, drained and dry before launching elsewhere.
Bank & bivvy camping: Most Arizona trout water is on the Tonto, Coconino and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests -- dispersed camping is allowed on most of that ground (a permit is needed on parts of the Tonto), plus Forest Service and state-park campgrounds on nearly every Rim lake. Tribal land needs a tribal permit.
Tackle: The general trout limit is 4 (some waters 2, some catch-and-release), the general bass limit is 6, and there are many exceptions — striped bass on the Colorado River have no limit, native Apache and Gila trout are usually catch-and-release, Lees Ferry and several Rim streams are artificial-only, and the Community Fishing waters have their own combined bag limits. Check the current Arizona Fishing Regulations.
Boat ramps: 1 mapped — Boat ramp.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors.
Anyone 10 or older needs an Arizona fishing licence — the resident annual is about $37, the non-resident annual about $160 (one of the highest in the country), with a 1-day licence (~$15, resident or non-resident) and a low-cost resident Community licence (~$24) that covers only the Community Fishing Program waters. There is no separate trout stamp — Arizona folded it into the general licence in 2013. Youth under 10 fish free. Buy from Arizona Game and Fish at azgfd.com. An Arizona fishing licence covers this water — it is on AZGFD's Fishing Waters list. (Community Fishing Program ponds are also covered by the low-cost resident Community licence. Tribal waters need a tribal permit.)
Every water carries species, bank & boat access, current regulations and live water conditions — and members get Swim Mapper, Catch Logger and Trip Planner. It's the only US map with a dedicated carp-water layer.
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