Tailwater · Mixed · Arizona

Salt River below Stewart Mountain Dam

Pyrenean Ibones (high-mountain lakes) terrain map
Terrain map

The lower Salt below Stewart Mountain Dam is the desert's odd surprise — a trout fishery on the edge of metropolitan Phoenix, kept honest by cold water sliding out from the bottom of Saguaro Lake.

Species

A proper day on the water

Low and clear — careful approach country. Stay small, stay accurate.

75% confidence in this read
Water temperature for rainbow trout
Cool — slow
9°C est.ideal 10–18°C
0°14°28°
Why this score · for rainbow trout
  • Temperature8228% weight
  • Flow8022% weight
  • Clarity8518% weight
  • Feeding Time5013% weight
  • Pressure757% weight
  • Insect activity6212% weight
Conditions
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp
9.0°C
Estimated
Clarity
Clear
Air temp
40°C
Wind
W 16 km/h
Gentle breeze
Pressure
1005 hPa
Rain · 24h
0.0 mm
No rain
Rain · ahead
0.0 mm
No meaningful rain · next 48h

Live readings — water temperature is an estimate where the gauge does not record it.

How to fish it · for rainbow trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Good — water clarity is right today, though time of day could be better.
Local fly shopsLees Ferry Anglers
Through the year
0–3 scale · June highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Black MidgeHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Freshwater ShrimpHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Western Blue-Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Pale Morning DunHatch
2
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Open all year; Arizona licence required (AZGFD)
  • Trout are stocked seasonally — verify the current AZGFD stocking schedule and any reach-specific rules
  • Flow is a managed Stewart Mountain Dam / SRP release, not a rainfall response
  • Heavy recreational (tubing) traffic in the warm months.
Directions
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About this water

The lower Salt below Stewart Mountain Dam is the desert's odd surprise — a trout fishery on the edge of metropolitan Phoenix, kept honest by cold water sliding out from the bottom of Saguaro Lake. It is unapologetically a put-and-take winter affair: Arizona Game and Fish stock rainbows through the cool months, the tubers and the heat take over by late spring, and the trout fishing is a seasonal thing built around the release and the stocking truck rather than a wild population. None of which stops it being a genuinely useful winter option close to a big city. Read the dam release first — the lower Salt is a managed river that rises and falls with irrigation and power demand, not with the sky — and fish the stocked-trout reaches with small nymphs, eggs and the usual tailwater fare while the water's cold. Come summer, it belongs to the inner tubes.

  • Mixed
Seasons & zones
  • Trout1 January → 31 December