Crater Lake Fishing in Coconino County, Arizona

• Overview

  Crater Lake belongs to Coconino County, Arizona. The surroundings are rolling hill. This is a tiny water, and one quiet approach covers all of it. On size it sits at the modest end of our Coconino County list. Parks is the closest place, 13 miles off. It is 121 miles to Deer Valley, the nearest city. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Crater Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Fish documented in Coconino County include brown trout, common carp, flannelmouth sucker, bluehead sucker and green sunfish. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. The near bank of Crater Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 64°F, while January sits near 27°F. The calendar is generous: something works in nearly every month. It is not guaranteed even in a cold spell, so check yourself. February into May fishes hardest as the water warms. Plan around that when you fish Crater Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. Public mapping marks it as seasonal water rather than permanent. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. For a change of water, Walker Lake is 4.8 miles distant. Check the position on Crater Lake before loading the car.