Fishing Forest Lake in Navajo County, Arizona

• Overview

  Forest Lake is listed under Navajo County, Arizona. The setting is open valley on every side. Surface area runs to about 4 acres — small enough to read in one session. The closest town, Kayenta, is 24 miles away. For a city, Deer Valley is 215 miles off. No boundary runs near, so the county rules hold throughout. The water is easy to walk round in a long session.

• Where to Fish on Forest Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Records held for Navajo County cover green sunfish, bluehead sucker and channel catfish. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. At Forest Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 69°F at the top of summer and 28°F at the bottom of winter. Neither winter nor summer shuts things down for long. Hard water here is never dependable, so check for yourself before stepping out. Late winter often fishes better here than midsummer does. Forest Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Black Rock Pond sits 8.8 miles off and takes the overflow. Check the current arrangement for Forest Lake.