Parker Canyon Lake Dam was constructed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department in 1966 with revenue from fishing licences
USDA Forest Service Constructed & Maintains the recreation facilities at Parker Canyon Lake
Fishing pier, paved boat ramp and courtesy dock, parking for cars, motor homes, and boat trailers, restrooms, drinking water, country store, a 65 unit campground, group use areas, and lakeside trail. Drinking water is available.
Records / History:
Three Arizona State Record Fish
have come from Parker Canyon Lake
- Bullhead, Black
New Record
Mikki St. George, Sierra Vista
2 lb. 6.1 oz. 16.5 in.
Black Bull Head
9-Sep-2002
Old Record
Wallace K. Nakagawa, Willcox
2 lb. 4.6 oz. 15.3 in.
8/22/93
- Catfish, Channel
Chuck Berndt, Sierra Vista
32 lb. 4.0 oz. 38.75 in.
4/24/87
- Sunfish, Green
Paul Bennett, Sierra Vista
1 lb. 9 oz. 11.0 in.
7/27/96
Has been stocked with trout. Trout fishing has been fair. Try Power Bait, corn or cheese or small spinners. Some bass are being caught in early morning and evenings around weed beds. Fish deeper later in the day. Those fishing for bass are sometimes catching northern pike.
Some trout are still being caught using Power Bait, corn or cheese or small spinners. Bass are being caught in early morning and evenings around weed beds. Fish deeper later in the day. Those fishing for bass are sometimes catching northern pike.
One angler fishing July 17 says he did well using Pinn’s Minnows and deep water crankbaits for bass along the weed lines during the day, and fishing shallower at dusk. He caught a lot of bass, mostly small ones, but also caught 65 bluegills. He couldn’t catch any pike. Some trout are still being caught using Power Bait, corn or cheese or small spinners. Bass are being caught in early morning and evenings around weed beds. Fish deeper later in the day. Those fishing for bass are sometimes catching northern pike. Try using inline spinners or small trout-imitating lures.
An angler reports little success except for bluegill in early September. Bass are being caught in early morning and evenings around weed beds. Fish deeper later in the day. Those fishing for bass are sometimes catching northern pike. Try using inline spinners or small trout-imitating lures.
THIS IS A VERY CLEAN LAKE AND VERY CONSISTANT FOR CATCHING FISH. MY SON AND I DO WELL EVERY TIME WE COME TO THIS LAKE. SEVERAL OTHERS WERE CATCHING TROUT ALSO. I RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE WHO LIKES TO TROUT FISH. I WISH I COULD FIGURE OUT HOW TO CATCH A NORTHERN PIKE!!!!!!!
The fishing was slow until about 1:30 in the afternoon.The rain came in and the bite then perked up. use red power bait and the bite is very suttle. the rainbows were good fighters and were decent in size
Has been stocked with trout. Trout fishing has been good to great. Try Power Bait corn or cheese. Also fish silver or gold Super Dupers, small shallow-diving Rapalas, or small minnow plugs with a spinner. Retrieve really slow. Fishing the backside of the lake (i.e. Rock Bluff area) with a half-crawler about 18-24 inches below a small split shot can yield a limit in a couple hours most any time of day. Some bass are being caught in early morning and evenings. Fish deeper later in the day. Those fishing for bass are sometimes catching northern pike. Try using in-line spinners or small trout-imitating lures.
Trout bite is still going great. Fished the Rock Bluff area from the bank. Got there about 0715, had a limit by 0830 and all 6 were about 12". I fished about 1" of nightcrawler or orange Power Bait; produced steady aggressive bits. Bass and sunfish are starting to move around soom too. Got 2 15"+ bass at the Rock Bluff 3 weeks ago.
I was very pleasently surprised to find the trout still biting at Parker Canyon Lake in spite of the warmer weather. Caught a limit of 11-12" chubby guys in a couple of hours with a 1/2 crawler on the bottem.
The water level is the lowest I've seen it. weeds everywhere, We we hardly able to cast from shore becuse of so many weeds, even around the docks
caught one little bass literaly twice the size of the lure he bit, that was it, not other sidns of fish at all. no minnows, no crayfish no sunfish all afternoon
We did see 4 deer walking around like they own the place and a few rabbits
This is one of my favorite lakes so I'm sorry to say it's NOT worth the drive out untill it gets some more water
Been going to this lake with my two sons for 25 years, taught both of them to fish there, It was a tough lake to fish, now it is impossible. The water level never returned to the days of old.The weeds are too thick, if fishning from the shore. A boat is the only way to fish, and if you want big bass, after dark is a must. Caught one 2.5 bass and 4 under 1 lb. using poppers and small spinners. The weather not for the faint of heart, the days can be long with little to no shade of 94degrees this weekend. The nights, 65 awsome.
Fishing is decent. Caught lots of small Bass,Bluegill and Rainbow Trout on a Dropshot rig attempting to catch Bass.I occasionally catch decent Bass in the 1-2 lb range but not consistently. Water is starting to rise due to the rain and the weedcutter has been at the lake in the past 2 weeks.
**Beware of the Baitshop clerk**.
He is an old grump. Prices in the store are ridiculous,and hes not very helpful. If you can stay away from the store your outing will be more pleasant. Scenery is great. If you happen to go to the store and have an unpleasant experience,dont say you werent warned.Would be nice if more people practiced Catch and Release with the larger Bass.
People are catching 13inch Bass,and swearing its a 5 pounder so they keep the fish.Please let the fish grow up a little bit.
Water is way up! Recent rains have finally raised the water level of the lake back to where they were 2 years ago when I first started going there.
Fishing today was decent. I got rained out and had to leave at about 5 pm due to a huge storm. Got to the lake at about 12pm and managed to get a fair amount of bites while fishing a Dropshot rig for Bass. I Landed 2 Bass that were about 10 inches in length and also caught 2 Large,strong,hard fighting Bluegill.
Things would have probably gotten better as the evening progressed but the rains came and I left. For those of you who dont realize it, there are catfish of some kind in this lake.
Although I havent seen or heard stories of any caught in a long time,today I saw proof. I was walking the bank and noticed some thing that looked like tiny black Tadpoles. Upon closer look I realized they had whiskers and were indeed some species of Catfish fry. Those Catfish Fry didnt just magically appear ..So there are indeed Catfish of some sort in Parker Lake Somewhere.
parker canyon lake is back for the year, finally been catching decent size bass for the first time in months, caught bout 13 bass over 12 inches ranging from 1 and a half to 5 and a half pounds all off of senkos mostly. bites better early morning. fall is always been good here throughout the years.
10/8/2006 Got to the spot around 7am had limit on bass by 7:45 Caught 3 big 'uns over 4 lbs each 3 little ones over 1 and 1/2 lbs each. Caught 6 nice size blue gill and about the same on sun fish. Have never caught a trout, cat or a pike in that place been going there for years.
Caught and released 6 Trout on a plain #0 Mepps Aglia Spinner fished just under the surface,out in the middle while on a boat. Caught and released about 8 trout the same way a week earlier.
Went out all day all over the lake on 4 June in a boat.Caught 14 Bass that were 12 inches or less and managed to catch 2 Bass over 5 pounds. All fish were photographed and released so others can share in the fun.Water looks fine,no stinky clumps of algae,water is a at a nice level.
This place is awesome. Trout were biting,caught andreleased about 20 decent fish in a 24 hour period. Fish were htititng all over middle of the lake on corn and occasionally a worm. Nothing on Power bait or lures. Alot of fish activity. Go just to take in the scenery.
On fri oct 26th, My wife and I fished all day long. The Algae is back in full bloom. The water level is still full. Fishing is way off the normal. Best results are on the bottom. We caught more trash than fish.
What an amazing surprise to find right out the back door of my new duty station! We had worried about a bad road (as we read online) and found it is fully paved. The store was pricey but nice, the docks and marina area are pleasantly well constructed as well as the nice camping areas. No fish for us but it was nice to even see a small sailboat out in the afternoon breeze. We are planning to sail our small boat as well and try some fishing out away from the algea next weekend.
An absolutely beautiful day, but the lake is covered with a lot of green scum, even some chunck boiling up. Stinks too. Trout bite is really off except in a few areas where the wind pushed this scum off. Rock Bluff end of the lake is really thick.
It's unfortunate that Chris feels the store clerk (read operator) is an "old grump." He is the one who initiated the "cleanest lake in Arizona" slogan. It is through his efforts and some dedicated locals that the lakeshore remains relatively trash-free. Perhaps the help sought was outside the store's scope of authority.
I have been fishing this lake for 20 years with my dad and my brother. Unfortunately this was my first trip alone as I returned to this lake to say goodbye to my dad. This was his favorite fishing hole. It was great to see the water level up so high after the monsoon. I caught twelve Bass in two days. Most were small but I caught a few over two pounds and one that was six pounds. I released them all as I always do and caught them on soft plastics, spinners, and poppers. I am going back this summer '08.
Parker Canyon Lake really is full and going over the spillway. The lake level is up approximately 8 feet from 2 weeks ago and all of the added water is helping to clear the green tint from a major algae bloom late last summer. I fished the brush and grassy shoreline just north of the dam on Sunday morning and in less than 2 hours I caught/released in excess of 50 bluegills - all between 8-9". I caught most of the fish on a small piece of nightcrawler fished on the bottem. Got rained off the lake about 9:00 AM
Caught 13 bass in 7 hours on senkos, power worms, and spinnerbaits. Fish were shallow and along rocky shorelines or the weedline. Also caught 8 green sunfish on the senkos. Those fish are aggressive.
The reason I posted about the baitshop owner being a grump is because of the way he came off at me one Thursday prior to Memorial day.
He was servicing his boats and I asked a simple question "When are you going to open for business fulltime for the summer."
His reply in a grumpy voice and scowl was " You see these boats? This weekend they are going to get me $100 a day,I aint got no time to open up for you just to get a soda."
I never asked for a soda,I just wanted to know when he was going to going to fulltime hours for the summer.
Grew up in Parker Canyon, and am happily back. The lake is beautiful and clean. It's almost warm enough to swim. Been taking the little guy fishing, and have seen what looked like some pretty nice bass coming in for others. Kayaking is perfect. The store is for Sale, wish someone awesome would buy it. I would run it in a heartbeat!
Came down from Tucson to do a little light fishing before I head up to Missouri for a vacation. Was using an ultra light rod and reel with 4lb test and nightcrawlers as I have never caught anything big here. I was fishing off the dock by the boat launch and I thought I was pulling in another small sunfish until I got the fish to the surface and it jumped out of the water. I had actually hooked a 10-15 lb largemouth with the biggest belly I have ever seen on a largemouth. I got the chance to fight with it for a couple of minutes before it headed under the dock and snapped the line.
I was using nightcrawlers with a Carolina rig and the bass didnt hit it any harder than the small sunnies were hitting. I will be back in a couple of weeks to try for it again.
Fished SAT 20100515 in the afternoon for a couple of hours. Couple of LM Bass about 10 inches on slow jig. One bluegill about twice as long as jig. All found in warmer water sections of lake.
Upper parking lot closed for resurfacing. Quite congested in lower parking lot. Boat launch area was crazy busy. Search and Rescue, SCUBA practice along with lots of others using boat launch area.
Joe - Yes, I purchased the store earlier this year and along with a friend am in the remodeling process. We'll have cold drinks, ice, tons of fishing supplies (including worms), boat rentals, kayak rentals, etc.
Call us at 520-455-5847
Check us out at ParkerCanyonLake.com
Not "official news" but from the sign posted in the window of the store at Parker Canyon Lake a couple days ago, looks like maybe Mike s out of business. Too bad - he's done an awful lot over the years to help keep PCL clean and a great place to fish. I for one will miss him if he's actually permanently closing the store. Thanks Mike!
Showed up at around 3 pm, caught a small rock bass from the boat launch dock. Tried fishing over near the Lakeside campsites - too many weeds. Went back over by the boat docks to fish from shore and landed a 15 1/2 inch largemouth. Took a picture and released it. Caught a smaller largemouth after that. Nothing hitting after 5.
The store has received approval from the fish and game dept to sell fishing licenses. We should be ready by the end of August to start selling them. Thanks, Scott
Went to Parker Lake this weekend, rained hard Friday night but gorgeous Saturday and Sunday. Lots of bluegills and swimming fun… the water isn’t too cold yet. The lake and campground are very clean and the folks that took over the store were super nice and very accommodating! Great place for some good ole fashioned camping, hiking and family fun!
Sat in the truck for 2 hours waiting for the rain to quit, but it was worth it. Wife and I fished for about 3 hours - caught 4 nice trout, 5 largemouths 12- 15 1/2", about 35 sunfish (mostly bluegills, a couple of redears). At leat 25 of the sunfish were between 8-9 1/2", lots of fun on ultralight gear!
fished for several hours from float tube/pontoon. large bluegill biting deep on gulp nightcrawlers, fall stock trout are big, caught one at 13 inches and a second at just shy of 16, several small bass on drop shot, lots of quick hits and misses. new store owner is outstanding
fishing from shore was horrible i did parker canyon a service considering how much weeds i pulled up it wasnt until 5 that morning i started catching fish at the dock small blue gill but its better than weeds!
this place was listed for sale in our local paper. I fell in love with it the very first time i looked it up on the internet. My husband and I could not purchase at the time and decided to take our 10th anniversary down to AZ and try to purchase this place. We are delighted to see that someone has purchased it and can't wait to meet the new owner in May when we can finally make it down to see the place. Good luck.
The store has been purchased and we are waiting to form a new permit with the forest service. We are looking forward the day when we can re-open the store. Please feel free to comment and add any things that you would like to see in the furture. Scott
Bass fishing has been really good for me this year.I get there before sun set,i fish with spinners and topwater also worms.I hooked me a 6,7,8,9 lbs.and a bunch of 2,3,4,5.i try to walk the hole lake about 2 to 3 times a week.BIGBAZZIN
Fishing for bass and bluegill good with some hold over trout being caught.Top water at night is producing good results for bass. Fishing licenses and bait are now available Friday through Sunday. Call on weekdays as we may be here. Scott
Does anyone know if Scott Kerr is the new owner of the General Store at the lake? Me and my Girlfriend were there a couple weeks ago and he was nice enough to give us firewood. We also mentioned we rode motorcycles and had a Meetup group out of Tucson. I was looking for his address to get together for a ride/BBQ at the lake. Thanks
We are renting row/motor boats, kayaks and peddle boats Fri, Sat and Sunday. You can visit the website at parkecanyonlake.com for the most up to date information. Thanks, Scott
We have always enjoyed tis lake. My Father and I limited out on trout this morning. He fishes it every Tuesday - and has done well the last 3 months. We also caught 6 decent bluegill today. The best thing about the lake is that there are no gas motors above 10 hp allowed. That way you do not have drunken idiots charging up and down the lake doing nothing but showing off their boats. We do not go to Patagonia Lake for that reason. For the weed problem - try tarping off small sections of the lake during the week when traffic is low. No sunlight and the weeds will die. You laugh - but floating tarps will be a lot cheaper than the cutter machine and can be rotated as needed. Works in Alabama. Also, we would like to see croppie in the lake. We have never seen a pike in the lake - so thee eradication program must have worked.
My son and I got on the lake around 7:30am on 4/19. By 10:30 we had both caught our limit. We stayed on the lake until around noon. We trolled back to the boat ramp and caught a few on the way. We used small spinners and had a great time. I noticed that other people on boats and on the shore were also having good luck.
With it being windy,its difficult to fish soft plastics as my boat likes to drift alot,so I tried Spinnerbaits. Got about 6 Bass total,none of any real size. The largest being about 2 pounds. All fish were photographed and released. The weekend crowd showed up and the fishing just went away.
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