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Im looking for a good place to practice some bushcraft and do some fishing north of Phx i would like to avoid lake pleasant as its over crowded and heard the fish is not clean. thanks.

Ps. I wil do an over nighter.

@sajor75
Well, tell me more...
- What type of fish to you enjoy pursuing? Tackle experience? Lakes or streams?
- Time frame, now, soon, later when the weather warms, all of the above?
- By Bushcraft, what do you plan on taking vs, what do you plan on finding in the bush? Are you building a shelter from scratch?
- Vehicle limitations? Or road conditions don't matter?
- How far are you willing to hike from where you park?

@ALMAL
Hey Almal, im pretty much a newbie at fishing, looking for any type of fish that i can catch and eat on site, i dont really have preference as to fish in a lake , stream or river which do you suggest.

I wish i could build a shelter from sratch lol, dont quite have the experience yet, planning for a over nighter as i want to experience winter camping in Az, im ok with off roads but nothing too technical as im taking my motorcycle, would like to do something asap, was thinking next week.

SInce i got my bushcraft gear and winter gear i am packing heavier than usual so prefer the distance to not exceed 5 miles one way, if the fishing is great i could hike a bit more lol.

While there are several anglers here on HikeArizona, if I was a noob looking at getting into fishing, I would start with Arizona Game and Fish.

https://www.azgfd.com/Fishing

There are links for licenses, rules and regulations, and tons of fishing locations, including those in central Arizona that might be suitable at this time of year. https://www.azgfd.com/fishing/locations/central

There's additional useful information at http://http://www.fishaz.org and https://www.fishazblog.com

Good luck!

Chumley is right, AZ game and fish posts a weekly fishing report which can be very helpful. Combining that info with potential hiking trail data from this site can help you get into fishing locations many folks never visit. If you are new to fishing, you'll find many urban waters stocked regularly this time of year. But, not great spots for bushcraft. Although I'm not sure what bushcraft means to you? Sounds like you just want to catch a fish, camp out, and eat it... check out the weekly fishing report for sure. It is fairly accurate. If you are going to higher elevation, be prepared for possible ice and streams running high or muddy. If the water flow is close to normal and your motorcycle can handle a bumpy dirt road, you may find West clear creek (Bull pen access) to your liking. There are numerous triplogs and photos of this area to review in this site.

If you're combining fishing and camping, I recommend studying up on bear safety.

In many places in Arizona, wood harvesting is limited to already dead and fallen wood, as the AZ forests are generally not robust enough to stand up to bushcraft of chopping down trees to build a shelter. Particularly in the fragile riparian areas.

If you are trying to practice building your own shelter, I would advise you to read up on the forest regulations that apply to the places you want to go, in order to find the local restrictions on felling trees, harvesting wood, etc.

And of course purchase a fishing license...

stumbled across this 2014 best seller
Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival
obviously I'm outta touch, never heard of it

joebartels wrote:obviously I'm outta touch, never heard of it

Joe we always assumed you were the expert of Arizona Bushcraft.
https://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=272338