So - you live in the desert. Guess you'll have to travel a bit to fish, right? Wrong! Fishing is a popular sport in Arizona, and you don't even have to travel very far to enjoy it!
There are 81 lakes in Arizona (according to fishinaz.com), and 20 of them are smack in the middle of 11 of the state's cities. Here in the Valley of the Sun, there are 15 lakes in 8 valley cities.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department runs an Urban Fishing program. Their philosophy is : "...if people can't get out of town to fish, we will bring fish into town for the people." The department issues special Urban Fishing licenses, which you can even buy online at http://www.azgfd.gov/ It only costs $18.50 for the year, for anyone over 14 years of age.
These urban lakes are regularly stocked with fish like trout, catfish, and sunfish at two-week intervals. They do this year-round, except between July 10 and September 10, when it's just too hot for the health of the fish to transport them.
If you go to any of these urban lakes, like the one in Encanto Park in central Phoenix, or Red Mountain Park in east Mesa, or Surprise Park behind the central library in Surprise, you'll see people of all ages testing their angling skills. They say the fishing is great!
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