At press time, Arizona Game & Fish had brought in three fully loaded hauling trucks with 24,500 pounds of catfish destined for the Core program waters. Additional catfish were destined for Lynx, Fain, Deadhorse State Park, and Garret Tank.
The final catfish stocking of the season took place during the week of June 12-17. We cease all fish stocking in Community Fishing Program waters during the hottest months of the year (mid-June to mid-September). Stockings ceased earlier at Cortez and Rio Vista lakes; due to recurring fish kills in Cortez, the city requested that we cease all remaining stockings until they are certain that the golden algae and other water-quality parameters are remedied.
Those fish destined for Cortez went to other waters in the central or west valley such as Encanto, Pioneer, Steel Indian School, Desert West, or Surprise. Rio Vista park is scheduled to begin maintenance on the main pond liner. As a result, the water must be pumped out. So, all remaining stockings will be ceased until the project is completed sometime in November.
Final stockings of catfish have gone into these expansion waters:
- Council Ave – Somerton
- West Wetlands – Yuma
- Fortuna – Yuma
- Patterson Ponds – St. Johns
- Pacana – Maricopa
- Dave White – Casa Grande
- Tempe Town Lake
- Freestone – Gilbert
- McQueen – Gilbert
- Discovery – Gilbert
- Eldorado – Scottsdale
- Roadrunner – Phoenix
- Friendship – Avondale
- Bonsall – Glendale
- Stone Dam – Ash Fork
This year we doubled the number of stockings into the program expansion waters.
