Urban Cats Get Return Engagement

        Urban cats are getting a return engagement at a city lake near you.

        Channel catfish will once again be stocked in greater Phoenix area urban lakes starting Sept. 24-29 and in Tucson urban lakes Sept. 17-22.

        But catfish aren’t the only fish available for angling fun - all the urban lakes have good populations of sunfish.

Fishing for sunfish has been fair using meal worms and earthworms on the bottom.  The trick is to use line no heavier than six-pounds and a light weight.  The sunfish and catfish action should pick up once the water cools another six to eight degrees - it all depends on weather.

The key isn’t necessarily having cooler days, but the longer, cooler nights. “Once we consistently have nights in the low 70s, the lakes will cool down, which will trigger the fish to start feeding aggressively to put on fat before winter conditions arrive,” Swanson explained.

For those looking forward to urban trout, the rainbows will be coming your way some time in mid- November when lake temperatures fall below 68 degrees.