There are some fishing regulation changes for 2001 that anglers will want to note, advised Arizona Game and Fish Department officials.

A significant change for 2001 is prohibiting the transport of live crayfish for bait or consumption statewide, except for a small portion of southwestern Arizona.

"Crayfish can still be used as bait, and we are still encouraging people to harvest these nonnative crustaceans. However, you must capture them at the lake or stream where you’ll be using them. If you intend to transport the crayfish, you must render them dead," said Fisheries Branch Chief Larry Riley.

To kill the crayfish, you can separate the head from the body, pierce the thorax with a knife, or put them on ice (ice freezes their gills).

"The regulations were adopted to help prevent the spread of these nonnative crustaceans, which have devastated many trout streams in the state and have severely impacted other waters as well," Riley explained.

Alamo Lake west of Wickenburg has a changed bag and possession limit for largemouth bass. The possession limit is now six bass; no more than one of those may be between 13 and 16 inches (the slot limit). "In an effort to allow survival of largemouth bass to become quality sized fish, a more restrictive bag limit for Alamo Lake was instituted by the Game and Fish Commission," Riley said.

Northern pike regulations have changed statewide – there is no limit on pike, with the exception of Upper Lake Mary and Stoneman Lake where the limit remains at six pike. "Anglers who choose to harvest pike anywhere in the state, and to reduce them to possession must immediately kill them," Riley explained.

The harvest of sunfish at designated Urban Fishing Program lakes and the Tempe Town Lake has been modified; there is now a 10 fish limit on all sunfish (bluegill, redear, green sunfish and hybrid sunfishes).

Arivaca Lake in Pima County is now a catch-and-release lake for largemouth bass. Arivaca, a well- known bass lake, experienced a severe kill due to oxygen depletion. To encourage growth and survival of bass being restocked in the lake, the bag limit has been changed to zero – all bass must be immediately released.

Arizona Game and Fish