Bartlett Lake Fish Stocking

Bartlett Lake on the Verde River northeast of Phoenix offers bass and trout fishing. It is stocked with trout in cooler months.

Quick answer

Bartlett Lake is a stocked Arizona fishing water near Carefree, Maricopa County. Bartlett Lake is a statewide stocking water rather than a community fishing pond, and anglers typically look here for rainbow trout. Official dates usually mark the Monday of a stocking week rather than a guaranteed same-day plant. Recent official weeks appear in the table below when AZGFD has published them.

About Bartlett Lake

Bartlett Lake on the Verde River northeast of Phoenix offers bass and trout fishing. It is stocked with trout in cooler months. Anglers usually treat Bartlett Lake as a Carefree, Maricopa County destination for rainbow trout. The Phoenix metropolitan area offers year-round community fishing lakes stocked with catfish in summer and trout in winter. With dozens of urban ponds across the Valley of the Sun, anglers of all ages can find a stocked lake within minutes of home.

Key facts

Lake: Bartlett Lake

City: Carefree

Region: Phoenix Metro

County: Maricopa

Community Fishing: No

Species: Rainbow Trout

View Bartlett Lake on the map

Recent stocking schedule

No recent official weeks are listed for Bartlett Lake right now. AZGFD may still add this water in a later schedule.

No stocking activity found for this period.

Planning a trip to Bartlett Lake

Bartlett Lake is a statewide stocking location. Plan for a longer drive, check seasonal road or forest access, and pack for the elevation and weather typical of the Phoenix Metro area. Map coordinates on this page point to about 33.8165, -111.6362 near Carefree, Maricopa County. Treat every date as a stocking week unless AZGFD publishes a more specific plant.

What to try at Bartlett Lake

Give Bartlett Lake a full bank circuit after a scheduled week. Stocked fish often cruise the first drop-off and any shade or inflow before they spread out.

Trout at Bartlett Lake often take a small spoon, in-line spinner, or a simple fly-and-bubble setup in addition to bait. Work points, inlets, and any remaining ice-off shallows during the scheduled week.

These notes are local planning context for Bartlett Lake, not official AZGFD advice. Conditions, crowds, and the exact plant day can change during the scheduled week.

Frequently asked questions

Bartlett Lake follows the AZGFD schedule. When a week is published, this page shows it as a scheduled week rather than a guaranteed single-day stocking event. No recent weeks are listed right now — check back after the next official update.

Bartlett Lake is tracked for rainbow trout. Statewide waters in the Phoenix Metro usually follow seasonal hatchery routes rather than a year-round neighborhood rotation. Species can still vary by hatchery plan.

No. Bartlett Lake is listed here as a statewide stocking location near Carefree, Maricopa County, not a community fishing program pond.

Anglers comparing Bartlett Lake often also check Kiwanis Lake, Red Mountain Lake, Riverview Lake in the same Phoenix Metro.


Dates are AZGFD stocking weeks, not guaranteed plant days. How this data is sourced