Papago Park Ponds are not one water but three. AZGFD lists the complex at 6 acres in total: Pond 1 covers 1 acre and reaches 8 feet, Pond 2 covers 2 acres and reaches 7 feet, and Pond 3, the largest, covers 3 acres with a maximum depth of 11 feet. Each has its own character, and moving between them is part of how the place is fished.
The scenery is the other draw. Papago Park is a range of massive sandstone buttes just minutes from downtown Phoenix, and the ponds sit next to the Phoenix Zoo, with the Desert Botanical Garden and the Hole-in-the-Rock trail in the same park. The ponds draw their water from the Valley's canal system, which carries water from the Salt, Verde and Colorado rivers.
The complex is regulated as a community Pond, with half the daily limits of a lake. It has produced notable fish: AZGFD's 2018 guidebook lists a released 11 lb 10.4 oz largemouth bass from Papago Pond, caught in 2000, as an all-time urban record, and the current regulations list a 10-inch hybrid sunfish from Pond 2 as a catch-and-release state record.
Lake notes updated October 6, 2026No recent official weeks are listed for Papago Park Ponds right now. AZGFD may still add this water in a later schedule.
No stocking activity found for this period.
The ponds are reached from 625 N. Galvin Parkway, next to the Phoenix Zoo. AZGFD lists park hours for the ponds as 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., an early closing for a Phoenix park water, and the city lists parking east of Galvin Parkway as open 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Leave enough time to pack up and clear the lot before closing.
Unlike most Phoenix city ramadas, those at Papago Park must be reserved in advance. AZGFD lists group ramadas and multipurpose trails among the amenities; swimming, wading and glass containers are prohibited, alcohol requires a permit, and boating is not allowed.
For a longer outing, the 0.2-mile Hole-in-the-Rock Trail starts at the Papago Park Visitor Center and wraps around a butte to a wind-eroded opening that looks out over the city.
Channel catfish stockings resume and arrive about every two weeks into November. The pond limit is two catfish per angler per day across the whole complex.
Rainbow trout season. The 7 p.m. closing matters less in winter, when sunset comes early and the trout bite can be good from midmorning through afternoon.
Catfish return, the program adds one sunfish stocking, and resident bass and sunfish tend to become active in the shallower ponds first.
No stockings during the summer break. With fishing hours ending at 7 p.m., summer anglers should focus on the first hours after the 6 a.m. opening.
Papago Park Ponds are a community Pond, so the reduced daily limits apply: 2 catfish, 2 trout, 1 bass (13-inch minimum), 5 sunfish and 1 white amur (30-inch minimum), with statewide limits for other species. Daily bag limits run midnight to midnight and include any fish you keep or give away, regardless of which of the three ponds it came from. Once you reach a species limit, you must stop fishing for it. Anglers 10 and older need a valid Arizona fishing or combination hunt and fish license; children under 10 fish free. Check AZGFD for current regulations.
No. A daily bag limit is the total you may keep in one day, so two trout from Pond 1 fill your trout limit for the entire complex.
AZGFD lists the ponds' park hours as 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the city closes parking east of Galvin Parkway at 7 p.m. Plan morning or afternoon trips rather than evening ones.
Yes. The ponds are next to the Phoenix Zoo, and the short Hole-in-the-Rock Trail starts at the Papago Park Visitor Center in the same park.
Dates are AZGFD stocking weeks, not guaranteed plant days. How this data is sourced