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Black River???

16K views 53 replies 24 participants last post by  Lone Ranger 
#1 ·
Hey guys,
I was planning on taking my son up to the Black River this coming weekend. Problem is I have never been. He just turned 16 and we have talked about going fishing up there since we went scouting deer up in that area last fall. He has been bugging me about it for months and now the time has come. I have been slack about my research so now I am in serious need of info. Not so much worried about what to throw (although that info would be a help :)), but looking for more camping/travelling info. We are planning on leaving this Friday afternoon and heading home on Sunday. We will be heading out from Peoria.

I have a few questions:
What Passes Do I need? and where can I buy them?

What is the best way to get there?
We were planning on trying Black River Crossing or Tic Flats.

Can we carry up there?
Don't want to chance it with my son with me and the bears.

Where is the best place to camp or would it e better for a day trip?
We were planning on spending the weekend up there.

Any tips?
You don't have to post anything you don't want. Feel free to PM me. We have never been there and I would love to put my boy on some fish. So any tips would be appreciated.
 
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#2 ·
its a blast
Dont carry a firearm in your vehicle or you can get into deep shit.( take that what its worth.
bears wont bother you , just yell at them. only pussies and susans are afraid of bears
Campings ok day trip is too long cause of the drive back after the hiking.
globe should have permits, also the store at san carlos has permits,

gilamobster will give you some tips.
I am thinking about taking the kids up there this year but in july or august. mainly to see bears and hike the river.


north of the places you said is were you want to be.
white 3-4 grubs work best on a split shot rig.
if you goto the places you named it will be a traffic jam. with whiteys. get a map and park north then hike down the canyon hike takes 20-30 mins.

Keep your eye out for snakes, they are everywhere and they dont rattle all the time.
keep your stuff locked up in your car/truck (everything)

have fun get pics
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the replies. I hope Gilamobster will chime in. When San Carlos was in decent shape a few years back, he put me on a helluva Bass bite.

Thanks Delw for the info. We are looking forward to it. I didn't figure the bears would be any problems. But I gotta ask. While reluctant to leave my road companion at home, I think I will keep the gun at home. Thanks for the tips on the bite. We probably don't plan to hike too far until we get our bearings better. I have never been there, so this first time, we are going to take it easy, be lazy and just fish a bit close to the truck.

Franklin got your PM and will check it out.
 
#7 ·
I usually go several times a year but I haven't made it up yet this season. The crossing and Tic flats are ok, but like everyone else mentioned, too crowded for me. Upstream a ways is better but all require a hike into the canyon of some sort, some worse than others. The pumping station is another good place to go in, not a secret by any means but one of the easier places to go in at. The water is really low this year so I wouldn't go in any higher upstream than that.
Have fun
 
#16 ·
I am not worried about finding holes to fish. I am confident I will know what to do when we get there. My problem is I don't know how to get to the main areas of the River. I don't need hidden holes. Its mine and my son's first time fishing there. I just want to get there in the most efficient way possible so i don't get lost.

At this point I am looking for directions to Ten O Diamonds or Tick Flat from Globe. Me and my boy just want to camp by the river and fish a bit. Catching is important on this trip, just having a good time with my son.
 
#19 ·
I haven't been since 92 or 93. Back then I got permits at the last circle k as you go through globe.

Like Franklin said, you really need a good map. Directions will get you lost. That said, in 93 I would go to point of pines, take the big nice dirt road NE for a while, one of the left turns will get you down to 10 of D's.

I'd kind of like to go back, but afraid to ruin the good memories. In all my trips I only ran into 1 other group. Can't imagine how crowded it is these days.
 
#21 ·
how come I have a feeling he is going to end up in mexico or worse New Mexico.
dude cant even find directions or a map on the freaking internet.
sounds like my daughter following map quest on her tablet going to pic up the table I bought out from under franklin a few years back ;) . she had us heading to baja mexico and she couldnt figure out why I was ignoring her directions.

Delw



 
#22 ·
So I figured everything out. It was a lot tougher than I thought to find the reliable way to the Lower End of the Black River. I don't have the time with work to make it across town to wide world of maps and I don't even know if they would of had what I needed in stock. So I bought the online book version of the Lower Black River guide from that guy on the HookedAZ site. While the guide book itself sucked in a big way, it did have two small maps in there that proved to be worth the ransom. Kinda. I still needed to work with Google Earth to put it all together. Thanks to the Author though, it was a help.

So after comparing the maps to the Google Earth Data, I found the roads I needed to get to the river. Its rough and I can see how easily it would be to get endlessly lost in those canyons without a guide of some sort. BTW Sportsmans no longer sells the passes or has those maps available either right now.

I bought all of my passes online at http://wmat.toffsystems.com/ . They can stack up real quick. I have paid $78 in permit fees so far for...
1) 2 Adult Fishing Permits for 3 Days at $9.00 each per day.
2) 1 Three Day Camping Pass at $8.00 per day.
And I have an email in to the tribe because I see that I may have to pay an additional Special USE Permit of $15 per day to access the Black River. I don't know if that one is true yet, but I am waiting to hear from them. That would add another $45 to my tab. No wonder you guys only go once or twice a year. This trip is already one of my most expensive non boat trips, and I haven't even put gas in the truck or bought food or beer yet! Oh well. If they keep it clean and stocked, its worth the expense.

We picked up some small creature baits and some small jig heads as well as a smaller lines to setup my rods. A lot of what is already in my lure bag will also work thankfully.

Thanks for all the tips. My son is stoked to finally do some real camping and fishing. I will post a report when I get back. This is gonna be fun.
 
#24 ·
PSSSSST
they dont stock smallies in the black river, they are natural, if you want trout you need to go up to the pumping station.


heres all you needed to do, stop at store and buy permits.
then drive down road like your going to san carlos. BIG sign on left hand side of road that heads north east reads Black river permits. some old indian dude in his white pickup truck is usually there selling maps and suck.
its the same road you take to point of pines one long ass dusty dirt road
 
#25 ·
I bought all of my passes online at http://wmat.toffsystems.com/ . They can stack up real quick. I have paid $78 in permit fees so far for...
1) 2 Adult Fishing Permits for 3 Days at $9.00 each per day.
2) 1 Three Day Camping Pass at $8.00 per day.
And I have an email in to the tribe because I see that I may have to pay an additional Special USE Permit of $15 per day to access the Black River..
If you bought permits from the White Mountain Apache Tribe, you shouldn't drive to the area from the San Carlos Apache side of the river.....
 
#28 ·
I dumped the Xterra a while ago and switched to a White Dodge RAM 1500 Quad Cab Big Horn with 4 x 4 and the Hemi. I have brand new BFG A/T KOs I bought in the spring. I should be OK. But if it pours, I don't know if it will be enough. We decided on Tick Flats, but may hit Black River Crossing as an alternative. Gonna play it safe this time.

LOL Del! I am not leaving til tomorrow. But I will keep an eye out for the state line. It's the big yellow one they paint across the country right? The messed up part is once I find the place, I will probably be pissed at myself for sweatin the details so much.

I know about the smallies, but all those trout make for an interesting return trip idea and the whole river benefits because they are stocking and saving those little buggers.
 
#34 ·
We'll know soon. We leave in about two hours.

From what I read on the White Mountain Apache Site, They said the fishing permits are good for both reservations and both sides of the river, I only have to make sure I camp on the right res.

Only questions is this "special use area" permit they are referencing. I don't know what "special use" areas they are talking about.
 
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