I believe Langer is your go to authority on that area. Look up his recent posts.

I drove past Lake Mary two weeks ago but did not fish. Water level in the upper lake was nearly at capacity and there is still some water in the lower lake. There were fisherman by the dam on the lower lake shore fishing and a few near the dam on the upper lake. You can check fishing reports on the Sportsman's Warehouse site or at one of their stores here in the valley. They may have an update for you on Lake Mary.
Lake Mary is usually a muddy lake, lures with a lot of flash and vibration or bait are suggested there due to low visibility.

I don't have a handyman business.

Thanks for the additional information.

What usually hurts shore fishing is the heat. Once water temps rise in Arizona the fish go deep. How late did you fish up in the Castle Creek area? Park hours are 6am to 8pm this time of year. I've been out on the boat and rushed to get to the ramp by 7pm or so and often wondered what would happen if I had engine trouble and didn't get to the gate by 8pm?

I wouldn't rent out my boat. It is a 37 yr old aluminum Bass Tracker and I'd feel bad if something went wrong with it. I fished Pleasant from shore this morning just east of the 10 boat ramp. Got broke off by something big that grabbed my 4" Kalin's paddle tail swim bait. I never saw it but assume it was a striped bass. Three big head shakes and then snapped my new 17lb flourocarbon leader. Saw three decent largemouth bass cruising the little bay right there east of the 10 boat ramp but couldn't get them interested in anything I threw at them.

Get there an hour or two before sunset and catch some bluegill, sunfish, or small carp and use them for bait. The big flathead catfish love them. I've caught flatheads in the Bartlett Flats area across from the Yellow Cliffs. Anchovies work well for catfish, you can buy frozen bait anchovies in the sporting goods section of some WalMart stores and also Sportsman's Warehouse. Walmart at Happy Valley Rd and I-17 and also the one at Deer Valley Rd and Lake Pleasant Parkway both sell frozen bait anchovies.

That could possibly be an option. The Mrs. doesn't let me take the boat out by myself. If my regular fishing partner isn't available I may contact you. What part of town are you in? We might be able to meet up sometime beforehand. I typically fish Mondays which is my day off and lake traffic is reduced.

Crappie fishing in AZ is similar with the exception of weed beds. Since most of the reservoirs change water level so drastically during the year often the spring time high water mark is nowhere near any weeds. Often submerged brush from when the reservoirs are flooded and in some cases AZ Game and Fish has sunk old Christmas trees or what is called a Georgia Cube arrangement.
The only lakes I've caught crappie at recently have been Alamo Lake using curly tailed grubs, Roadrunners with paddle tails, and paddle tails on jig heads; and at Lake Pleasant on jigging spoons while fishing for Striped Bass. Be aware that the limit for crappie varies by lake in Arizona so check the regs for your lake.
Very late March and early April is the typical time for the crappie spawn here in AZ as well. There are some black nosed crappie in a few of the urban ponds in the east valley as well. I've caught a couple while bass fishing.

There are a few posts you can look up on this site regarding shore fishing at Lake Pleasant. I typically fish the lake from a boat but shore fished a few weeks ago just east of the ten lane boat ramp on the west side of the lake. I had decent luck catching white bass using a paddle tail plastic on a Roadrunner underspin.
There are some people who do ok from shore at different parts of the year up in the Castle Creek area on the north west end of the lake. Lake Pleasant changes in water depth by 40-60 feet throughout the season. We are currently coming up on the high water mark for the year. Shoreline and fishing areas will change drastically throughout the year.
Another note, keep an eye out for rattlesnakes, bobcats, mountain lions, and those pesky wild burros.

Nicely done Rgipple

No photos of the stripper?

Is there a specific area of Arizona that you want information on? There is quite a range; several trout species in the rivers and lakes in the mountains, northern pike and walleye in a few select mountain lakes along with trout, large mouth, small mouth bass, white bass, and yellow bass in most of the major reservoirs. Striped bass in the Colorado river lakes and in Lake Pleasant. Crappie in all of the major reservoirs along with sunfish and bluegill. Flathead and channel catfish in all of the major reservoirs and Lake Mary. Urban lakes are stocked with trout in the winter, catfish, sunfish, and bass in the warmer months. The Arizona Game & Fish website has stocking schedules for both the urban and mountain lakes.

We fished Alamo Lake Monday, March 4th. 8 hours on the lake yielded six fish, none of the target species, crappie. Four small largemouth bass < 1.5lb, one sunfish, one carp. By 8am there were about 40 boats sitting in the center of the lake in 23 feet of water. We saw only two crappie caught by that armada. Several bass fisherman were fishing the tree line but we didn't see any fish caught there. The wind kicked up about 11am and all but five boats left the lake. Water clarity was about 2 feet. Hopefully the crappie will turn on in the next few weeks!

I fished Lake Pleasant Sunday, March 10th. Normally I fish from a boat on weekdays to avoid weekend traffic on the water. Since it was a Sunday I decided to try my hand at shore fishing. 6:30am - 8:30am fishing just north of the Castle Creek boat ramp with no luck, didn't even see a bluegill or small bass near shore. Plenty of carp jumping though.
I relocated to just east of the ten boat ramp with the visitor center visible over my right shoulder and cast an underspin along the wind blown bank. Picked up four decent white bass (large crappie size) on about twenty casts before it was time to leave. Wished I had started at the wind blown bank in the first place.