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Home › Waters › Arizona › Black River
River · East-central Arizona, the White Mountains, forming the boundary between the Fort Apache and San Carlos Apache reservations · Arizona

Black River Fishing Guides

A remote White Mountains canyon river that is the stronghold of Arizona's native Apache trout.

The Colorado River curving below sandstone walls at Horseshoe Bend, Arizona
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Black River

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About the Black River

The Black River forms in the White Mountains of east-central Arizona and runs southwest through a deep, rough canyon that marks the boundary between the Fort Apache and San Carlos Apache reservations. It is the least developed trout river in the state and the hardest to reach, and both of those facts are the reason to go. Roads to the canyon are unpaved, slow and often impassable when wet, and the last stretch to the water is frequently on foot.

What lives here is the point. The Black and its forks are the core range of the Apache trout, Arizona’s state fish and one of only two trout native to the state. Decades of recovery work on these headwaters brought the species back from the edge, and the upper forks hold wild populations in water that looks much as it always has. Lower in the canyon the fishery shifts, with brown trout, stocked rainbows, smallmouth bass and catfish through the warmer reaches.

Fishing is small-water work. The upper river is a pocket-water stream fished with short casts, a dry-dropper rig and a lot of walking between holding lies, and the fish are not large. The reward is a wild native trout in a canyon where you are unlikely to see another angler all day. Below the forks the river opens out, the water warms, and a summer smallmouth float becomes possible when flows allow.

Permits are the thing to get right. Much of the river runs on tribal land, and fishing the reservation reaches requires a permit from the White Mountain Apache Tribe or the San Carlos Apache Tribe rather than, or in addition to, an Arizona licence. Rules differ between the two, and the boundary is the river itself. Sort the permit before you drive, because there is nowhere out there to sort it afterwards.

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Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

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Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Black River.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

Fort Apache - the White Mountain Apache tribal centre and the source of upstream permits.
Black River Crossing - the main road access to the canyon on the reservation boundary.
West Fork Black River - upper trout water with Forest Service campgrounds.
East Fork Black River - the other headwater fork, with wild trout and road access.
Diamond Rock and Buffalo Crossing - Forest Service campgrounds on the upper forks.
Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest roads - unpaved routes into the upper river, seasonal.
San Carlos Apache Reservation - the south bank, requiring a separate tribal permit.

Seasons

Spring: snowmelt fills the canyon and the upper forks run high and cold into May.
Summer: the prime season for the upper forks, with monsoon storms causing sudden rises.
Fall: low clear water, the best sight fishing of the year, and cool canyon weather.
Winter: snow closes the forest roads to the upper river for months at a time.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Black River?

As of Sep 17, 5:30 am, the USGS gauge BLACK RIVER NEAR FORT APACHE, AZ. reads 67 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Black River?

Anglers target Apache Trout, Brown Trout, Channel Catfish, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass on the Black River in Arizona.

Where can you access the Black River?

Fort Apache - the White Mountain Apache tribal centre and the source of upstream permits. Black River Crossing - the main road access to the canyon on the reservation boundary. West Fork Black River - upper trout water with Forest Service campgrounds. East Fork Black River - the other headwater fork, with wild trout and road access. Diamond Rock and Buffalo Crossing - Forest Service campgrounds on the upper forks. Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest roads - unpaved routes into the upper river, seasonal. San Carlos Apache Reservation - the south bank, requiring a separate tribal permit.

When is the best time to fish the Black River?

Spring: snowmelt fills the canyon and the upper forks run high and cold into May. Summer: the prime season for the upper forks, with monsoon storms causing sudden rises. Fall: low clear water, the best sight fishing of the year, and cool canyon weather. Winter: snow closes the forest roads to the upper river for months at a time.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Black River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Arizona agency site: https://www.azgfd.com/fishing-2/licenses-and-regulations/