Arizona · freestone
Hatch-chart nymphs, dries, and streamers for this river. Not a crowdsourced catch report.
Open the Tonto Creek (upper Rim) fly list →4 listed points. Map is Vellum land and Teal water — a desk chart, not a satellite.
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Tonto National Forest campground on FR 289 below the hatchery.
Tonto National Forest campground on FR 289.
Tonto National Forest campground on SR 260 near the creek.
End of FR 405, about 4.5 miles off SR 260. Creek access point #3 on the forest's Tonto Creek page.
Arizona fishing license required for anglers 10 and older. Rules cite Arizona Game and Fish Commission Order 40 (2025-26 regulations). Unless a special regulation applies, the statewide limit is four trout per day in any combination, and roundtail chub are catch and release only. Statewide trout limits apply on upper Tonto Creek. Fathead minnows are legal bait only on Tonto Creek from Gisela downstream, well below this reach.
Verify with Verify with the local fish and wildlife agency. Retrieved 2026-08-31. Seasons and gear rules change.
Upper Tonto Creek tumbles off the Mogollon Rim about 17 miles east of Payson. Forest Road 289 leaves State Route 260 at Kohls Ranch and follows the creek up to the Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery.
The Tonto National Forest lists rainbow, brown, and brook trout. Arizona Game and Fish stocks sections of the creek from mid-April until late August, and it shows up on the weekly Rim stocking lists most summer weeks. Statewide trout limits apply.
There are three main ways in. You can park at the hatchery lot at the top of FR 289, use the Horton and Upper Tonto Creek recreation sites lower on the same road, or drive FR 405 to Bear Flat. Respect the private property along the creek. There is no trash service, so pack out what you bring.
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Freestone
Rainbow Trout
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Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout
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Freestone
Roundtail Chub · Desert Sucker · Sonora Sucker
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Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout · Roundtail Chub
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Rainbow Trout · Gila Trout
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Freestone
Rainbow Trout · Roundtail Chub
If something here is thin or wrong, add what you know. It goes to review before it publishes.
Contribute to this riverNo USGS site is linked to Tonto Creek (upper Rim). We do not invent a site id or guess a flow.