There are about 3,400 species of spiders in North America, north of Mexico and about  40,000 worldwide. The fishing spider is from the genus Dolomedes, there are over a hundred Dolomedes species worldwide. Fishing spiders are found near water or in wooded areas. These spiders are generally more active in summer, the females are larger than the males. They hunt by waiting at the edge of a stream, they feed on mostly mayflies and other aquatic insects. They are prey to mostly birds, as well as snakes. Fishing spiders are not aggressive to people and rarely bite. I found this spider along Oak Creek, near Sedona, Arizona.