August 10, 2006
By Wayne Gustaveson
Lake Elevation: 3606
Water Temp: 80-84 F
Fishing continues to be hot.  We fish managers feel we have a good fishery when catch rate exceeds one fish per hour.  A quick tabulation from our creel survey on Monday of this week shows 354 three-pound striped bass caught in 51 hours of fishing at Wahweap. That catch rate for striped bass only is 6.9 fish per hour. When bass and other species are added in the catch rate goes up.  Fishing at Lake Powell is 7 times better than just good fishing. It has been that way all year long and is expected to continue until winter.   

 

Striped bass are holding in cool water at 30-50 feet waiting for food.  The intersection of each canyon with the main channel is the best place to start fishing. I prefer to find a rock ledge on the edge of deep water where I can stand on shore to fish.  That way when the fish start biting there is room for many to be landed at once.  Whatever your fishing preference may be there are hungry fish waiting to be caught each day.  Please bring a fishing rod when boating and exploring beautiful Lake Powell.

 

Striper hot spots include the dam, mouth of Warm Creek, Padre Canyon, Last Chance, Rock Creek, San Juan at Piute and Neskahi, Escalante at Fifty Mile Canyon and Davis Gulch, Slick Rock, Lake Canyon, Hansen Creek and too many other spots to mention.

 

 

The technique is chumming a few finely cut anchovies and then bait fishing with anchovy chunks on ¼ ounce jig heads or Carolina or drop shot rigs.  If fish are around but not biting your hook, toss a chunk of bait with no weight attached.  The slow fall mimics descending chum and is irresistible to hungry stripers. Avoid using visible braided line or heavy test snelled hooks which cause sight feeding stripers to shy away from your bait. The leader within 3 feet of the hook must be clear monofilament or fluorocarbon line for best results.

Night fishing under fish attracting lights is excellent lake wide.

Yearling stripers and a few larger fish are feeding on the surface in the upper San Juan and near Hite. These boils happen early and late.  Larger fish are caught by spooning near surface feeding fish where shad are present.             

Bass have been almost forgotten with striper fishing being so good. But Good Hope, San Juan and Escalante have produced some of the best summer bass fishing in recent memory.  Largemouth are in the brush with shad and smallmouth deep at 25 feet.  Surface lures, jerk baits and plastic tubes and grubs are working well.

Crappie, sunfish, walleye and catfish are adding some variety to the catch. Fishing continues to delight all anglers in this amazing year which may mark the best fishing ever experienced in the history of Lake Powell.