January 25, 2006
By Wayne Gustaveson
Lake Elevation: 3595
Water Temp: 47-50 F
Fishing in the southern end of Lake Powell is quite good on calm afternoons.  Fish feel the slight rays from the sun and come shallow to reminisce about being warm.  A good method for locating warm spots and potential fishing areas is to look for carp swimming on top.  They will be in the warmest water available and tip the presence of other predators in the same warm zone. 

Brush and aquatic weeds are common in the backs of canyons with water levels slowly declining. Small sunfish and bass are using the cover to hide from predators that would have them as forage. Prime fishing depth to take advantage of the current interplay between predator and prey is 25 feet in the back of the canyon.

When cold, fish do everything quite slowly.  Quick moving reaction type lures have no appeal. But, slow down a deep diving suspending crank bait and fish investigate.  We were casting Norman Little N suspending baits behind the boat and then letting out more line as the electric motor moved the boat away from the bait.  When about 3 casts worth of line lay on the water the bale was closed and the crank bait was slowly retrieved in 10 feet pulls. When the bait stopped it suspended.  With each sweep of the rod tip the bait would descend further and then suspend.  Pauses could be as long as 5-30 seconds.  At maximum depth the lures were bumping bottom at 20 feet.    With water depth 15-30 feet we were getting strikes as the lure stated moving again, from stripers, walleye, crappie and largemouth.

Fishing water shallower than 15 feet required a still slower presentation. Dropshot plastic shad bait was just the ticket. Stripers, largemouth, walleye and crappie could often be seen before being caught on the dropshot rig. This was more like spring than winter fishing. 

Stripers are still being caught in 20-60 feet of water on anchovies at the dam and in Navajo Canyon just on the upstream side of the big sand dune.   Striper condition has declined for some of the larger stripers as shad have become scarce in the southern lake. Striper fishing is picking up very early in the year due to the lack of forage.  Expect to catch stripers well for the rest of the winter and spring in southern Lake Powell. 

Further north, in mid and upper lake, conditions are completely different. Shad are plentiful, stripers are fat and dormant.  Try slow moving hard baits and anchovies in the same 25 foot zones at the canyon end but expect fishing to be wintery slow in the north country.  Night fishing for stripers is good in fits and spurts but not at all consistent.