June 14, 2006
By Wayne Gustaveson
Lake Elevation: 3609
Water Temp: 75-82 F
Rising temperatures and lake levels have made big stripers go deeper while largemouth bass have moved into the shallows.

 

Stripers weighing more than 4 pounds cannot live in warm surface water and must go deeper to find a cool refuge.  Cool water may be found at 30 feet but mature stripers often go to 60 feet to rest during the heat of the day.  Stripers may still be caught on anchovy bait placed near the resting school.  A shower of anchovy chum may nudge the school into activity.   Striper fishing is still good in mid June but fish are caught deeper and more chumming is required to keep the school going.  

Between the deep resting striper school and the surface resides another band of abundant yearling stripers.  These 8-14 inch fish are mostly eating plankton in 5-15 feet of water but will pop to the surface when a school of larval shad is located. These little boils are seen early and late in the day.  Boil occurrence increases near the tributary inflow areas and are less near the dam.  Look in the backs of canyons or coves to find the diminutive boiling fish.

 

Larger stripers will not boil until next month when shad grow large enough to swim to open water where they will attract attention from schooling 2-3 pound fish.  

Largemouth bass seek out dense brush as their primary living area.   Newly flooded tamarisk forests were quickly occupied by bass and bluegill.  Casting to brush is not common in rocky Lake Powell so anglers will have to search for long forgotten spinnerbaits, topwater lures and weedless hooks to successfully present a lure in the brushy habitat.    The effort will be rewarded with shallow water and surface strikes from both big and small largemouth bass.

 

Smallmouth bass are abundant in shallow water but most of these are the small active juveniles.  Larger adult bass will be found at 15-35 feet. Use plastic baits on jig heads  to get down to the waiting fish.  Partially flooded brush sticking out of the water is only 2 feet deep.  Weedless tackle will not be needed when fishing deep water at the edge of the brush.     

Catfish can be caught all times of the day and night on shallow sand areas. They find the water temperature to be ideal for feeding and may be at the peak of activity for the year. Use a smelly bait of soft texture like chicken liver to entice catfish to bite.  Another favorite bait is hotdog rounds.  This bait may be easier to keep on hand in the food cooler.

Night fishing for stripers is getting much better lake wide.  Use a white or green light and some anchovy bait to catch more stripers at night.