Lake Elevation: 3628
Water Temperature 64-70 F
By: Wayne Gustaveson
Lake Powell has risen 6 feet since last weeks report. Water temperature has gone up 5 degrees. These massive changes really impact fishing success. Its not that fish quit biting but rather the changing lake makes fish more difficult to locate each day. They change position daily to find the right combination of temperature, light and depth. The good news is that once found, fish are very cooperative. It just takes some effort and understanding to get on the same wavelength with the fish.
Striped bass are still hanging out along main channel canyon walls from Wahweap to Bullfrog and beyond. They are a bit more hesitant to bite so it takes much more chumming with anchovies to get a school going and to keep them under the boat. Catch has diminished to 20-30 fish per trip instead of the 100 fish trips reported earlier in the year. Trolling success has declined as fish are deeper than they were making it necessary to troll in deeper water. Cooler spring temperatures have kept stripers in the main channel and the 30-60 foot strata at the backs of canyons where they will remain until shad schools entice them to come to the surface later in the month. There has been a noticeable change in school structure as school size is increasing with fewer scattered fish seen. That makes finding striper schools on the graph easier but it makes it more important to find the school before investing large amounts of chum. Continue to fish at the dam, Buoy 3, Navajo Canyon, shallow rocky ledges jutting into the main channel, Lake Canyon, and Red Canyon.
Bass fishing is still about finding the right habitat and depth. My best advice is to search the shoreline for bassy looking structure such as chunk rock, trees or points. The key difference is to get near the habitat but instead of casting to shore drop the bait directly under the boat to a depth of 25-30 feet. Let the bait rest on bottom or drift slowly with the boat. Bass will pause while looking at the stationary bait and then hit after thorough investigation. It's hard to fish slowly enough. The best rigging techniques are drop-shot and Carolina rigs which feature a free floating bait suspended just above the bottom. 
One of the best ways to catch fish now is to use a large night crawler or plastic bait on a drop shot rig at 30-40 feet. Walleye are deeper but still being caught in good numbers. Work the worm slowly along the bottom early in the morning or late in the evening to capture these tasty but elusive fish. Slow trolling with a bottom bouncing weight and worm harness with night crawler attached is working very well lakewide. Live worms on small hooks used along steep rocky shorelines are a good way to catch the underutilized bluegill and green sunfish that are abundant but seldom caught. Sunfish are fun to catch for kids of all ages and provide a tasty meal. They will often use a houseboat for shade. Sunfish get excited about eating when the prop wash from a boat maneuvering to park stirs up the bottom. Give sunfish a try near your camp. Catfish are there too just waiting to come to dinner.
