Lake Powell Fish Report

Have you made a recent fishing trip to Lake Powell?
If you have, please let us know how you did. E-mail your fishing report to Wayne Gustaveson (wayne@wayneswords.com). Please include who you are and where you're from, dates fished, location, tackle used, species and number of fish caught and any other information you would like to pass on to other anglers.

Visit the Anglers Corner - Fishing reports from Lake Powell by anglers for anglers.

If you have a question try posting on WAYNESWORDS FORUMS.

Reports from the previous week can be seen by clicking on Archived Fish reports

ARCHIVED FISH REPORTS

September 1, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3634
Water Temp: 75-78 F

Two distinct patterns are now in place making it much easier for anglers to find stripers. Striped bass adults are hungry for shad that hide in the backs of coves and canyons. Shad are shallow and stripers are deep, guarding the migration route leading to the shad sanctuary. Stripers are found by graphing the submerged creek channel leading to the back of most short coves. Consistent holding depth for striper schools is 40-60 feet.

Striper School on Graph

My search pattern involves graphing the breaking edge of the submerged channel. I like to look at the bottom from 45-50 feet very near the edge leading to shallower water. Lately most fish traces graphed in this zone have been striped bass. Shad, both gizzard and threadfin, are shallow. Bass are in the brush. So any traces in deeper water are likely stripers.

To confirm fish identity drop a spoon straight down, let it hit bottom and then jig it two feet off bottom and let it fall back a couple of times. If no takers speed reel quickly in 15 foot bursts, then jig the spoon once more at mid depth. This gets the attention of resting stripers who then may show interest as the spoon descends to the bottom once more. A combination of speed reeling and rapidly descending spoons usually gets a striper school going within 5 minutes early in the morning.

Second pattern: Stripers are more often found on steep canyon walls after 9 AM. Cut bait, first chummed and then hooked on a short shank, lightweight jig head is an unbeatable combination right now. Look for a cliff wall than ends near a rocky flat or rockslide where resting stripers have a close venue to forage on crayfish. Chum excites the resting school. Once started, the school feeds for about an hour before shutting down once more. Catches of 25-50 three-pound fish are common right now.

You will find striper school composition with larger fish resting on the bottom (50-60 feet) with mid-sized fish in the middle and small young-of-year stripers near the surface. Once the school starts feeding the size classes mix and any size fish can be caught. Often a few fish will hit the surface but we have found surface action includes only the small and mid size stripers. Bigger fish are usually deeper.

Regular boils with big stripers still happen morning and evening near the inflowing water of the Colorado and San Juan.

Bass fishing is steady for those using drop shot rigs and fishing the ends of rocky points leading into the main channel or the submerged creek channels leading to shad sanctuaries.

Fishing is great! Expect to catch lots of stripers. Lake water is still warm so put fish in a cooler on ice. Don't put them on a stringer in the warm water where decomposition will be accelerated.

August 25, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3635
Water Temp: 77-80 F

8-inch striper with shad and crayfish in stomach

The main lake fishery is evolving once more. There is still a separation of shad from the striped bass population but that separation is working to the advantage of the angler. Stripers are hungry making them very vulnerable to angling.

At first light this morning we found a few stripers chasing shad near shore. It was not a boil but the splashes observed were obviously made by a handful of stripers. Casts with a shallow running crankbait to the splash rings confirmed 3-4 pound stripers were feeding on top in the predawn light near shore.

That action was short lived but soon replaced by a whirlpool of tiny stripers running along the shallow shoreline. These 6-12 inch fish were working the shad schools over in the brush. The tiny tigers would readily hit a 4-inch shallow running crankbait and put up a tremendous struggle for their size. The amazing part was the entourage of 20-40 stripers chasing each hooked fish back to the boat. A glance at the graph confirmed that these fish were schooled under the boat in 20 feet of water. We dropped spoons down to the waiting fish and they immediately began playing volleyball with our spoons. Catching was fast and furious. Later at the fish cleaning station we found that these smaller stripers had more shad in their stomachs than any of the large stripers.

After losing contact with the small fish we ran toward the back of Warm Creek. In the middle of the bay near the floating restroom we saw more isolated splashes. Surface lures cast to the splash rings were ignored but the graph indicated a huge school of fish below the boat. Spoons were deployed and stripers (2-5 pounds) were caught every cast for over an hour. Some fish would hit within visual range right under the boat while others were 60-90 feet deep. We just let our spoons free fall waiting for the line to stop or twitch, at which point we took up the slack and set the hook. Spoon fishing is now wide open. Only a few stripers are finding shad while the rest of the school is eagerly hitting anything resembling a shad. If I could only use one lure right now it would be a spoon. This strategy will likely hold for the rest of the year. Bait fishing is still excellent both at night and during the day when stripers have quit chasing on top and go deeper to rest.

Water temperature is beginning to fall. It will be another two weeks before bass return to shallow water. For now smallmouth bass are still down at 20-35 feet. Largemouth are in the brush. Both species want the bait worked slowly and fairly deep. It takes a while to convince them to bite but they will cooperate with the patient angler. Bass fishing will improve dramatically when water temperature cools another 10 degrees.

Catfish and sunfish are still ready and willing.

The forage shortage that is beginning makes it wise for all anglers to keep most of the fish caught. Striped bass, 9-12 inch smallmouth, and walleye should all be harvested. Largemouth and crappie should be released as their numbers will decline with a decrease in brush shelter next year. Every small striper caught should be kept as they are the most efficient predator in the lake right now.

August 18, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3635.9
Water Temp: 78-82 F

Adult stripers are now separated from shad forage in the main lake. Predation from all game fish has been intense and very effective for the past two months. What shad are left have moved shallow into the warmest water with brush where adult stripers cannot effectively follow. Small yearling stripers still chase shad on the surface each morning and evening but large boils are confined to the inflow areas and to isolated coves where stripers have close access to deep cooler water. There will be another short boil season when water temperature drops in late September but for now fishing techniques must change.

Shaggy

While boils have ceased, catching stripers became much easier. Adult stripers are hungry and very willing to eat bait presented to them in holding areas. The classic holding spot features very deep water, such as a steep cliff along the main river channel, which ends suddenly in a shallow flat area, or an isolated rock slide. Stripers without shad search for crayfish which are found under rocks in shallow water. They hold in deep water and make quick feeding trips to rock slides and shallow rocky flats. Just think of areas that have produced good striper fishing in early May when bait fishing is good. All those spots should now be in play once more.

Expect to find striper schools holding at the dam, buoy 3, buoy 9, buoy 12 (Warm Creek Wall), Navajo Canyon, mouth of Labyrinth, Last Chance near main channel rock slides, Rock Creek mouth. At mid lake the mouth of Lake Canyon, slick rock points near Lost Eden, mouth of Halls Creek, Bullfrog Bay (Dome Rock) and points upstream from Moki Wall.

From Good Hope bay upstream shad are still available so striper boils continue. The same is true in the upper San Juan. Stripers are in prime condition where shad are plentiful. Condition is still good in the lower lake but stripers are no longer growing. Average fish weigh 3.5 pounds.

Bass fishing is still good most days for those that fish drop-shot or Carolina rigs with soft plastic baits down to 30 feet. Fish slowly to entice a bite from curious bass.

Catfish are very willing to eat and provide great sport near camp in the evening hours. Numbers of visitors have diminished making the lake more attractive for anglers. With the change in shad forage it is now recommended that all stripers caught be kept. It is time to save shad once more. "Catch and Keep" stripers for the benefit of all fish species in Lake Powell.

August 12, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3636
Water Temp: 78-82 F

Shad Run For Cover!

Results of our sampling this week show shad to be all but gone from the main channel in the main lake. Very few shad were captured in midwater trawl tows from Wahweap to Good Hope. This means that frequency of main channel boils is now greatly reduced. Shad have moved into brush and marina areas where cover offers some protection from the relentless pursuit of predators. Anglers must be aware that cruising the main channel looking for boils is no longer productive. Surface feeding activity continues in side canyons and coves where shad are now hiding.

Lora Gonzalez

The notable exception is found near the inflowing Colorado and San Juan rivers where shad still occupy open water. From Good Hope Bay to Hite there is significant boil activity. Recently the boil time period was 6 - 7:30 PM (MST). Boils, seen in the evening, offer some of the best fishing of the year. Fish were very aggressive and hit most lures without hesitation. Boils were still quick lasting less than a minute. They do come back up quickly offering a second chance to make a good cast. Fish are strong enough that it is unusual to be able to land one and get a second cast into the same school before it goes down.

A few scattered fish were seen surfacing in the morning. These were scattered and reluctant to hit surface lures. Cranking down 5-10 feet was sometimes effective but the best technique was to cast a spoon to the diminishing splash rings and let it fall 30 feet. If fish did not hit on the way down they would often follow the spoon during a rapid retrieve with frequent pauses (speed reeling). Walleye and bass were also caught using this same early morning spooning method.

With shad now gone from open water striper feeding opportunities will diminish making stripers more susceptible to bait fishing. It is wise to bring frozen sardines or anchovies along to use when schools of fish are located on the graph. My first attempt to excite the resting school would be with a spoon, but failing that bait should work.

Night fishing may now be the very best way to catch stripers. Use a floating fishing light to attract plankton and shad. Allow about 30 minutes before stripers are attracted to the feeding opportunity. Then use cut bait right on the edge of the light and underneath the shad school. Anchor where water depth is over 50 feet deep for best results. Marina areas hold many shad and offer night lighting to attract fish each night. You might try the fish docks at both Antelope Point and Wahweap Marinas.

Bass fishing remains fair to good but fishing deep water is essential to get the bait down to where fish are enjoying cooler water. Currently the best bass fishing technique is dropshot plastic baits fished under the boat at 25-35 feet.

Catfishing is excellent at night. Sunfish are ever present around parked boats and make for easy fish for kids to catch.

August 4, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3636
Water Temp: 80-85 F

Early morning boil

Stripers and shad are in transition mode again. "Slurps", where stripers casually eat tiny shad and ignore most angler offerings, are coming to an end. Shad have grown some, but more importantly stripers have ranged a bit closer to shore and found larger forage to eat. Size of shad found in striper stomachs has doubled in a week's time. These larger shad are harder for stripers to corner and catch. That makes stripers much more aggressive in pursuing shad and much more likely to hit lures. All of this equates to good times for anglers who love to use surface lures. Striper "boils" have now started.

In July there were countless numbers of finicky pods of complacent stripers popping up randomly throughout the day. Now there will be fewer surface disturbances seen but those that do come up will hold more fish with a larger appetite. Timing will be much the same with early morning and late evening being most productive. But there will be boils found at random times and locations throughout the day.

It is now wise to have a rod rigged with a full size surface lure that can be cast long distances. When fish come up the rod can be quickly deployed and a fish caught as soon as the boat nears the surfacing fish. If the first fish is landed quickly enough a second can be caught from the same school. Boil duration will increase with each day in August.

Best location for boils is Good Hope Bay but this transition period will make fishing exciting and productive over the length of Lake Powell. Expect to find boils close to the main channel in all canyons. Stripers will not go toward the back of the canyons and coves until later in the month or until September if open water shad numbers hold out that long.

Not all splashes will be made by stripers. One-pound smallmouth have seen tantalizing shad schools and moved out into open water. Bass usually feed individually or with 2-3 friends. Small groups of surfacing fish in shallow water near shore will likely be boiling bass. They provide great sport on surface poppers and shallow running jerk baits. Largemouth will also come to the surface to feed. Run buzz baits, stick baits and poppers over submerged treetops at first light in the morning for largemouth action.

Walleye are still found in large numbers in the tree tops from Bullfrog to Hite. Trolling the edge of the tree line in 30 feet of water with medium diving lures that run just above the tree tops is very effective.

Jumpin' Minnow - Surface lure for "walking the dog"

Catfish and sunfish are often ignored because of the glamour of their larger cousins but these smaller fish provide great sport for youngsters just learning how to fish. Lake Powell is a great place to teach kids how to fish because their efforts will be rewarded within a short time. Sunfish can be seen swimming around trees and near boats. They can be caught on a small worm-baited hook. Teaching a kid how to fish is a worthy goal for any family trip.

Remember to clean drain and dry your boat before coming to Lake Powell. It is still mussel free and will remain that way if all boaters practice good mussel defensive practices.

July 28, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3636
Water Temp: 82-87 F

It appears full moon during the heat of the summer in July cools fishing off. Slurps are still happening both night, morning and mid day but fish are finicky and hard to catch. The best feeding period is the last two hours of daylight. On calm evenings it is possible to catch 10-25 surface feeding stripers. If the pesky afternoon wind blows there are not a lot of fish caught.

Evan Carlson

Expect to see quick little pods of 5-10 stripers busting the surface and then going right back down. If the schools are larger or the small school comes back up a number of times then it is possible to catch more fish. The southern lake is pretty quiet with only a few stripers caught per day. Catch rate is more respectable in the San Juan and at Red Canyon in Good Hope Bay.

It is possible to find a resting school of stripers that will respond to bait. Stripers favor a few deep resting spots and can be caught in good numbers at depths of 30-70 feet. Find stripers on the graph, chum heartily and then drop bait to the depth that stripers were seen. This action is spotty as stripers really prefer to go in search of shad. They may be resting in a deep holding area one day and be gone 3 miles up channel the next.

Expect real boils to begin in mid-August after shad have grown larger.

Bass fishing follows the same pattern. Fish are deep and not very cooperative. Little smallmouth are still shallow and will provide consistent action, but larger fish are as deep as 35-50 feet. All of this will change as surface temperature declines a few degrees and the full moon wanes. This week best fishing will be found on calm evenings during the last two hours of daylight.

Catfish and sunfish are not affected by full moon. They still provide fast action for kids of all ages on live worms near camp.

July 21, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3637
Water Temp: 82-89 F

Lake elevation has stabilized and water temperature is at its peak for the summer. It was 84 degrees this morning at sunrise. These factors allow sport fish to settle into a pattern without responding to water level changes. Occasional monsoon cloud bursts are taken in stride without lasting impact. .

The water is warmer than most fish prefer sending most deeper during the heat of the day. Young shad take advantage of this and hang out at the surface hoping for separation from lake predators. Striped bass hang out at cooler depth strata but "look up" for a chance at an easy meal from the tiny bait fish. Stripers rise quickly as a group surround shad, eat quickly and then go back to cooler water. Sometimes the whole process takes a few seconds. At other times a bigger shad school makes it worth working up a sweat to eat more fish and the boil may continue for a few minutes.

Rich Tolway

Catching fish focused entirely on eating three-quarter inch long larval shad is challenging, especially when predators have to dive quickly for personal comfort. Here are some tricks to even the playing field a bit until shad have time to grow large enough to be bigger targets.

When a boil is observed try to determine direction of travel so the boat can be in position to cast when fish resurface. The most vulnerable time for slurping stripers is the first time they break surface in attack. Almost any lure cast to a fish as it breaks surface will be eaten.

More likely the boat will be in casting range when the school is headed for deep water. Follow the diving fish with a small diving lure like a Lucky Craft pointer or rattletrap. The most versatile lure is one that will descend quickly to the fish holding depth. Spoons and swim baits can be fished on top, at mid depth and in the deeper cool zone. Vary speed of retrieve until it is apparent that fish want it fast or slow. That speed preference seems to change throughout the day.

Catching slurpers is challenging. This activity is found lake wide and seeing slurps morning and evening is assured. Boiling fish are found more often uplake when cooler water is closer to the surface because of the recent heavy runoff. Best boils and highest catches are coming from Good Hope bay to Hite.

Don't forget bass with all the surface striper chasing going on. Casting a plastic grub in smoke or watermelon color at fist light in the morning is almost a sure thing. Again the northern lake is best.

Ten-inch smallmouth are ever present over the length of the lake. Little bass and sunfish provide great sport for kids learning how to fish. Take some time out form water sports to teach a youngster the joy of fishing. He or she will be forever grateful. Small hooks and live worms are all that is needed. The same goes for catfish. Fish cats in the evening at supper time and bass in the early morning or under the shade of the houseboat. Can it be that easy? Try it and see.

For those that have never experienced a slurp here is the common surface disturbance seen as the fish leave the surface.

This is the most ferocious boil seen on the lake shown here for reference when trying to explain the difference between the aggressiveness of the two types of feeding activity.

July 14, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3638
Water Temp: 80- 85 F

This is what to expect on a typical summer morning. We launched at Wahweap Stateline Ramp at 5 AM. After the boat inspection for mussel prevention we headed toward Castle Rock Cut. Single fish splashes were seen along the way but no striper slurps or boils. That is not surprising as sunlight on the water is needed for predators to see the tiny larval prey fish they are eating. As we headed to the back of Warm Creek we stopped to see if any of those single surfacing fish would hit a lure. All offerings were ignored and an occasional yellow flash was seen indicating most of these fish were carp.

Near the mouth of Crosby Canyon jumping fish were still scatted but some were in close proximity. The boat was eased in the middle of the loose congregation of fish as various surface lures, flies, spoons and rattle traps were deployed toward each splash. Small (8-12 inch) yearling stripers were quite cooperative. They hit flies, and small spoons, but their favorite was a blue rattletrap. In the next hour, 21 of the best eating fish in the lake were put on ice.

Cayen Foye

Then we headed across Warm Creek on the way to Padre Bay. It was slow going with a stop every 200 yards to cast at a 10 fish pod of slurping stripers. Some days a fish can be caught from each pod. Not this time. Not a single fish hit a lure until we headed up the main channel. Here the rattletrap again was preferred as one striper could be caught out of every 5 pods of fish encountered.

In Padre Bay, slurps were a bit larger and one fish was occasionally caught when the lure was placed perfectly in front of the lead fish. I can't explain the lack of respect for many of my casts that I thought perfect, yet were ignored for some undiscovered reason.

On the return trip we saw pods of fish continuing to work in the same vicinity seen an hour earlier on the trip uplake. The difference was more fish in each pod but perhaps less aggression as they were totally focused on larval shad and not on artificial lures. At the fish cleaning station we had 21 small stripers, eight 3-pounders and one walleye that ate a spoon that got too close to the bottom.

Bass and walleye fishing remain good for the "dog days" of mid summer. Deep diving crankbaits cast into the tree line consistently produces fish but a few lures are lost in the process. Walleye are still caught trolling over tree tops. Their numbers are at a record level not seen since the 1980s. Largemouth in the 4-6 pound range continue to provide great sport for those hoping to catch their personal best bass. Smallmouth fishing is good but larger fish are deeper on rock structure. Fish 25-35 feet deep for the best chance to catch a quality smallmouth bass. Catfishing in the evening and after dark is exceptional.

Now that the lake has quit rising good fishing spots will continue to produce fish each trip. Find a good spot and it will continue to pay off for the next month.
Best fish catching bait this week was the Kinami Rattle Flash (Blue Chrome).

July 7, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3638
Water Temp: 79- 84 F

Bullfrog Is Boiling!

The main channel upstream from Bullfrog has erupted with significant sustained striper boils. That is the place to be right now. Cruise the main channel from Bullfrog to Good Hope Bay early in the morning or in the evening to find cooperative striped bass chasing shad on the surface. Slurping boils are still seen every day in the main channel near Wahweap but fishing near Bullfrog and upstream is much more rewarding.

Evan and Gabe Carlson

Boils are seen more often in the main channel than in the backs of canyons. Shad migrate into the channel in search of plankton where they are found by stripers that have recently completed spawning in main channel areas. Later as shad grow larger they will leave the channels and bays to seek shelter in brush ringed coves. For now, search the channels and bays morning and evening to find hungry striped bass.

The next step in boil progression will be at Hite. The water is now clearing rapidly as runoff has subsided to normal summer flow patterns. With increased visibility shad will migrate into the channels as they have done down lake and stripers will find them. There are more shad in the productive inflow areas. Expect boils to be bigger and stronger each day in the Hite area. That will be the place to be from mid July to the end of the month.

Walleye fishing remains strong from Bullfrog to Hite. Record numbers of walleye were found in northern lake sampling last year. Those fish are hungry and willing to hit live worms, plastic baits and trolled crankbaits. Morning, evening and night are the best times to fish for these light sensitive fish. They can be caught mid day and afternoon in areas where wind or wave action has created a mudline which provides shade for these ambush feeders. Muddy coves along the main channel are great walleye producing spots.

Bass continue to hit plastic baits, live worms, and spinnerbaits. Largemouth will be right inside dense brushy shelter. Weedless rigged baits that can be worked through and retrieved from brush are the most effective. Four-pound largemouth are still being caught each week.

Smallmouth bass are on rock structure and seemed to be found more often in the backs of canyons and coves than in open bays. Trailing a single tail plastic grub rigged Carolina style or fishing drop-shot rigged plastic baits directly under the boat at 25 feet seems to the best method for successfully taking bass right now.

Catfishing is awesome on sandy beaches near camp in the evenings and just after dark.

It's the dog days of summer but Lake Powell fish don't care. They are still being caught in good numbers and in exciting fashion.

June 30, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3638
Water Temp: 78- 83 F

Summer has arrived! Water temperature on the surface at Stateline Ramp early this morning was 80 degrees. Fish are undaunted by the warm water and continue to provide great sport with only minor adjustments in fishing techniques. Lake level has now stabilized.

Stripers are really showing off. Small pods of slurping fish are seen constantly from Wahweap to Good Hope Bay. The visual display is awesome, the chase exhilarating. Return to the fish cooler is somewhat less.

During full moon, slurps were best on calm evenings and during mid day. With the moon now waning early morning fishing will improve. The secret to catching fish from slurps is casting a tiny shad imitator in front of the rapidly moving school and allowing the lure to swim into view of the lead fish. When striper pods only surface once it is very difficult to move the boat in range and cast while the fish are still feeding on top. The game changes when the same school will resurface two or more times. Then it can be determined which way fish are headed and the boat positioned to be in casting range when the school comes up. At that point surface lures, rattle traps, flies and spoons will be consumed at about an equal rate. If I could only use one lure right now it would be a small spoon. If the school stays up or resurfaces cast the spoon beyond and reel it quickly through the school. If the fish go down then let the spoon free fall as the fish descend. This is the only bait that has the versatility to stay with the school no matter their intent.

Evan Carlson and Bluegill

If filling the cooler with stripers is the goal then bait fishing is still the best bet. Copious chum is required to keep a resting school interested. Steep main channel and main canyon walls now harbor the schools of larger stripers that are patently waiting for larval shad to grow big enough to provide meals for larger stripers that can only swim in the warm surface zone for a very short time.

Bass fishing has moved to the basement. Warm surface water has forced forage and bass down to the 15-30 foot mark. Tweak techniques slightly to present the bait in an irresistible manner. Split shot and drop shot rigs are now the best techniques to present plastic grubs and senkos to hungry smallmouth bass. Rigged in this manner the weight hits the bottom while the plastic bait is suspended and remains motionless for a time. Live worms presented in this manner will work on all game fish that swim in the lake.

Catfishing is superb now on worms, shrimp, chicken liver, sardines or table scraps. Bluegill will congregate under your shady boat hoping the prop wash will stir up some food. Kids of all ages will love using flies or blood worms on tiny hooks to catch curious, tenacious sunfish.

Wally Lure - Shad Minnow spoons (wallylures.com)

Smallest spoons work best right now.

June 23, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3638
Water Temp: 70-78 F

Slurps and Boils!

We will be talking about surface feeding by striped bass for the rest of the summer. Here are some terms that will make it easier for you to understand my reports. "Slurps" are defined as surface feeding by stripers of all sizes on very small larval shad. Tiny shad are poor swimmers. There is not much chance of them eluding stripers that line up with open mouths and skim the surface sucking in shad as they go. The scrimmage line moves along at high speed (3-5 mph). Slurpers go down when the boat gets in range but then resurface in random directions. If they come up near the boat stripers are easier to catch. If they surface well out of range the boat must be quickly repositioned to get in casting range again.

Psycho Fly - Wild Hare Baits

"Boils" happen when all size stripers trap fast swimming juvenile and adult shad at the surface and feed voraciously while shad are trapped within the circular stationary striper school. Boiling stripers consume large surface lures that can be cast for long distances.

Slurping stripers can be fussy eaters because their prey is so small. The feeding school can move in just about any direction as larval shad are commonly found in most open water areas. Fishing success in slurps requires precision casting. A lure tossed into the scrimmage line will spook the whole school or be ignored by fish looking straight ahead. But a lure cast well in front of the first fish and worked back into the scrimmage line will be seen and sometimes eaten. This morning slurpers would take full size surface lures and crankbaits until 8 AM. Then we used finesse streamer flies behind a casting bubble to deliver a small bait a very long way. This method proved just as effective for stripers as it is for trout.

Stripers are now slurping intermittently throughout the day. This morning slurps were seen from Wahweap Bay to Navajo Canyon to Padre Bay and beyond. My guess is that stripers are slurping from Wahweap to Bullfrog and perhaps as far uplake as Good Hope Bay. The upper lake beyond Good Hope is too muddy for slurps. Slurps will last through the rest of June with boils beginning in July. Stripers caught from slurps this morning weighed between 3 and 4 pounds.

Excellent fishing for big largemouth bass exists in the tree line that is now mostly under water. Use heavy line with weedless plastic baits worked right in the thickest brush for best results.

Smallmouth bass are found on rocky structure in the main canyons and main channel. Smaller bass are shallow while larger bass are at depths of 15-30 feet. Tube jigs, Carolina rigs and drop shot baits fished along the breaking edge of fast falling sloping rock are very effective.

Walleye continue to be caught in the largest numbers seen since the 1980s. Trolling along brushy treetops, crawling worm harnesses along the bottom and casting to muddy coves morning and evening are all effective techniques.

Fishing success continues to be awesome. The only drawback/benefit now is that the technique determines which species will be caught. It is possible to pick which fish to catch by choosing a location and a technique to match the target species.

Fly tied by Dave Sellers

June 16, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3635
Water Temp: 67-75 F

Lake Powell rose 5 feet since the last report one week ago. Daily inflow is currently near 85,000 acre feet per day. Fishing remains good despite rapidly rising water and interesting weather patterns.

Smallmouth bass are ever-present. Just drop a plastic grub along the breaking edge of rocky structure for constant hookups from smaller fish. Rocky points and ledges are good but the best structure is off shore in open water where a shallow island has just gone under water. Look for yellow water in the sea of clear blue in the main lake. Fish the edges where the blue and yellow water meet remembering that two weeks ago anything shallower than 10 feet was dry land. For larger fish let the plastic bait go deeper to 25 and even 35 feet.

Harry Peterson

Largemouth bass and walleye are hanging in submerged tree tops. Bass are expected to be there. Fish a tube or senko in the submerged branches. Find alley ways for safe retrieval lanes. The key is to work these baits slowly with great patience while imagining a bass studying the bait and decided whether to strike or not. Large bass up to 6 pounds continue to be caught on a daily basis.

Walleye have found trees to be a perfect ambush site for feeding opportunities on shad and sunfish. Submerged tamarisk groves are often of uniform height. I found that trolling lures within a foot of the tree tops provides consistent walleye action. My bevy shad was diving to tree top level, but not hanging up, where bottom depth was 17 feet. A zigzag pattern was necessary to keep the lure in the strike zone as depth rose and fell on the trolling course. A deeper/shallower running lure would require a different bottom depth but trail and error will allow understanding of proper trolling depth. If the lure hangs in tree tops use a deeper bottom depth. The walleye reward makes the trolling challenge worthwhile.

Stripers have begun the morning slurping ritual. At 6 AM (MST) small schools hit the surface to feed on larval shad. They slurp for a few seconds and then are gone again. A school will surface a few times and then go deep until they choose to come up again. There are sporadic slurps throughout the day. These fish are not often catchable A very small lure like a Clouser minnow fly will be taken but it is hard to put the boat in position to deliver a fly to a quick moving school. Shad are growing each day and within two weeks they will be big enough for stripers to accept surface lures. Then the fun begins with daily boiling action.

For now when stripers are not slurping they will react to sardines/anchovies cut up in small pieces and chummed near a resting school. Catches of 20-50 fish have been reportedly caught on bait this week.
So far 2010 has been provided phenomenal fishing. Looks like that will continue with significant striper boils during the summer months. Fishing Lake Powell is really a lot of fun.

Bevy Shad - Troll for walleye over trees where bottom depth is 17 feet.

June 9, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3630
Water Temp: 72-78 F

Lake Powell rose 4 feet since the last report one week ago. Daily inflow is currently near 74,000 acre feet per day. Water temperature went right through the upper 60s on its way to 80F.

The water temperature spike was exactly what striped bass were waiting for. They spawned last week from June 2-5 in Padre Bay. Spawning in most lake locations probably occurred at about the same time but local differences in wind, and water temperature may have allowed spawning to happen a week sooner or later at individual locations. Spawning by stripers ascending the Colorado River will occur next week as water warms and fish swim to Cataract Canyon to lay eggs. These eggs roll and tumble in violent current for two days. Hatching occurs as eggs reach the calm lake inflow. Here they survive on small plankton until large enough to eat fish.

Jacob Berry - Walleye

There have been no reports of anglers finding a school of spawning stripers and catching trophy fish. It looks like the spawning discovery was more of an academic exercise. But is was fun and rewarding to track the school and determine spawning duration.

Another sampling event has much more interest to anglers. Larval shad tows indicate good numbers of young shad are being hatched in the backs of most canyons. It will be only a matter of days until these young shad are discovered by stripers just set free from "spawning prison". Mature stripers have not eaten hardly anything for over a month while waiting to spawn. They are now free to go find food. Expect stripers to move toward the surface where larval shad reside.

Expect young stripers to be the first to start "slurping" planktonic larval shad. It will take the adult stripers another week or two to find small shad. Shad grow an inch a month. When shad get more girth to go with their 2 inch length, boils will being. Might as well tie on a surface lure now. You will need it for the next 5 months.

Smallmouth bass fishing is still excellent. Small bass are on most rock structure in the main channel and canyon. Use single tail grubs and senkos for steady action.

Largemouth bass are in the row of brush just recently covered by rising water. Use weightless senkos, double tail grubs and spinnerbaits to work the brush line.

Walleye are in murky cuts where bottom depth is 15-25 feet. Use live worms or plastic baits slowly crawled along the bottom to entice an attack from these ambush feeders.

Sunfish/Bluegill are building nests in shallow water and are susceptible to surface lures and popping bugs. Unfortunately, rapidly rising water makes them hard to find.

Catfish spawning is just beginning. These bottom dwellers will be seen in shallow water for the next two weeks as they seek out nest sites and partners. Carp have begun to spawn as well. That splashing on the surface this week will likely be carp. Next week it might be stripers!

June 2, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3626
Water Temp: 67-72 F

Warm weather is here. Lake level is rising rapidly. That means transition time and tougher fishing

Bass fishing has been super all spring. Rising lake levels cover bass habitat and disguise fish holding spots that have been so obvious at lower lake levels. Bass fishing is still good but it will be necessary to fish deeper and more intuitively when bass nests or actual fish can no longer be seen. Structure fishing is a must. Identify where fish would likely be holding by looking at the landscape. Pick out rock points, rockslides on steep cliff walls and submerged brush for a starting point.

Try to identify a pattern. Bass tend to do the same thing at the same time in many lake locations. Sometimes they will inhabit structure at the intersection of the main channel and a canyon mouth. At other times they are in the very back of a cove. Fish both areas to determine present location. When one fish is caught try to duplicate that in a similar habitat location. It may be that fish are more readily caught at the intersection than in back of the cove during the first week of June. Smallmouth and largemouth will differ in habitat choice and location. Smallmouth are much easier to catch now, particularly the smaller fish. A single tail plastic grub cast to a submerged island in open water is sure to be eaten by a hungry little bass.

Jared Mayfield

Walleye fishing is good in the early morning and afternoon. Afternoon winds are common. Find muddy coves and pockets where wind blows soil into the lake on a regular basis. Crawl a plastic grub or night crawler on a worm harness slowly along the bottom in 15-25 feet of water to target light sensitive walleye.

Striped bass will likely spawn this week. In recent years the spawn has not been so important as many fish were not mature or too thin to develop eggs. This year virtually all of the 3-5 pound stripers are in spawning condition. This intense focus on spawning means little feeding is occurring. Striper schools are more likely to move away from boat noise or high traffic areas. This uncharacteristic shyness makes them hard to find and catch. Cut bait is the best technique now and will remain so until the spawning event concludes.

Stripers have been caught on bait at Glen Canyon Dam, Navajo Canyon (second point beyond double islands), Padre Bay (east wall), and Moki wall near Bullfrog. Fishing is inconsistent at all of these locations. Fish will be there one day and gone the next. Try a spot and then return later for another try until fish are located.

The best part is that there are so many opportunities to catch one species or another that most trips will be successful. It is wise to be a generalist under these conditions and fish for any target of opportunity. One strategy would be to try for walleye and stripers at dawn and dusk. Then switch to bass in morning and afternoon. Little smallmouth will be catchable all day long on small sized main channel rock slides which would be a good chance to teach children how to catch fish.

June 5th is free fishing day at Lake Powell.

May 26, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3623
Water Temp: 63-69 F

Lake Powell is coming up at a rate of 3-4 inches per day which makes fishing the shoreline a bit more difficult. In these conditions bass are still very active but it is necessary to fish deeper water. It is best to cast to the edge of a drop off instead of the sandy flat that may look quite promising. The row of trees will begin to disappear with only a few stickup limbs to mark their presence.

That may be helpful in fishing for largemouth as weedless rigged baits can now be fished straight down under the boat and through the tree branches. Approach likely looking tree groves quietly and slowly to disturb the area as little as possible before dropping the bait into the brush. Largemouth bass and crappie are still in the trees and will react to lures worked gingerly through the branches.

Jack Herrin with walleye

Smallmouth bass are easier to catch. It's a sure thing to find a small rock slide on a vast expanse of slick rock. A small patch of rocky habitat collects bass magnetically. Bigger bass are now deeper (20-35) than when they were spawning. Find open water shoals, and reefs and let a plastic tube or grub (1/8 to 3/8 ounce) descend along the deep water edge until a bass finds it. Bass will feed on top of the shoal and then drop over the edge to deeper water. First try casting to the top of the reef and then into deep water along the edge for best success.

Striped bass are staged for spawning. Giant schools are congregated in isolated areas in almost every canyon area. Find a school by graphing and trolling. Fish are most active right at dusk. Once located the schools should remain in the area until the spawning event occurs. They can be caught from the resting school on anchovies or hard plastic crankbaits, plastic swim baits or flies like Mylar clauser minnows. Twilight is the best time to fish for stripers but they can be caught periodically throughout the day.

There is a large school of stripers in Padre Bay southeast of Cookie Jar Butte. But stripers are present in all the canyons and finding your own school would be the best bet. Look along Moki Wall out of Bullfrog. Some stripers have been caught near the dam and Power Plant intake but not in numbers reminiscent of years when forage is less. Stripers tend to return to the same spots annually. Try areas that have been good producers in previous years. This is a good time to try anchovy bait.

Walleye are making a strong come back. Fishing success is the best seen in over a decade. Standard walleye night crawler worm harnesses and bottom bounces are best but simply trolling a crankbait at a depth of 12 foot over submerged trees 15 feet deep in murky water is working well. Windy afternoons create mudlines favored by feeding walleye. Cast soft plastic bass baits into the mudline and drag them back slowly for a chance at tasty walleye.

May 19, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3622
Water Temp: 60-66 F

Warming had the expected effect. Bass reoccupied nests that were abandoned during the cold spell. Bass nests were found along much of the shoreline this week. Typically there is a row of brush sticking out of the water in the coves. Largemouth nests will be between the shore and the brush while smallmouth nests will be on the deep water side of the brush line. Largemouth make their nest close to the base of the bush. Smallmouth nests will more likely be on open rock areas.

Marilyn Losee

This week will mark the last chance for sight-fishing spawning bass. When the current fry crop swims away from the nest, the bass spawn will be over. Bass will then go deeper and head for feeding areas. They will be hungry and perhaps even more willing to eat angled offerings. The compounding factor is that fast rising lake level will make it harder to find the sweet spots.

The window is now open to catch walleye. Warm water makes them feed around the clock instead of only at night. Some 10-fish limits of walleye have been caught trolling and casting. That is a rarity but this is a special year. Try trolling small 3-inch crankbaits in the backs of canyons where water depth is 15-25 feet. Walleye really like subdued light. Fishing very early and very late is a good strategy. They can be caught during the day when shaded by a cloud of muddy water washed off shore by wind action. Mudlines harbor many different kinds of fish in May. Spend extra time fishing when a mudline is close by.

Striped bass are still in those huge schools waiting to spawn. One party found a prespawn school in Padre Bay and caught 384 stripers on bait in two days of fishing. The reward is great when a big school is located. The problem is looking on the right point in Padre Bay to find the moving target. I plan to find it this week and will report the exact location. Warming has increased the number of stripers caught trolling, casting and spooning. The biggest reward comes from graphing a huge resting school and chumming with anchovies to put fish in a feeding mood.

Look for striper schools in spots that have produced good bait fishing in past years. These include main channel walls, slick rock points in bays and shallow humps surrounded by deep water. Trolling while graphing is a good approach. Both deep and shallow running lures will work. It may be wise to troll both while searching for the school. When a school is found, use spoons, jigs, or bait to catch a bunch of fat, healthy stripers.

Catfising is getting better each week in the backs of canyons on sandy bottoms.

May 12, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3621
Water Temp: 55-66 F

Cold windy weather stalled much of the expected spawning activity this past week. Runoff slowed allowing the lake to rise only one foot in a week. Surface water temperature has been in the mid 50s most mornings. But that is now history and a new warming trend is developing.

The modest rise in lake elevation means that clear water still exists in the main and southern lake. Backs of canyons and coves still offer the opportunity to sight fish for spawning bass and crappie. At the inflow areas the mudline extends from Hite to Good Hope Bay. In the San Juan and Escalante cloudy muddy water is only a moderate threat in the last few miles nearest running water.

Anthony Tkalcevic (4 year old with 4 pound bass)

New warming will increase water temperature back into the 60s and make it unlikely that a return to the 50s will happen. That will allow bass and crappie to move back on nests for one final spawning event. Nests will be found at depths of 5 to 8 feet making them visible in many locations. Lures and techniques that have been working for the past month will still be very effective. Smallmouth bass like plastic grubs and tubes fished on rocky points. Largemouth and crappie will be in the tree line and susceptible to slow sinking, weedless rigged plastic double tail grubs and senkos. Spinner baits work well for both species. Bass like the big flashy blades while crappie are suckers for little spinners like Roadrunners. The old standard chartreuse marabou crappie jig is still a winner. Enjoy bass and crappie fishing for one more week before the runoff heats up and the nests get lost in rising water.

Walleye fishing is nearing its peak. Don't expect to catch daily limits of the tasty food fish but a few can now be caught while fishing for bass. It is possible to troll crank baits or drag worm harnesses along the bottom for walleye. Use afternoon wind induced mudlines as one key to find productive spots. Main channel points, plunging into deep water, are a good place to start.

Striped bass are forming large schools in almost every canyon as they prepare to spawn. The spawning trigger is a rapid rise in lake temperature. Unfortunately, the prespawn period is about the only time that stripers are off feed and difficult to catch. Big schools have been seen cruising the shallows but attempts to catch them have been ignored. There are isolated events like windy feeding opportunities or fleeing shad schools that will ignite the large schools into a feeding frenzy. Be aware of the possibility that a striper school could show up at any moment. React to that event when it occurs because it will be a memorable experience.

Threadfin shad will spawn this week as morning water temperature reaches 65-70. They spawn at dawn so get up early to throw shad imitating rattletraps or crankbaits in the back of canyons and coves. All game fish enjoy the shad spawn as a line of tasty forage fish swims along the surface readily visible to anglers and game fish alike. Find spawning shad and catch bass and stripers. It is that easy.

May 5, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3620
Water Temp: 56-66 F

Fishing in May is always a unique experience. Expectations for targeting a certain fish species often go unfilled only to be replaced by an even better success. The lake begins to fill in a respectable manner and then the river gushes forth with reckless abandon. It seems bass and crappie go deeper but, in actuality, they stay where the original nest was placed. The rising lake level covers the nest with more water. The net result is that successful fishing requires angling in deeper water and using different cues to find a successful pattern.

LeeAnn Heder and Russ Muir - Stripers on Moki Wall

Every year in early May striped bass get lost. Contributing factors are warming that triggers spawning, but then cooling messes that up leaving fish confused. Stripers aren't sure if they should go to the channel to spawn or to the back of the canyon to feed. So they do both. Finding striped bass now requires moving from deep to shallow water constantly watching the graph. When a school is found the rewards are great.

Additionally, spawning mode makes stripers become more active at night and dormant during the day. May will be the only month when bait fishing may be good. Reports last week of good catches of stripers on Moki wall near Bullfrog indicate a stop in the main channel at the normal locations (Dam, Power plant intake, Navajo Canyon, Padre Bay, Rock Creek, Moki wall, etc.) should be a part of the fishing plan. Do not spend the whole trip waiting for a school to bite. Actively seek them out by using a graph to mark schools and then fish where schools are seen. Troll and cast in shallow water. Fish bait in deep water.

Bass fishing will remain excellent for another week. Cold weather moved bass off nests. Current warming will put them right back on. Fishing in the brush for largemouth bass and crappie will remain good. Weightless senkos, spinnerbaits and other weedless offerings work well in brush. Smallmouth bass will be on outside rock structure where plastic baits with exposed hooks will work fine. Top water baits are working early and late on bass.

Shad have begun to spawn. Gizzard shad have been spawning for the past two weeks. With new warming threadfin will spawn soon. They spawn at dawn and attract all game fish in the immediate vicinity. Look for shad spawning on the surface around driftwood and plants in the back of canyons and coves. Fish around active spawning schools by casting shad colored crankbaits and rattletraps to catch a wide variety of game fish.

This is the time of year when all fish are vulnerable. Line up on a rocky shoreline with a favorite crankbait or plastic offering and catch largemouth, smallmouth, crappie, walleye, sunfish and catfish.

Fishing remains as good as it has ever been on the big lake. Fish on a fair weather day to make some remarkable family fishing memo

April 28, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3620
Water Temp: 58-66 F

Lake Powell is changing fast. Water level is rising a foot per week but the fill rate will increase dramatically over the next few weeks. Bass and crappie are in the middle of the spawn. Stripers are wandering looking for food and thinking about spawning. While fishing success is excellent there are a few things to know to help put you in the right spot to participate in catching fish this week.

Fishing for bass is the most dependable strategy. It is not necessary to arrive early. Fishing improves steadily throughout the day as water warms. Fishing is much better when water temperature is in the 60s and not so good when it cools back into the 50s. Afternoon fishing is better than in the morning.

Austin Kimber

Both large and smallmouth bass are spawning and very active. Smallmouth will be on the shallow (2-3 feet) edge of a rock shelf. The nest will often be visible, in open water but often near a drop off or edge of structure. Cast near the breaking edge of a shallow flat, in the back of the canyon, or side of the main channel, or on the rocky shoreline. Pursuing smallmouth bass is the simplest and most productive fishing opportunity with guaranteed results. A simple rig with a double tailed plastic grub, tube or plastic worm on an eight to quarter ounce lead head works well. Topwater baits are working when water is warm. Use your favorite smallmouth bass bait for best success.

Largemouth bass are bigger fish but catching them requires fishing in brush. Their nests are often between the shore and the tree line. It may be necessary to poke the nose of the boat through the trees to make a cast. There may be some spots where walking the shoreline works better than fishing from the boat. Use weedless baits like spinnerbaits or weedless rigged plastic. The best bait this past week has been the weightless senko in shades of green. The slow sinking action is exactly what bass are looking for as they rest under tree limbs in brush thickets. Patience is a virtue while waiting for the bait to work its way through the limbs to the fish. Use heavy line to negotiate the retrieval of hooked fish from the brushy sanctuary. Braided line with a fluorocarbon leader has proven effective for some.

Crappie are hanging like ornaments in the trees with the largemouth. Stealthily approach the thickest brush and drop a small plastic curly tail or marabou jig into and around the limbs. Crappie will often be hiding 3-5 feet below the surface. They can often be seen taking the bait in the clear water of the main lake.

Walleye are starting to hit very well now with catching success better in the upper lake. One effective method is to troll the steep canyon walls of the main canyon with 3-4 inch long medium diving bait. Troll over each long point that enters the channel. The most effective depth for hooking walleye is 12-15 feet. It is best if the trolled lure bumps bottom at 12 feet. Walleye can also be spooned off the bottom or captured on gravel points with a slow moving worm harness.

With all the glowing fish activity reported above it makes it less painful to say that striped bass are extremely difficult to catch right now. The trolling pattern has faltered over much of the lake. There was some success reported at the mouth of Red Canyon over the weekend. Since then trolling and jigging has been unproductive through most of the lake. It will change quickly but right now it seems better to chase the other species.

April 21, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3618
Water Temp: 58-66 F

Bass Spawn is ON!

Largemouth Bass hovers over rock nest at base of bush

Bass moved onto nests in shallow, clear water over the weekend. Those lucky enough to be on the lake were treated to an amazing visual display of largemouth bass in 2 feet of water in virtually every canyon on the lake. Some may have missed the event because fish were so shallow they may not have looked at the last few of water behind the row of flooded brush that rings the lake. Largemouth bass consistently build nests at the base of a bush making it even harder to see. But once the first nest is detected they are much easier to find in similar locations

Spawning is triggered when water temperature stays warm overnight and then peaks at 64 degrees after a prolonged calm weather period. Those conditions happened last week with the pleasant weather that prevailed. As this report is written bass have been on the nests 5 days which is the normal amount of time required for eggs to hatch. The looming storm front now will cool the water and move bass off nests. They will remain in close proximity but will not actively guard the nest. When water warms again bass will reoccupy the same nest, spawn a new batch of eggs, and begin the process again.

The second spawn will be more difficult to view as rising lake water level makes the deeper nest less visible. Rising water causes bank sloughing and dirties the water in the shallows further limiting visibility. During May the original nest site may be occupied by the same fish on the third or fourth spawn but water depth over the nest may be as deep as 15-20 feet depending on runoff volume.

Warming sent crappie into the trees to spawn right along with largemouth bass. It is common now to see bass hovering over a nest with crappie hiding in the same brush thicket. Smallmouth bass are building nests along open rock shore line without brush protection. Spawning is in full production now and will continue through the first week of May.

Catching spawning fish is tough if they see you coming. But a long cast with a slow sinking bait like a weightless Senko is more than they stand. Any subtle movement near the nest will be investigated with the offending morsel picked up and moved off the nest site. Remember to return the male nest guardian so the developing eggs and fry will be protected from predation. Next years bass and crappie population depends on survival from nests now in production.

Stripers have responded to warming by moving shallower to look for food. Trolling is still a good way to locate mobile fish but they may be in clear water along the edge of deep water just as often as in the back. During cool weather or in the mornings, casting jerk baits along rocky points or brush lines is very effective once fish are located. Find a school one day and it is very likely that they will return to the same spot at about the same time each day. Understanding their schedule allows one to stay close to a school as they move vertically and horizontally through the daily cycle.

Walleye catch is increasing as bonus fish are caught while trolling or casting for bass and stripers.

April 14, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3618
Water Temp: 52-60 F

It seems April weather is always the same. There is some warming and when it seems it will actually get warm another cold blast follows. Base water temperature was 52 again this morning for the second consecutive week after a big wind storm. But the next time it warms it will be for real - I promise, honest, for sure, well maybe, I hope. And when it gets warm conditions will change making it much easier to catch fish.

Deep Thunderstick with orange belly (note big snap used to allow free straight running)

For now the same patterns we have discussed for the last month still prevail. There are some subtle differences. Today we went to Lone Rock (Wahweap Bay) to troll up some small stripers. We have been catching them there for weeks. They are in the upper surface layers eating plankton and will hit a shallow running crankbait as it gets in their face. This time the only fish we caught was a walleye when our lures accidentally got too close to the bottom. After trolling over all the spots that were good previously, it was time to actually find out what was going on. We moved to Lone Rock Canyon and immediately caught a fish. It finally dawned on me that water temperature in Wahweap Bay was 52 while temperature in the Canyon was 56. Once in the warmer canyon, the trolling pattern worked just as well as it had previously. We caught small stripers on a regular basis on shallow running Lucky Craft bevy shad.

Well what do you know; fish went to warmer water instead of staying where it was cold. We missed the most obvious indictor of good spring fishing. Fish like warmer water. We wasted an hour repeating the method that worked last week instead of checking temperature at the beginning of our trip. Water temperature is the key to spring fishing. Remember that. It will save time and put more fish in the live well.

We caught a 5 pound striper and some smallmouth while trolling across a shallow point. Trolling the baits past a submerged island produced more smallmouth bass. All the fish are poised ready to move on beds as soon as the water temperature spikes. The last 10 days of April still look like an excellent time to make that first trip to the lake.

There have been some good catches of crappie and bass already but not on a consistent basis. In late April and early May bass, crappie, walleye and striper fishing will get better. It will then be possible to count on active fish on every trip taken in decent weather.

Smallmouth bass are on rocky points and reefs. They are willing to hit plastic tubes and grubs. Largemouth and crappie are in the brush and will hit those baits that can swim through the brush forest and come out the other side. New warming has begun now and it appears that water temperature will hit 60 degrees by this weekend.

It is time to go fishing at Lake Powell.

April 7, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3619
Water Temp: 52-56 F

The first largemouth bass has been seen tidying up a nest site. That heralds the beginning of spring fishing excitement. The largemouth bass spawn during the next 4 weeks will create indelible fishing memories for those lucky enough to be fishing on those magic days when bass are visible in shallow clear water, and eager to chase anything that comes near the nest. Bass spawn every year, but this year the average size of bass caught will exceed any yearly average in the recent past. The spawning peak will come during the warmest five consecutive days in late April unbroken by a cold front. Bass continue to spawn in May but spring runoff will raise the lake, cloud the water and make finding nesting bass much harder. If your bucket list includes catching a 3-6 pound largemouth bass then a spring trip to Lake Powell is mandatory.

Jacob and Jet Berry

Largemouth live in the brush that rings the shallows around the lake. They go very shallow on warm afternoons and are very spooky when approached. It takes a very stealthy cast to catch them shallow before they spawn. More often they are in thick cover. Lures bouncing through tree limbs get their attention. The lure must stop for a while to entice a bite. So use big baits with lots of surface area that settle slowly to the bottom for best results. When bass are on the nest they are much easier to catch. A slow settling, weightless bait, like a plastic senko is ideal.

Many big fish will be caught on beds this spring. Male bass guard the nest. Male bass should be returned to protect the young eggs and fry on the nest. Put them back right where they were captured and then watch them go right back to the nest site. It is fine to take a picture, weigh and measure the fish first. An exact replica of a huge fish can be done in fiberglass just from the length and girth dimensions. Expect to catch a big one but be ready to record the feat before a quick release.

Female bass are the ones that should be targeted for harvest if desired. Better yet keep smallmouth bass which are more abundant. Crappie will spawn during the same time frame. This spring will offer the best crappie fishing seen at the lake for a very long time. Be aware of the 10 fish crappie limit. Keep enough for a meal but not enough to stock the freezer. Largemouth and crappie have returned to prominence because of the ephemeral brush ring around the lake. When the brush disappears in the next few years their populations will decline as well. That is whey they are still cautiously protected when they appear to be available in large numbers.

Striped bass remain in the backs of the canyons. Small stripers are in the upper 15 feet while larger fish are now becoming more active in the deeper water (15-35 feet). Trolling is still the best method to catch them. Shallow running (6-12 feet) small baits take small fish at a fast pace. Deeper running (20-30 feet) lures take the 3-4 pound fish at a slower rate. Fishing with spoons and jigs on the bottom near schools seen on the graph is improving every day. There is still no movement of stripers to the main channel and there have been few fish caught on bait. Fat stripers like action baits and will show little interest in a passive anchovy. If bait is your choice then try slow trolling a whole anchovy on a salmon mooching rig in 35 feet of water.

There is more than can be said but the bottom line is that fishing will be remarkable in 2010.

March 31, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3619
Water Temp: 51-56 F

Days are longer and weather warmer. Base water temperature taken in the morning has finally begun to increase. There is still some work to do but warm spring days are on the way. It is time to start planning spring fishing trips.

If current weather conditions continue, expect largemouth bass spawning to begin sometime near the 2nd week of April, followed by crappie and smallmouth during the 3rd week. Striped bass and walleye fishing will steadily improve through the month and peak during May. This is exciting news but the size and quality of all fish at the lake this year makes it so much better. Fishing success this year will be at a high point.

Keisling and Woods families with trolling results

Right now water temperature is 53F in the morning which is still too cold for most warm water fish. Largemouth bass live in shallow brushy water. They are catchable but water is often clear and a stealthy approach is needed. Long, soft casts that plop down with little splash are needed to entice a bass bite where a big splash just spooks bass in shallow water. Smallmouth bass are in deeper water, usually on the first break at the base of the brush forest. Success for both species improves in the afternoon as water warms. My strategy is to fish for stripers in the morning and bass in the afternoon.

Stripers remain in the canyons. Sorry to those waiting for stripers to come to the main channel where they are so easily caught on bait. That is not likely to happen this year. Forage conditions are strong with both gizzard and threadfin shad living near the terminal end of each canyon. Stripers are not prone to leave their food source. To find them go to the back of the canyon.

Young stripers had been randomly scattered and feeding individually in the backs of canyons where bottom depth was 15-35 feet. Fish producing areas are marked by a significant color change from clear to murky water. Plain clear water is not as good. Trolling in any direction would randomly place the lure in front of a feeding fish. In these conditions small stripers were often caught every 100-200 yards. There was a subtle change in striper behavior detected when scouting for this fish report yesterday.

It took me a while to discover that these fish schooled up and quit feeding during full moon. Fish were no longer randomly scattered so trolling back and forth in the open bay was no longer successful. Instead, stationary schools had to be located before fish could be caught. School fish were then easily caught as the boat followed the same course along the shoreline to the holding school. Stripers just can't help themselves when a wobbly lure wanders close by. Each pass produced one or two 14-18 inch stripers.

Trolling should be used as a precision tool, not a straight line journey 5 miles in length. Hook a fish, mark the spot and then return along the same route to duplicate the catch. It is that easy. On this day the school was on a perpendicular point some 50 yards off shore. We trolled parallel to shore at 3.5 mph. When shallow water appeared on the graph we turned toward the center of the lake dragging our Thunderstick JR lures in an arc that followed the extended point. The school was at the end of the point where depth was 25 feet breaking immediately to 45 feet. Each time a fish was caught we returned to a stating point 50 yards down shore and repeated the short trolling path.

March 24, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3619
Water Temp: 49-54 F

Lake level has been stable for two weeks. Water temperature has risen briefly but wind today puts it right back at 51 degrees this morning. With these important variables unchanged there is no reason for fish behavior to change. That means successful fishing methods during the past two weeks will continue to work until a significant change occurs.

Richard Laycock, Cheyenne WY - crappie

Here is what to expect. Larger stripers are lying on the bottom waiting for warmer water or for a fish to swim by their resting spot. Deep trolling will put the lure in the zone but it is essential that the lure is in close proximity or even bumping bottom on occasion. Lure contact on bottom in the resting zone is the best way to rouse a sleepy striper. Down riggers or deep diving lures that get down at least 20 feet are best for larger stripers.

The other technique is to drop lures down to resting stripers seen on the graph. Spoons are the standard but I find them to be too active right now for really lethargic stripers. A better choice is a one-ounce or heavier marabou or bucktail jig with soft plastic trailer attached. Drop the jig to the resting school and then slowly work the bait right in the school. One fish biting will excite others and cause a quick flurry of activity in these schooling fish that are programmed to react to feeding by school mates.

Ice fishing techniques may work on these resting schools. Put an anchovy tail on a small spoon and work that slowly in the school. Or use the drop shot rig favored by bass fishermen. The key is to put a slow-moving tasty morsel near the dormant school to catch fish.

I prefer catching active fish. Yearling stripers are near the surface eating plankton. They will react to small lures zipping quickly through the plankton school. Three inch lures that dive from 4-8 feet trolled at 3.5 or 4 mph work best. The best lure for me has been the Lucky Craft Pointer 78. The Lucky Craft Bevy Shad 75 has been a close second. The consistent location is near the back of the canyon where water is off color and bottom depth is between 18 and 25 feet. Make sure to troll fast - at least 3.5 miles per hour.

Bass fishing is great for big fish. That means not many little bass are caught and time between bites may be lengthy, but each bite that comes is from a quality bass. Successful techniques are centered in the shallow brush zone along the shore. Spinner baits, bulky soft plastics like Yamamoto Flappin Hogs, or the old standard Jig and Pig (pork rind) work for bass up to 6 pounds.

Forage has been such that largemouth have grown to impressive size. It would not surprise me to see the lake record 10 pound 2 ounce largemouth record fall in 2010. The smallmouth record of 5 pounds 6 ounces is in real jeopardy. Take a scale along this spring in case you are the lucky angler. It would be nice to know if the huge fish in hand should be released or brought in for an official weigh-in ceremony.

The real fun is a few weeks away. The best spring crappie fishing in decades will begin in April. That will be the highlight of the spring for me.

If you haven't picked up on it yet, fishing at Lake Powell is going to be really good in 2010.

March 17, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3619
Water Temp: 49-53 F

	OPENING DAY My fishing season started yesterday. The cold blustery weather the past two weeks has kept me close to the fireplace but that has all changed now. Fair skies and warmer temperatures arrived so it was time to go fishing. Stripers did not disappoint. It looks like my high expectations for 2010 are now even higher. We found another year class of fish to add to the mix. Here is the pattern: Water temperature is consistently near 50 degrees in the main lake. Clear water does not absorb the suns energy as readily as water that is slightly stained. Near the back of most major canyons where streams or washes enter, there is enough silt deposited that any wind or wave action creates a murky zone. Water color change is readily visible while traveling toward the back of the canyon. The murky zone is at least a degree warmer than clearer water, sometimes much more. Brian Beames shows size difference in stripers caught.
	The colored water zone can be very small or stretch for long distances depending on the canyon. The key to catching stripers is to find the deepest warmer water. Yesterday we tried three different canyons and the pattern was consistent. Best bottom depth for locating active fish was 20-35 feet. When in the fish zone, open water can be most quickly covered by trolling. Deep diving lures have been most productive in cold water so we started trolling deep but put out a shallow running smaller bait just in case. Within 100 yards the first fish hit the shallow bait and that was the pattern for the rest of day. Stomach samples revealed stripers from 14-20 inches were feeding on plankton at the top of the water column. These fish were hungry and willing to grab a "small minnow" swimming in the plankton feeding zone. Our most productive lures were 3 inch Lucky Craft Pointers and Bevy Shad. Similar sized "Rattletraps" worked as would other short minnow-shaped baits that dive to 8-12 feet.
	Not interested in 14 inch stripers? Here's the good part. Larger stripers were tight to the bottom and not eating or chasing deep diving baits. But no self respecting striper can ignore another fish eating. Schooling fish are mandated to react to any feeding behavior. The hooked fish garners attention of others as it swims violently toward the boat. These vibrations are transmitted to the lateral line of resting fish. Larger stripers were caught while or immediately after the small fish was landed. A large white bucktail jig dropped to the bottom and fished slowly within a foot of bottom enticed the bigger fish to bite. We used the smaller plankton-eating stripers to excite the bigger dormant fish and had a really great day. Spoons seemed too fast paced for these resting fish but 1 ounce bucktails worked slowly were taken. We filleted 30 stripers for our efforts. Fishing for big largemouth bass is consistent. Results of the weekend tournament found many 3-pound and larger bass taken. Winning weights on Saturday and Sunday were just under 15 and 18 pound for 5 fish. Technique is to use bulky plastic baits fished slowly and methodically on bottom in the brush zone of that same murky water described above.

March 10, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3619
Water Temp: 48-53 F

My optimism about great expectations for fishing success in 2010 was given a boost by the catch of a big striper on March 2nd.

Dale Barsness from Duck Creek UT was casting for stripers in Navajo Canyon using a deep diving Norman DD22 lure in 20 feet of murky water. Dale and friend Bart found a school of willing 4-pound stripers and proceeded to catch fish quickly for an hour while the school was active. They caught 40 fish of which they kept 20 to eat, releasing the rest.

The exciting news was that one of the fish Dale brought in was 36 inches long and estimated to weigh 15-20 pounds. Unfortunately, Dale was not able to get an accurate reading on his hand held fish scale. He measured the fish at 36 inches. From my personal past experience in handling many Lake Powell striped bass, that length equates to a weight of 16-18 pounds. The weight is not of great importance, in that Dale had enough fish to eat, so he took a picture of the big fish and released it to grow some more. The important question now becomes, how big will this fish be when it is caught once more?

The big fish was swimming with a school of smaller stripers. The pattern was typical for spring at Lake Powell. Look for murky water with a bottom depth of 20-30 feet. Murky water warms faster than clear water. With storm fronts moving through each week during March it is important to fish on a warm afternoon without wind for best success. Cold blooded fish respond quickly to a warm spot. They can feel it and will stay in the warmer water when possible. Sun beating on a rock wall warms the water and draws fish. Wind mixes the water and displaces any warming that has occurred. Seek out protected canyons where wind action is minimal for best fishing results. When a school of stripers is located enjoy the moment. Maybe one of the group will be larger than the rest. With forage populations being high that past few years there will likely be more big striped bass caught in 2010.

Largemouth bass will be caught on the same pattern using the same strategy. The difference is that bass will be in the brush near the wall while striped bass will be over the submerged creek channel. But both species will be in the warmer protected zone of colored water out of the wind. Find a flat rock with a direct southern exposure that may collect the sun's heat and transmit that into the water.

Use a thermometer to fine tune the fishing experience. Main channel temperature is now near 50 degrees. Seek a warm cove that exceeds 53 degrees for best success. Don't neglect the main channel right now. Smallmouth bass are in the depths seeking stable temperatures but when the afternoon sun warms a shallow crack or small inlet in the cliffs, the clear water will warm and smallmouth will move up into the shallows to enjoy the moment.

Fishing success this week will follow the temperature. Warm days will bring good fishing. Cold days will require really good fishermen to make fish bite. Both experiences will be fun when surrounded by beautiful Lake Powell.

March 3, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3620
Water Temp: 48-51 F

It is still winter at Lake Powell. Surface water temperature is near 50F. Warm water fish are not excited about cold water conditions. That will change as day length increases allowing the sun to shine on the water for longer periods each day. There will be a measurable difference that can be tested by thermometer and with fishing success. Warm water fish react very quickly to any warming. They can easily feel the heat and quickly move to the warmest water available.

Habitat and forage conditions coming out of winter are mostly positive. Sport fish are fat and numerous. Lake level is still falling. That will continue through March. Declining water is not a positive for angler success. However, the dominant variable is rising water temperature, which will negate the effect of falling lake level.

Cameron Conger

The first species to respond will be walleye. They spawn with the first warming. Expect walleye to lay eggs on lake rockslides and gravel bars as water temperature rises to 53F. That does little good for fishing success because walleye don't eat much when in spawning condition. It will be at least mid April before walleye are caught regularly by anglers.

Largemouth bass are a different story. Big bass are the first fish to react. Some dandies have already been caught with many more to come. Bass fishing tournaments will be held each weekend in March. Expect winning weights to be near 20 pounds for 5 fish. That is a far cry from a decade ago when winning weights were closer to 7 pounds for the same five fish. A shoreline ringed with flooded brush and a large crop of shad have made the difference. Largemouth fishing in 2009 was of record proportion for fish size and quantity. Nothing has changed to compel those results to do anything but increase. Expect 2010 largemouth fishing success to be among the best ever seen. March bass fishing success will mark the beginning of a very special year.

Smallmouth bass are slower to react. Expect these smaller but more numerous bass to come out of hibernation when water temperature hits 57F. Crappie will follow and become catchable in early April. Both species will spawn near the third week of April depending on the vagaries of spring temperature.

That leaves striped bass. There has been no noticeable movement of stripers to the main channel. Famous spring fishing for stripers near the dam and in the channel has not begun, nor is it expected. Abundant forage in the backs of canyons gives stripers no reason to move. They love to eat shad and will stay with the food. They can just as easily spawn in the back of the canyon as near the dam. So why not eat while waiting for the spawning event. Stripers will be caught near shad schools in the backs of canyons. Trolling will be the best technique to locate a school, while spooning and casting to schoolmates trailing the hooked fish will often put more fish in the boat than trolling. Expect stripers to come out of winter averaging 3-4 pounds with a few larger females exceeding 6 pounds.

This will be a year to remember as fishing success for all species in both size and number will be remarkable. Plan your trip now so as not to miss the anticipated fishing bonanza.

Great efforts are being made to prevent invasive species like quagga mussels from being transported to the lake. Some ramps are still closed so that all entering boats can be checked before launching. During March all boats must be launched at Bullfrog or Wahweap Main Ramp between the hours of 6 AM and 5 PM. No night launching will occur as ramps will be closed after dark. All of these precautions are meant to protect this wonderful resource from the devastation that would occur if invasive mussels were inadvertently released. Please help with this effort by giving proper attention to your boat and helping to educate all on the destructive nature of invasive species.

February 22, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3620 Lake Powell Fishing Forecast for 2010
Water Temp: 48-51 F

Fish are grinning at Lake Powell. All of the little necessities for successful fish life are perfect.

There is enough snow in the mountains to make the lake level rise just a little bit this spring. A modest increase would allow the lake to lap at the remaining layer of green brush that has been growing on the lake shore since 2002 when the lake declined due to drought. The effect of brush along the normally barren rocky shoreline created much more living space and shelter for all fish. It has been a long road back but the journey has really been worth it.

The drought silver lining had some positive effects. The lake was low enough that waves stirred the old bottom sediment releasing long buried nutrients. Added nutrition created a bumper crop of forage fish which in turn enhanced the populations of hungry sportfish.

Lake Powell has long had only one forage fish that ventures into open water. In 2000, gizzard shad were found in the lake. Today that second shad population is huge and the threadfin population is strong.

This all translates into great conditions for fish but what does it mean for anglers?

Anglers will have to adapt to be successful. That wont be hard for those pursuing largemouth. Bucketmouth bass love brush and wont venture far from it. Those accustomed to fishing for largemouth will be right at home casting lures into brush thickets and dragging them back with fish instead of tree limbs attached. If this is new to some they will have to invest in spinnerbaits, weedless lures or learn to embed the hook inside a plastic bait to allow it to swim through tree branches without hanging up.

Smallmouth numbers are high. Fish are generally larger than last year. Luckily anglers can use traditional techniques to catch these rock loving fish. The subtle difference is that bronze bass will chase lures in open water more often now in response to the higher number of shad swimming in the upper water levels. Bottom feeding bass can be caught too.

Striped bass are fat and constantly chasing shad. Those expecting incredibly easy spring time bait fishing will be disappointed. Stripers migrate to the dam and main channel when food is scarce. That is not the case in spring 2010. Fat stripers will be in the backs of the canyons near shad schools. Cover lots of water while trolling deep diving baits. Each time a fish is caught, stop the boat and try casting, spooning or bait fishing to increase the catch. If the school moves on then troll again to relocate them. Then repeat the catching process each time the school is in range.

Walleye are one of the bonus fish for 2010. Expect excellent walleye fishing in the Good Hope Bay area. We found an extraordinary number of walleye in our fall fish sampling in 2009. That will translate to great fishing from April 15 to June 15 in the upper lake. For the rest of the lake walleye will only be caught in modest numbers during the same time frame. A great technique is to troll medium running lures along mud washed points in the main channel during May.

Crappie are the other bonus. Dense brush has allowed the species to come back in big numbers over most of the lake. Crappie will spawn in April land early May. Use small plastic or marabou jigs fished right in the densest cover to catch these tasty pan fish.

This is obviously a very enthusiastic report. The only detractor may be that forage and cover are too good. That makes it easy living for a fish and harder for anglers to catch fat fussy fish. But this is an accurate assessment of what to expect in 2010. I invite you to come to Powell and match wits with any of the eight species of game fish that are thriving here this spring. There will be enough fishing action to make ever trip worthwhile.

See you on the lake.

January 2010

We should utilize this break in catching to gear up our defenses to prevent quagga mussels from invading Lake Powell. What the heck is a quagga mussel?

Dont confuse that with the Asian clam that is already present in Lake Powell

Asian Clam

An Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) task force determined in 1999 that zebra mussels would eventually cross the continental divide and infest western waters. It was determined that Lake Powell would be the likely point of introduction because of the many visiting boats that use this great resource. Since 1999 an active program has been in place to prevent zebra mussel invasion. Any boat entering Glen Canyon NRA from east of the Continental Divide has been questioned at the entry stations to find out if mussels could be hitchhiking on entering boats. Any boat with questionable credentials was given the option of a free hot water wash to kill any lingering mussels. The program seems to have worked. Mussels have not yet been found in Lake Powell.

Mussels did finally arrive and during January 2007were detected in Lakes Mead, Mohave, and Havasu. The invading mussel is a close cousin to the zebra. Its called a quagga mussel. Quaggas have been characterized as a "zebra mussel on steroids". They prefer deeper, cooler water and can attach to soft and hard substrate. They can live more places than zebra mussels.

The problem with mussels is that they are so prolific that they cover the lake bottom and hard underwater structures with live shellfish. They can even attach to slow moving animals like crayfish. Nothing is safe. They have been known to form a shell reef over a foot thick and actually deposit enough shells to close off water pipes less than 18 inches in diameter.

Mussel encrusted shopping cart

Millions of shell fish eat by siphoning water through the shell. Lake productivity is soon impacted as the plankton is siphoned off by shell fish before other fish can eat it. Fish populations are restructured. If mussels enter Lake Powell, smallmouth and striped bass fisheries would decline dramatically.

Mussels discard waste in such volume that the bottom becomes fouled and water chemistry changes. Lake Powell is threatened by all of these drastic end results.

The mussel threat to Lake Powell has now increased beyond description. While mussels cannot climb over Glen Canyon Dam to enter the lake the chance of boaters bringing larval mussels from the lower basin to Powell is "almost" a certainty. The only chance for Lake Powell to avoid this fate is if all visitors are made aware of the problem and take steps to prevent invaders from making it to Lake Powell. Please do everything in your power to prevent mussels from altering the beauty and bounty that is now enjoyed.

Mussel encrusted outdrive.

What You Can Do:

o Drain the water from your motor, live well, and bilge on land before leaving the
immediate area of the mussel infested lake.

o Flush the motor and bilges with hot, soapy water or a 5% solution of household
bleach.

o Completely inspect your vessel and trailer, removing any visible mussels, but also
feel for any rough or gritty spots on the hull. These may be young mussels that can
be hard to see.

o Wash the hull, equipment, bilge and any other exposed surface with hot, soapy water
or use a 5% solution of household bleach.

o Clean and wash your trailer, truck or any other equipment that comes in contact with
lake water. Mussels can live in small pockets anywhere water collects.

o Air-dry the boat and other equipment for at least five days before launching in any
other waterway.

Additional information can be found at www.protectyourwaters.net
www.100thMeridian.org.

Expect to be asked questions about your boat and where it has been before entering or launching at Lake Powell. DWR techs will be on the ramps beginning in March 2008 to answer your questions about mussels and protect the lake from mussels.

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