BrianID
Well-Known Member
I just arrived home from a 3 1/2 days of fishing at Powell. It was great fishing as usual. I didn't catch a fish every cast but was able to make up for some of the fishless casts with a few doubles.
I was mostly targeting smallmouths but I'm happy to set the hook on anything that would bite. I caught smallmouth on various crankbaits, topwater baits, ned rigs, Yamamoto grubs, senkos, drop shot, under spin(aka road runner), in line spinner and a few on fly rod. You can catch them however you want to fish. They were aggressive and didn't mind the baits moving fast. I caught many on crankbaits reeling my high speed reel as fast as I could crank it and did well with 1/2 oz and even 1 oz jig heads with Yamamoto grubs. I still caught them with slower moving baits like drop shot and lighter weight Ned rigs or slower moving crankbaits but why fish slow when you can cover water fast. I tried various colors and they all worked well. I would still stick with shad, bluegill or crawfish colors but I'm sure you could catch them on a pink lure if you wanted to. The action and depth of the lure and fishing a good location were much more important than color. I caught smallmouth in very shallow water and as deep as 40 feet. Even though I could catch them shallow I found it was worth my time to let my Ned rig to sink to at least 10 feet and some cast to 20 feet or more.
One nice surprise was the number and quality of the largemouth bass. I use to catch maybe 5 largemouth a day and this trip I caught at least 20 per day. Last year was good for largemouths as well. I've been fishing Powell for about 30 years and would estimate largemouth normally only make up 5% of my black bass catch. Largemouths made up about 10% of my black bass catch this trip. I still have never caught a 5lbs+ bass from Lake Powell but a couple from this trip I would have claimed to be 5lbs if they had gotten away.
The striper fishing was also good. I caught more incidental stripers while targeting smallmouths than most years. I even caught one in 3 feet of water in the back of a cove but most were in 20+ feet of water.
I learned a new technique for white bass this winter and found it very effective on stripers. It is an inline spinner developed by a white bass guide in Texas for a vertical retrieve called the MAL lure. I'll post some more information about it in a few days when I have time.
I bought a couple lucky craft pointers a few years ago to try at Lake Powell and finally got around to using one this trip. It is a good lure that Wayne has suggested and has much less "drag" than my normal deep diving crankbaits.
I would estimate I saw an average of only 10 slurps per day but I was never actively searching for them. I did have a fly rod rigged and ready but also caught slurping stripers on lipless crankbaits and road runners. In all honesty, it would be more effective to use my bait casting rod to target stripers but casting a fly is fun. I was able to catch at least one striper in 8 of the 10 slurps I attempted to cast to. There were several other slurps I attempted to position my boat to fish but was unsuccessful.
I'll post some more information in a few days when I have time. I'm already looking forward to my next trip to Lake Powell. Thank you Wayne and all the other regulars on WW that make this a great website.
I was mostly targeting smallmouths but I'm happy to set the hook on anything that would bite. I caught smallmouth on various crankbaits, topwater baits, ned rigs, Yamamoto grubs, senkos, drop shot, under spin(aka road runner), in line spinner and a few on fly rod. You can catch them however you want to fish. They were aggressive and didn't mind the baits moving fast. I caught many on crankbaits reeling my high speed reel as fast as I could crank it and did well with 1/2 oz and even 1 oz jig heads with Yamamoto grubs. I still caught them with slower moving baits like drop shot and lighter weight Ned rigs or slower moving crankbaits but why fish slow when you can cover water fast. I tried various colors and they all worked well. I would still stick with shad, bluegill or crawfish colors but I'm sure you could catch them on a pink lure if you wanted to. The action and depth of the lure and fishing a good location were much more important than color. I caught smallmouth in very shallow water and as deep as 40 feet. Even though I could catch them shallow I found it was worth my time to let my Ned rig to sink to at least 10 feet and some cast to 20 feet or more.
One nice surprise was the number and quality of the largemouth bass. I use to catch maybe 5 largemouth a day and this trip I caught at least 20 per day. Last year was good for largemouths as well. I've been fishing Powell for about 30 years and would estimate largemouth normally only make up 5% of my black bass catch. Largemouths made up about 10% of my black bass catch this trip. I still have never caught a 5lbs+ bass from Lake Powell but a couple from this trip I would have claimed to be 5lbs if they had gotten away.
The striper fishing was also good. I caught more incidental stripers while targeting smallmouths than most years. I even caught one in 3 feet of water in the back of a cove but most were in 20+ feet of water.
I learned a new technique for white bass this winter and found it very effective on stripers. It is an inline spinner developed by a white bass guide in Texas for a vertical retrieve called the MAL lure. I'll post some more information about it in a few days when I have time.
I bought a couple lucky craft pointers a few years ago to try at Lake Powell and finally got around to using one this trip. It is a good lure that Wayne has suggested and has much less "drag" than my normal deep diving crankbaits.
I would estimate I saw an average of only 10 slurps per day but I was never actively searching for them. I did have a fly rod rigged and ready but also caught slurping stripers on lipless crankbaits and road runners. In all honesty, it would be more effective to use my bait casting rod to target stripers but casting a fly is fun. I was able to catch at least one striper in 8 of the 10 slurps I attempted to cast to. There were several other slurps I attempted to position my boat to fish but was unsuccessful.
I'll post some more information in a few days when I have time. I'm already looking forward to my next trip to Lake Powell. Thank you Wayne and all the other regulars on WW that make this a great website.
