April 30, 2008 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3593 Water Temp: 57-64 F |
The lake is now rising 2-4 inches per day and the filling rate will continue to increase during May. Increased runoff is due to warming weather. Fish respond to warming by increasing activity. In turn, cooling causes them to sulk on the bottom. The intermittent winds really cool the bite while an extended warm calm period ignites a flurry of fishing results. There needs to be a longer warm period than seen in April to really make the fish perk up. Bass spawning has been impacted by wind induced weather anomalies. Largemouth spawned haphazardly and smallmouth bass spawning has been delayed. Much more spawning is to come but rising lake levels will take away most of the sight-fishing opportunities. Bass fishing will peak during the next two weeks. In current conditions, plastic baits fished on the bottom have been the best technique. Continue to fish shallow rock ridges, reefs and points for best bass success. Joel Belmont with stripers caught under green light at night. Crappie have spawned and will continue to guard nests for the next two weeks. There will be another spawn that will coincide with smallmouth spawning on the next warm spell. Expect this to happen when morning water temperature exceeds 62 degrees. Good walleye fishing is delayed by the same lack of warming. All these warming worries will be forgotten when the heat does come. The good news is striped bass. They have turned a "cold shoulder" to the weather and have just gone about their business of finding current in the main channel to the delight of anglers. Fishing has been excellent in the southern lake from the dam, to buoy 3, to the intake, buoy 9, with stops in Antelope and Navajo Canyons. Running the circuit of these favorite fishing spots has resulted in catches of at least 20 and often many more stripers for bait anglers. Patience is required. It seems the schools start and stop. When they are on fishing is furious; when off, not fish is caught. Fortunately, they are on most of the time. Chumming gets the school going. Then all that have prepared by using invisible fluorocarbon line with either a light jig head or Carolina rigged circle hook catch fish in a hurry when the school comes in range. In the northern lake, the mouth of Moki canyon is the most consistent place but many schools are holding along canyon walls both uplake and down from Bullfrog. I like Lake Canyon and Slick Rock for consistent action. The Hite area is affected by runoff. Good Hope Bay is still murky but fishable. Head to the back of the canyon to find fish when muddy water dominates the channel. Trolling for stripers in the bays is consistent but not better than fishing bait in the channel. All stripers are now eating plankton which means they are able to forage individually. Therefore, schools have broken down. Many lone fish will be found in the backs of bays while schools are in the channel. |
April 23, 2008 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3591 Water Temp: 53-64 F |
The grand predictions of our last fish report were blown away by a week of windy weather. All the positive variables remain firmly in place awaiting a warm day. Water temperature this morning was still in the low 50's. All the fish are poised for the early morning temperature to reach 57-60 F. When that happens, which may be as soon as this weekend, the fun begins. A few largemouth bass have spawned. Usually the largest fish are the first to make beds in prime spots. The majority of the population will be moving shallow this weekend and next week, weather permitting. Even those that spawned previously will come back to the nest they abandoned and spawn again with the next warm spell. Jacob Berry with prespawn bass from Wetherill Canyon. If a nest is found, cast slowly descending plastic baits (senkos, flukes) right on to the nest ring and watch the male bass rush over to grab the lure and haul it away from the nest. Some just grab the tail and never get the hook in the mouth but it is sure fun to watch them work. Return males caught on the nest so they can protect the young from predators. If no nests are seen in clear water, go to the back of the canyon where the green and brown water meet. This zone warms up sooner and provides bass and crappie a warm spot to live while waiting for real warming. Brush piles will hold largemouth and crappie, while smallmouth bass will be on rock ridges, terraces and points. Use your favorite technique in these conditions. The fish won't care and will take all incoming lures and offerings. Stripers remain in the channel where they can be caught by the tubful with anchovy bait and copious chumming. There is not a lot of forage this time of year. Most of the stripers are small enough that they can eat plankton to maintain their body while waiting for a fish dinner. The plankton supply is most abundant in the upper 20 feet of the water column so many stripers are in the upper zone. That makes them prime targets for shallow trolling lures as well as bait. I have effectively used Wally Divers, various rattletrap types, and bevy shad to consistently catch mature male stripers. The trick is to find them. Wally Diver lure in black and silver My search pattern has consistently led to striper schools holding on the breaking edge of a long point. By long, I mean at least 100 yards or more. Follow the shallow point (5-12 feet) out until it breaks from 20-25 feet and goes quickly to a depth of 40 feet or more. Follow that 25 foot sharp breaking contour to find stripers holding right on the edge at 25 feet. When a school is located, troll back and forth over the spot or mark the school and hold with the trolling motor while chumming to keep them in place. This allows you to find your own private fishing spot and not have to share it with others in the popular (dam, Moki Wall) or well known striper fishing spots. If it's your first time, go fish with the anglers at the Dam or Moki, to see their techniques, get a few tips and measure success. |
April 15, 2008 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3591 Water Temp: 55-65 F |
Bass are Building Nests! Largemouth bass began nest construction this week as air temperature hit 80 degrees. Spawning is imminent with largemouth going first followed by smallmouth a few days later. Warming is long overdue but may work to the advantage of anglers who enjoy fishing for spawning bass. Expect to find bedding bass in shallow water for the next 10 days. Lake levels are not increasing at a quick rate so nests will be visible for the first spawn. All of this is weather related. Bass move on nests as the water warms quickly. This spawning trigger causes a quick reaction in bass that are now overdue. Bass move on nests and spawn within a few hours. Males are actively building nests today. Each male then spawns with one to two females on the next warm day. On the third day the male drives away anything that comes close to the nest including female bass and fishing lures. Aggression is greatest right after the spawn and decreases with each passing day. By the fifth day of nest tending the male is seen lurking near the nest but not actively chasing. In warm water, eggs hatch and fry swim off in about 7 days. It takes longer if the water cools. Males stay with swimming clouds of black fry for a few days and then spawn again. Each male may make as many as 6 spawns during a season if driven off the nest by cooling temperatures. They renest as soon as the water warms once more. Mike Beall, Page, AZ with 4-pound Largemouth Bass It is fun to sight fish for bedding bass. Watching a slow sinking senko or grub settle onto the nest creates an adrenalin rush as the nest monster rushes to the attack. Enjoy the spectacle but return fish caught on beds so they can protect the nest. If keeping a few bass for dinner - keep the fish that are lurking on the extremities beyond the nest. In the bass community, females are excess fish and should be the ones harvested. The males are vital to perpetuate the species. Striper fishing is excellent. In the south, stripers have moved into the main channel. It is not necessary to fight the crowd at the dam any longer. Large schools are found roaming the channel near Buoy 1 and 3 and from the Power Plant intake to Buoy 9. The points in Navajo Canyon just past the double islands are beginning to produce some nice catches. Main channel fish tend to move to a slightly different spot each day so a good method to find them is trolling the wall with a deep diving lure. When fish hit the trolling lure, stop and drop bait to fill the cooler in a hurry. With warming temperatures remember to put fish immediately in a cooler with ice to keep the fish fresh. Do not place them on a stringer in warm water. They deteriorate in a hurry unless kept cool. In the north lake both bait and trolling are working. Moki Wall near the mouth of the canyon is producing for bait anglers, as is the mouth of Lake Canyon. Trolling with a deep diving lure like a Rapala X-Rap is working well in the back of Bullfrog Bay, Red Canyon south of Castle Butte, and White Canyon. Water is stained by runoff beginning at Ticaboo in Good Hope Bay but it is not interfering with fishing until rounding the horn at 2 Mile and 4 Mile Canyons. The backs of these canyons are still clear enough to fish. Crappie are showing up in modest numbers around brush in the backs of many canyons. This is the best report of fishing conditions that I have been able to write this year. Watch the weather reports and plan the spring trip now. Try to fit it in between storm fronts for best results. |
April 9, 2008 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3590 Water Temp: 54-62 F |
In the southern lake the big news is steady fishing for stripers along the barricade line in front of Glen Canyon Dam. Here are the specifics. The third barricade from the west canyon wall is directly over a submerged cliff edge. The first two barricades float in shallow water. Stripers follow the cliff wall directly below the third barricade and are often found as far away from the wall as barricade five. The prime spots then produce steady fishing while other spots are less productive. The cliff edge continues north away from the dam and fish follow the wall in their wanderings. If the prime barricade spots are taken then fish along the wall using the trolling motor and graph to hold right over the cliff drop off. Stripers have been caught in the main channel near Antelope Marina from the Power Plant Intake all the way to Buoy 9. Fishing is kinder early in the morning before boat wakes increase the swells and nudge one to move to calmer water. Cliff walls just inside the mouth of Antelope Canyon and the points of Navajo Canyon just past the first set of double islands are starting to produce stripers. Lynette Johnson with 7-pound largemouth caught in Bullfrog Bay My preference is to fish the backs of the canyons in murky water where most game fish are now living, looking for food, and preparing to spawn. Stripers, bass, crappie and walleye are increasing activity as water warms. This being a typical spring, there will be days with much warming followed by cold and blustery weather. Fish shallower water when water temperature is increasing and go deep and slow when water cools. Largemouth bass are still the most active species but water temperature is now in the range where smallmouth bass fishing will blossom. The key temperature is 57 early morning increasing to the mid 60’s in the afternoon. Spawning occurs when morning temperature is in the low 60’s. The lake is still a week away from rapid warming but the weather forecast for the weekend is for warm calm days. If that happens then bass spawning is right around the corner. Crappie are on the same temperature schedule. They are staging for spawning in the backs of canyons. They are not on nests in brushy pockets yet. Expect to find them suspended between 8 and 18 feet in the open water near brush. Troll or drift slowly with a tiny crankbait or crappie jig to find suspended fish in open water. Walleye are starting to bite. They are in the murky coves but also on the main rock points near the main channel. It is not too early to fish mud lines on the main channel points and coves for walleye. Trolling Wally Divers or casting green plastic grubs or tubes works for walleye in muddy water from 12 to 25 feet deep. Spring fishing is warming up. It is a fun time to make that first trip to Lake Powell. |
April 4, 2008 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3590 Water Temp: 52-62 F |
Stripers Show up at Dam Those anglers that have been diligently paying their dues fishing in the main channel for striped bass were rewarded in a big way this week. While catches have been steady recently the numbers caught have been modest. That changed on Thursday when stripers were caught by the cooler full reminiscent of 2006. Fish caught were smaller but healthier than seen the two previous years. What does this mean? It appears that more fish made their way into the channel than had previously been there. Or they could have been there all the time and were stimulated by increasing water temperature. For whatever reason, it seems that the likelihood of catching a good number of fish at the dam has now increased. There will still be time periods or whole days when fishing is slow. It is always good to have a backup plan if all the prime spots at the dam are occupied or fishing is not good when you arrive. There are other locations that harbor striper schools. The closest location is the canyon wall on the west side near the barricade line. It is not necessary to tie to the barricades to catch fish just follow the wall north for a few hundred yards to the end of the underwater ledge that holds the striper schools in place. Check Buoy 1 at the mouth of Wahweap Bay, or Antelope and Navajo Canyons, NGS power plant intake to Buoy 9 on the south canyon wall. Schools are often there if not found at the first spot tried. Rusty Rath, Aramark boat pilot at Wahweap, with a 7 pound 2 ounce largemouth bass caught in Wahweap Bay on Easter Sunday. For those seeking other species the prospects are still the same with cool water in the morning and warming by afternoon. There is an early morning largemouth bass bite in the backs of the canyons where water depth is between 10-20 feet and in coves of the channel at the same depth. Look for murky water for best results. Often coves have sandy bottoms with "old brush" like long submerged tumbleweeds or old trees on the bottom. This sparse cover is enough. A little ridge of rocks in the sand may be all the cover needed. The best bait for me this week was a bulky dark green plastic grub like the Yamamoto hula grub. Use a slow dragging retrieve while maintaining bottom contact. Smallmouth bass are caught much better in the afternoon during the warmest part of the day. Use the same techniques but target the rocky structure near the shallow coves. Each day more walleye and crappie are caught while using plastic to catch bass. The fishing opportunities here are varied but what ever your personal preference the chances of success are increasing each week. |