| August 29, 2007 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3603 Water Temp: 80-85 F |
| Surprise! The boiling stripers are still on top in the southern lake. Not every morning is great under the full moon but on this date a trip to Warm Creek resulted in 98 stripers for three very happy anglers. A mid-channel boil near the floating restroom lasted for most of an hour. Singles were chased on top until a school was seen on the graph. Spoons caught as many as topwater lures from the resting school. Then on the way back to the marina with 2 full coolers another boil was seen near the mouth of Warm Creek. Then with over flowing coolers we were way laid by two more mid channel boils near the mouth of Navajo Canyon in the main channel. This was one of the truly memorable fishing trips of the past two years. It looks like these fish will be available during the upcoming holiday weekend. Typical widespread open water boil. Boiling fish are yearling stripers from 12 to 22 inches which are very strong and healthy as they chase shad to the surface. The feisty young fish will hit surface lures while blasting shad on top or spoons while in the depths looking for the next victim. Larger stripers are waiting at about 40 feet for any wounded shad to fall to the bottom. Spooning over a resting school of stripers results in nonstop action. When stripers are seen on the graph resting near 40 feet, drop spoons to the bottom and work them in short pulls (12-24 inches). Try to get one fish to hit so the school gets excited. Stripers will rise off the bottom in response to the feeding behavior of the hooked fish. When the school has separation from the bottom, drop the spoon below them and then reel quickly through the layer where fish were seen. Pause the lure twice if reeling from the 40 foot bottom or three times if 60 feet or deeper. Following stripers will often hit just as the lure pauses or starts to move upward once more. Try to hit a splash ring for the best results. These techniques will work on active stripers at any lake location. Expect boils anywhere. September will be the prime boil month for 2007. Look for boils during the two hour period at first light and last light each day. Bass were seen working the shoreline with boiling stripers. They got more active and were willing to take surface lures as the stripers left the shoreline to head to deep water. Shad moving in front of advancing stripers will excite any game fish. Find active stripers that will lead you to bass, walleye and catfish that lurk on the outskirts of the striper feeding frenzy. 
If the boil is circular just throw to the far edge and reel across for instant hook ups. |
| August 22, 2007 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3605 Water Temp: 80-88 F |
'FLIP-FLOP' Warm Creek was where I fished, but my guess is that the same conditions are at work from Wahweap to Dangling Rope and beyond. At dawn stripers start to hit the surface as widely spaced individuals. A spoon thrown near a single splash is quickly eaten. Top water lures are taken only half the time. Then as the sun climbs, stripers run shad schools toward shore or into a cove. Real boils erupt with hundreds of yearling stripers feeding tightly together. Fish in full boils hit anything, with walking topwater baits being the most effective. When boiling fish go down to regroup, pick up a hammered silver spoon to follow them to the bottom. When they come back up, use the topwater lure. Fishing becomes non stop catching when using these complementary lures. Jack "Hotwheels" Herrin 'surrounded'. Scan the shoreline for the location of the boil. A neat trick is to look toward the East into the rising sun as it peaks over the horizon. Striper splashes will light up like flashing strobe lights as the sun backlights the splash spray. Follow the strobes to the center the activity. My advice is to keep moving while looking for boils instead of waiting in one spot - even if that was where they were seen yesterday. Stripers have no loyalty to spots. They just follow shad that are doing their best to avoid the stripers. How long will the southern lake boils last? There are no guarantees. Today's boil may have been the last. More likely we should see boils at least through this weekend. Do not wait hoping for a prolonged surface feeding event. My guess is these boils will be short lived. Be prepared to look in lots of places to find boiling fish. Bass and walleye will be near the boiling stripers. Expect bass to hit as the stripers go deep. Today I found healthy 3 pound stripers on bottom under the 16-inch boiling stripers. As we reeled in each hooked fish, many shad were regurgitated. I am sure the deeper fish were laying low, waiting for the dead and wounded shad shower to come into the deeper water. Again shad-colored spoons are the ticket to find bass, walleye and larger stripers after the boil. Catfish and sunfish are eager to provide fishing action for all near camp. |
| August 15, 2007 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3606 Water Temp: 82-90 F |
| Water temperature is at the summer peak with sheltered coves registering over 90 degrees during afternoon heat. The main lake is holding at 82 F which is pretty warm for fish. They adjust by going deeper. Some species can tolerate the warm surface water. Surprisingly largemouth bass like the heat particularly when in the shade of a tree or bush. One interesting report had largemouth bass in the shade of the tamarisk tree line on the San Juan waiting for big desert grasshoppers to fall and land on the water. Topwater fishing under that line of trees was great. Juvenile stripers can stand the heat. They feed on tiny shad who are basking in the plankton rich warm surface layers to avoid predators that need cooler water. Every morning and evening stripers up to 20 inches round up shad and drive them to the surface where feeding is intense for a brief moment. These boils are happening at random times and places throughout the lake but the most consistent boils are found from Good Hope Bay upstream and from Piute Canyon upstream on the San Juan. Dry Rock Creek, Navajo, mouth of West Canyon are usually good for a quick morning boil. Surface action ceases after 8 AM although a random boil can occur anytime - any place. Brody Gilbert caught this striper which made his Dad Keith very proud. Smallmouth are not put off by warm water. They just drop down a few feet with rambunctious juveniles anxious to eat, residing at 10-15 feet and larger adults down at 20-30 feet. If snorkeling around camp, smallmouth can be teased into visual range by simply tapping on a rock with another rock. Curious fish come to see what the noise is about. My guess is that tapping a big heavy lure would attract bass which could then be caught with a trailing plastic grub. Try this and let me know how it works. If it really works I will take credit - if not I disavow all knowledge for even suggesting it. Anchovy fishing for stripers continues to be beyond belief. Adult stripers have gone deeper - some as deep as a 100 feet. Anchovy chum gets a school going and they just keep feeding as long as the bait continues to fall. Stripers are also shallow, particularly the very common yearlings from 14-20 inches. Find morning boils and then concentrate fishing in those areas through the day and into the night. Bait looks good to hungry fish with a high metabolic rate from living in warm water. Green lights attract plankton, bait and predators in the cool night hours. Night fishing near Hite and upper San Juan will leave little time for enjoying the meteor shower going on in the dark sky. But glance up occasionally after taking a fish off the hook to get a complete Lake Powell experience. There will be time to sleep when the vacation is over. |
| August 8, 2007 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3606 Water Temp: 81-88 F |
| Full moon has faded into darker nights and just like clockwork stripers have started boiling again. The hot spot is the Colorado River inflow from Farley to the Horn above Good Hope Bay. Reports of day long boils and catching more stripers than can be imagined are rolling in. Launching access is still possible at the site of the old Hite marina but this will be the last weekend for launching there due to declining water levels. Some boats have launched successfully at Farleys Canyon but it takes 4WD and courage to make that happen. The best bet for a nice fiberglass boat is to motor up from Halls or Bullfrog and camp near Trachyte. Fishing results will make the trip more than memorable. Charlie Doss Family In the main body of the lake, small boils are found each morning from Wahweap Bay to Good Hope and on the San Juan. These boils are small and quick. There may not be time to see the boil and get to the school in time to catch a fish. But look for surface action in Navajo Canyon, West Canyon, Rock Creek, San Juan, mouth of Escalante, and Rincon. Boils may be seen from Bullfrog to Good Hope and morning twilight is the best time to look. Catching is quick on small spoons (Kastmaster and CC Spoons). Full size surface lures work. When fishing near Trachyte it is advisable to remove the front hook so the fish is the only one impaled on the hook. The Lucky Craft Gunfish 115 in clear Ghost color is amazing topwater bait. It "walks the dog" with a spitting action that is hard to resist. Summer schools of adult stripers are right where they have been for the last two months. Some spots not recently mentioned include, mouth of Last Chance, Oak Canyon and Reflection Canyon - just inside the canyon mouth in the shady alcove. There are literally hundreds of striper spots (probably one in every canyon) just waiting for an anchovy chum shower to get the fish started. Look for shade near a rockslide along the steep wall to locate a willing school of stripers. When the school lights up, they will eat all anchovy baits and many other offerings for the next hour or more. Return the next morning or evening for more action. Bass fishing is improving. The best technique is drop shot, split shot or Carolina rigged plastic grubs or tubes fished slowly along the bottom at 20-30 feet. Perhaps the best presentation for bass is trolling a deep diver along the 20 foot bottom contour. Bass fishing may be better in the main lake than at the Colorado River inflow where boiling stripers are dominating the forage. Catfish and bluegill fishing is hot. Both species are easy to catch on bait near camp. |
| August 1, 2007 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3607 Water Temp: 81-89 F |
| If asked to predict a time when fishing was going to be tough I would have to say full moon and midsummer with water temperature well over 80 F. This would be that week. Considering the detractors the results are not that bad. Adult stripers resting under the thermocline are always ready to eat. The prime spots continue to produce hungry adults and frisky juvenile striped bass. The fatter smaller fish will often be on top of the school in warmer water but will hit bait when chummed into a frenzy. The trick is to get one fish to hit and then swim to the surface. Stripers can't stand to see one of their buddies with food in its mouth, without trying to get in on the act. They follow along hoping for fallout or a new free swimming independent morsel. Toss a bait behind the hooked fish to get the next one in line. It is very fast fishing - even for a slow period. Surface feeding action or 'boiling' is random and short lived during full moon. The best time may be morning or evening twilight when ambient light conditions favor the predator. More likely the boil will be anywhere, anytime or not at all. Fish using your favorite technique and if a boil pops up, pick up the extra rod and cast quickly. Often the boiling fish will hit whatever lure happens to be on your rod at the time. A few boils have been seen at all points along the lake. But shad numbers are not strong and boils are not consistently found. That will change as the moon darkens. Bass fishing is tough as nails outside the twilight periods. Catfish and bluegill fishing is as good as it gets. Use live worms and small hooks for bluegill and any flavorful table scrape for cats. They really like hotdogs. Alphonso Gonzales with trophy striper he found floating in Last Chance bay. The big fish was 49 inches long and weighed between 40 and 50 pounds. |