| August 27, 2008 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3630 Water Temp: 78-83 F |
Oh, oh! Stripers have slipped into their lazy mode over much of the lake. That means they are feeding easily with little need to join in large schools to trap shad. Apparently shad are abundant, scattered and easy to eat at random over most of the lake. Surface feeding is equally easy to see but hard to approach in time to cast to fish before they go down. The chase is fun and punctuated with just enough large sustained boils to make number of fish caught at the end of the day respectable. The extreme north and south ends of the lake are experiencing these lackadaisical scattered feeding events. Perhaps the best place to be is mid lake where more boils of longer duration are found. On a cruise uplake yesterday from Wahweap to Bullfrog, decent boils were seen mid day at, Buoy 27, Dangling Rope (main channel), Buoy 55, mouth of San Juan, Halls Crossing Marina breakwater and the Bullfrog docks. The best school in the lower lake was found in Padre Bay around the island separating Gunsight from Padre Bay. Some days the stripers are scattered across Padre, but this morning the big school stayed up from first light to 7:30 AM. Then they fragmented into small groups and feed in all directions throughout Padre Bay. They were easy to catch in the early morning but hard to hook after 8 AM. The school seems to regroup at about 8 AM and then boil once more at 8:30 before finishing the morning feeding event. Stripers boil again in the afternoon in the same locations beginning as early as 3 PM but feeding may be delayed as late as 6 PM. Most serious anglers end up with 30 fish after a good morning or evening trip. Smallmouth bass are being caught with ease now along the shoreline but most fish are small. Bigger bass are feeding deep along the shoreline or with the striper schools in open water. Some really big largemouth have been taken recently on surface lures in the backs of brushy coves. Catfishing is excellent with bait in the evening near camp. |
| August 20, 2008 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3631 Water Temp: 78-83 F |
| It's beginning! The southern lake is starting to boil after a 3 week quiet spell where fishing was very tough. The northern lake has had sustained striper boils over the same period. Now it appears the whole lake will provide excellent fishing. Dark moon in August bodes well for anglers who like topwater fishing. Yesterday there were sustained striper boils at the dam from 6 to 8 AM. Today we ran a circuit around Antelope Island to see how extensive the boiling stripers were. At 6 AM scattered stripers were seen chasing shad from Buoy 1 to the dam. A rattletrap cranked down would catch an occasional fish. But that wasn't fast enough so we raced uplake. At Buoy 3 we joined another boat fishing the first real boil of the day. Surface lures worked great with these tightly packed fish that were jumping high out of the water Just cast into or beyond the school for multiple hook ups. This school moved rapidly from Buoy 1 to Buoy 3 in one half hour. They went down and we preceded uplake. No striper schools were seen in Antelope Marina. Scattered fish started to pop near Buoy 9 but we could only catch an occasional fish on slowly cranked crankbaits. So we continued the circuit. At the confluence of Warm Creel and the main channel (Buoy 12) a huge boil blew up at 7:45 AM. We caught multiple fish on surface lures and crankbaits. One boil was right in the middle of the travel lane while another one was going on shore. We had a really great time with this bunch and placed multiple fish in the cooler. We expected all the fish to stay down after 8 AM but made a token run around Warm Creek hoping for one more school. That was a seemingly futile gesture so we headed the boat for Castle Rock Cut and home. With the Cut in sight we were detoured by the largest boil of the day. We finished filling the cooler and headed in at 9 AM. Boils are even better between Rock Creek and San Juan. The lake from San Juan to Bullfrog is starting to boil as well. Topwater striper fishing will be the big news on the lake from now until the end of September. Most boils in the lower lake are in the channel but there will be many boils in coves as well. Most boils will happen at dusk and dawn but daytime boils will become more common with time. Don't be surprised to catch bass in the boils with the stripers. As surface temperature drops bass will come shallow as well. September will be the best fishing month that Lake Powell has seen for many years. Catfish are still prowling the shoreline around camp and bluegill are in the brush but it will be very hard to pass up the boils for the more sedate forms of fishing. |
| August 13, 2008 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3632 Water Temp: 80-87 F |
The dreaded full moon effect is closing in fast. The weekend will feature bright nights which may have a negative effect on fishing success. To counteract the negative vibes go to those locations where forage populations are "bigger than an August moon". Of course that means Hite and the upper San Juan. Hite remains the best fishing destination this week. Bright moon will further compress dwindling boils to evening events only. Slurps begin about 2 PM but they are quick. It is very difficult to get the boat in position to cast while the fish are still on top. The last hour of light is prime time and that event alone will be worth the trip as many fish can be caught in a short time on surface lures. The stretch between Buoy 129 -131 has many surfacing schools. During the rest of the day stripers can still be caught in big numbers. Trolling a shallow running crankbait prompts a hookup every time a striper school is seen on the graph. There are many schools to be seen so this is quite a productive technique. Plastic swim baits, shad colored crankbaits and your favorite trolling bait all work very well. The Thinfin by Cordell worked great for one recently returning fishing party. I am sure spoons will work just as good. There are many stripers to catch in the 1.5 pound range that are fat and prime for table fare. Take plenty of ice to keep the fillets cool. Bass are picked up incidentally while trolling. Targeting bass would be very productive as well. The San Juan is good but takes second place to Hite. Boils are not common. Surfacing stripers have been reported at the confluence of the San Juan and main channel. These were larger fish that stayed up for a long time. Unfortunately they come up at random times making it hard to predict the event. With full moon, Jacks Arch Cove would be a good place to spend an evening. Piute Canyon is the hotspot for boils but competition with houseboats and skiers may detract. In late summer and fall the spot where river joins lake, Spencers Camp, is always a dependable fish catching spot on the San Juan. Trolling works very well now at Hite Over the rest of the lake, look for random boils at infrequent times. Two-fish-slurps happen often but fish are not easy to approach or catch. When boils do come up they often have staying power and catching many fish is possible. Finding the random boil is the hard part. Bass fishing continues to improve particularly in the above mentioned inflow areas. But smallmouth are caught on rock structure away from brush at 25 plus feet. Catfishing is excellent and big bluegill are ready for anyone that wants to toss a live worm into brushy cover. |
| August 6, 2008 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3632 Water Temp: 81-87 F |
| Things are "looking up" for fishing all over the lake. Last weeks report indicated dismal prospects for the main lake and those predictions were confirmed. Now the corner has been turned and fishing success will build each week until a grand peak is reached in late September. The biggest news is shad are abundant and predators are living large on the buffet circuit. The few fish being caught now are FAT. Shad abundance is one of the main factors in past poor fishing success. The other negative factors are warm surface temperature and vast forests of submerged tree habitat which has fish goggle-eyed. Slick Rock Coves are prime "boil" habitat. Fishing prospects for the southern third of the lake remain tough with the most cooperative fish being catfish and bluegill. Try fishing around brush with live worms in the backs of canyons for nice sized panfish. Catfish are in the sandy shallows near campsites. Use the same live worms, shrimp or chicken liver for the best chance to catch fish for supper. The mid section of the lake, from Rock Creek to Bullfrog including the San Juan, boasts some decent striper boils early in the morning and late in the evening. Boils are hard to find as shad have moved out of the channel and are now in the coves. Cruise the shoreline at first light to find scattered single stripers surfacing. Scattered individual stripers will group up as the sun climbs and then school up to create some real boils. The action quits abruptly at 8 AM (MST). The most productive habitat is slick rock coves without brush. Stripers trap shad in rock coves and hold them there for a week or more at a time. Shad are more abundant in the backs of canyons but brushy cover inhibits feeding. Boils are in the open coves instead of along brushy shorelines. "FAT" striper caught with LV 300 lipless vibrator. The northern lake is the place to be. Nothing even comes close to fishing success in the northern reaches of the lake. Boils may be found throughout the day with early and late best, but boils can spring up anytime. Shad are still in the channel uplake making stripers easier to find. Cruise the main channel from White Canyon all the way to buoy 110 for excellent fishing opportunities. That is 25 miles of potential striper boils! Bass fishing patterns play off shad behavior. Shad schools are often in the channel. That places bass on rock structure close to shad and "looking up" to eat. Bass waiting for a shad swim-by are susceptible to mid range shad crankbaits or lipless vibrators. Dragging a rattletrap along the 20 foot breaking edge of structure will catch more bass than other methods. Instead of fishing the shoreline and brushy coves, cast crankbaits to the open channel for more consistent bass action. A slow retrieve is still best to consistently catch fish. |