Lake Powell Fish Report – August 21, 2018
Lake Elevation: 3599
Water temperature: 78 - 83 F
By: Wayne Gustaveson http://www.wayneswords.com or Wayneswords.net
Fishing is picking up over the length of Lake Powell. The southern lake is providing decent bait fishing and successful deep water trolling for stripers. Bass fishing is good lake wide. Here are the details.
It is critically important to begin fishing as early as possible. Smallmouth bass are still responding to surface lures at first light. Stripers are most active for the first two hours of daylight. They can be caught on bait, deep trolling and an occasional small boil. Regardless of the technique the results at 6 AM far outweigh the catch that happens at 10 AM with the same effort. The first rule is to go early.
The next rule is to head north. Best fishing success on Lake Powell is in Good Hope Bay. The upper San Juan is good at times, as is the Escalante. However, Good Hope Bay is the best. Good Hope has the biggest shad population, and therefore the most striped bass that spend their lives in pursuit of shad.
A typical day at Good Hope begins with an occasional striper boil, but more often there are individual stripers chasing shad that can be seen jumping when looking toward the sunrise. These small splashes are backlit by the rising sun and easy to see over long distances. Cruise toward the splashes and throw surface lures when in range. Catching fish on top is the best, but watching the graph is critical if catching a bunch of fish is the goal. Down below the jumping fish are huge schools of stripers moving silently while waiting to interact with a deep shad school. When the big striper school is seen, drop spoons into the school for quick results. The schools are often suspended so it is important to know the depth of the spoon. The best way is to drop the spoon to the bottom and then speed reel back to the school. If the bottom is at 90 feet and the school is at 50 feet reel up 40 feet and then start jigging. This is easier said than done. Luckily, speed reeling works well on searching stripers. They often tell you when the spoon is at the right depth by biting the lure.
Deep trolling is working well with the best depth being from 15-30 feet. Holding stripers are found in this range and will hit trolled lures moving at the depth schools are holding. Watch the graph and adjust the trolling depth to match the holding depth of striper schools. While trolling other fish like walleye, catfish, and bass will participate. Last week there was a 34-pound striper caught on Lake Canyon Wall, using the deep trolling technique while the lucky angler was trolling from a jet ski!
Lake Powell has an amazing year round fishery.
Pictures: Manny Parks - Page, AZ
Lake Elevation: 3599
Water temperature: 78 - 83 F
By: Wayne Gustaveson http://www.wayneswords.com or Wayneswords.net
Fishing is picking up over the length of Lake Powell. The southern lake is providing decent bait fishing and successful deep water trolling for stripers. Bass fishing is good lake wide. Here are the details.
It is critically important to begin fishing as early as possible. Smallmouth bass are still responding to surface lures at first light. Stripers are most active for the first two hours of daylight. They can be caught on bait, deep trolling and an occasional small boil. Regardless of the technique the results at 6 AM far outweigh the catch that happens at 10 AM with the same effort. The first rule is to go early.
The next rule is to head north. Best fishing success on Lake Powell is in Good Hope Bay. The upper San Juan is good at times, as is the Escalante. However, Good Hope Bay is the best. Good Hope has the biggest shad population, and therefore the most striped bass that spend their lives in pursuit of shad.
A typical day at Good Hope begins with an occasional striper boil, but more often there are individual stripers chasing shad that can be seen jumping when looking toward the sunrise. These small splashes are backlit by the rising sun and easy to see over long distances. Cruise toward the splashes and throw surface lures when in range. Catching fish on top is the best, but watching the graph is critical if catching a bunch of fish is the goal. Down below the jumping fish are huge schools of stripers moving silently while waiting to interact with a deep shad school. When the big striper school is seen, drop spoons into the school for quick results. The schools are often suspended so it is important to know the depth of the spoon. The best way is to drop the spoon to the bottom and then speed reel back to the school. If the bottom is at 90 feet and the school is at 50 feet reel up 40 feet and then start jigging. This is easier said than done. Luckily, speed reeling works well on searching stripers. They often tell you when the spoon is at the right depth by biting the lure.
Deep trolling is working well with the best depth being from 15-30 feet. Holding stripers are found in this range and will hit trolled lures moving at the depth schools are holding. Watch the graph and adjust the trolling depth to match the holding depth of striper schools. While trolling other fish like walleye, catfish, and bass will participate. Last week there was a 34-pound striper caught on Lake Canyon Wall, using the deep trolling technique while the lucky angler was trolling from a jet ski!
Lake Powell has an amazing year round fishery.
Pictures: Manny Parks - Page, AZ
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