| August 4, 2009 Lake Elevation: 3640 Water Temp: 80- 87 F |
Striper boils at Hite went from Hot to Not in one week's time. Recently water cleared up enough for stripers to find abundant shad. Stripers boiled unmercifully for a week. Then something changed and stripers went from boiling all day, every day to boiling a little bit night and morning. This abrupt change is reminiscent of August 2008 when fishing at Hite was tough as nails. It could be that abundant shad negate the need for stripers to boil when feeding. They just open mouth and shad seemingly swim in without effort. For what ever reason, it seems boils at Hite are quiet for awhile. Hite fishing reports indicate it is common to catch stripers while trolling or spooning at a bottom depth of 25 feet. Bonus walleye and bass are caught as well. But better balanced fishing results occur downstream. At Good Hope Bay and locations downstream there are still some really fine striper boils early and late with random surface action during the day. Bass fishing is excellent for those willing to fish slowly with plastic grubs along the 25 foot bottom contour. Best striper fishing is in the main channel from Good Hope to the mouth of the San Juan. Perhaps Bullfrog /Halls is the best starting point to access striper surface disturbances. The most consistent boils last week were at the mouth of Lake Canyon. But there are many locations where stripers boil on schedule each morning and evening. It is a delight to camp and swim on this lake of beautiful warm water and has the added bonus of boiling stripers near camp at the beginning and end of the day. Only spotty boil reports are coming from the Escalante while the San Juan main channel from the mouth to Cha Bay has lots of boil activity early and late. Sporadic big boil reports continue in the southern lake. It seems that predictable, repeatable boiling action is not found each day, but there are boils just often enough to make it necessary to keep a rod rigged with a surface lure close at hand. When the event happens that rod will provide supper for a family with 4 good casts. In the August heat keep stripers on ice and fillet as soon as possible. Stripers are best when eaten fresh. If you have been disappointed with the taste of stripers in the past, it is time to try them again. These fat fish are in perfect condition and taste much different from thin stripers caught on bait in other years. Eat them fresh after a short time in the cooler. Cut out the red meat, and grill the fillets with olive oil and lime juice for a perfect meal. Catfish and sunfish are likely to be under the boat when camped on the lake. They are easy to catch on worms or table scraps. |