Lake Powell Fishing Report
August 6, 2014
Lake Elevation: 3607
Water Temperature 77-85 F
Stripers are still boiling from Good Hope Bay to Trachyte and White Canyon. The intensity is not as strong as last week when stripers first found shad as the water cleared up and visibility increased. Now there is a morning and evening pattern developing with random boils occurring during the day. In the morning start looking in Good Hope Bay and then run uplake to the Horn and beyond. Feeding activity can be in the main channel or in the backs of canyons depending on the whim of the stripers. When boils are encountered, stop and fish. Cast to boils as long as the fish stay on top. Use full size top water lures, lipless vibrators and Kastmasters for best success.
Catching can be prolonged by casting spoons as soon as the stripers leave the surface. Stripers are lurking just under the water looking for another shad and the falling spoon is just what they are looking for. Stripers really like the side-to-side motion the spoon makes when free falling. Slab style jigging spoons are best when used in free fall mode but in surface boils the Kastmasters type spoons are better. It is wise to have both styles rigged and ready to go.
If stripers are seen on the graph schooled up in deep water, a slab spoon will be the best choice and catching at a high rate will continue.
At mid morning the surface activity slacks off. Take a break by cooling off in the warm water and then repeat the boil search in the evening as the sun gets low in the west.
From Wahweap to Bullfrog it is a different story. Boils are very random and only a few may be seen during a whole week of looking. When a boil does come up, stripers are very cooperative and will hit full size lures as described above.
Smallmouth bass are active lakewide and can be caught on primary and secondary points leading into the main channel or main canyon. Fish from 12- 25 feet deep with plastic grubs bounced off the bottom and then retrieved back to the boat. The best lure for me today was the Yamamoto shad shaped worm rigged on a regular eighth ounce lead head jig. Swim the lure to resemble a shad in open water. We also caught smallmouth along the shoreline while trolling for stripers. Bass hit trolling lures that ran from 12-20 feet deep over a 30 feet bottom.
Fishing was not fast but it was steady. Bass size is increasing as shad become more available to all fish.
We recently completed our shad trawling survey and found that shad numbers were above average in all locations sampled. At Wahweap the average sample is usually between 10 and 30 shad per tow. July’s shad sample was over 100 shad per tow. At Good Hope Bay the average shad haul is usually 100 fish but in July 2014 the count was over 1000 shad per tow. These numbers are very encouraging. Boils should continue as plenty of shad are available in the northern lake. Hopefully shad and stripers will get together in the southern lake as well.
Right now there are a few boils in Navajo Canyon without much activity from Wahweap to Rainbow Bridge.
August 6, 2014
Lake Elevation: 3607
Water Temperature 77-85 F

Catching can be prolonged by casting spoons as soon as the stripers leave the surface. Stripers are lurking just under the water looking for another shad and the falling spoon is just what they are looking for. Stripers really like the side-to-side motion the spoon makes when free falling. Slab style jigging spoons are best when used in free fall mode but in surface boils the Kastmasters type spoons are better. It is wise to have both styles rigged and ready to go.
If stripers are seen on the graph schooled up in deep water, a slab spoon will be the best choice and catching at a high rate will continue.
At mid morning the surface activity slacks off. Take a break by cooling off in the warm water and then repeat the boil search in the evening as the sun gets low in the west.
From Wahweap to Bullfrog it is a different story. Boils are very random and only a few may be seen during a whole week of looking. When a boil does come up, stripers are very cooperative and will hit full size lures as described above.

Fishing was not fast but it was steady. Bass size is increasing as shad become more available to all fish.
We recently completed our shad trawling survey and found that shad numbers were above average in all locations sampled. At Wahweap the average sample is usually between 10 and 30 shad per tow. July’s shad sample was over 100 shad per tow. At Good Hope Bay the average shad haul is usually 100 fish but in July 2014 the count was over 1000 shad per tow. These numbers are very encouraging. Boils should continue as plenty of shad are available in the northern lake. Hopefully shad and stripers will get together in the southern lake as well.
Right now there are a few boils in Navajo Canyon without much activity from Wahweap to Rainbow Bridge.