Easter Fishing Reunion - Navajo Canyon

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CHRIS MCBETH

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Our family converged on south Lake Powell this weekend for a mini family reunion and fishing!

Mom and Dad came which is the first time since they brought us here as kids in 1979!

First things first:
Antelope Point boat Valet is seriously the best thing ever... load your boat, get in and they launch you. You start the motor and cruise away. They take your truck and trailer and park inside the secure area.

When you return, call channel 14 and they come get you. Drive boat onto trailer, ride up the ramp in comfort, they park you in the public lot. You’re done. No half mile walk (x2) no waiting at the bottom of the ramp etc. and it saves the 6 or 7 mile trek from Wahweap.

It’s the best $20 we ever spent and will never launch our boat ourselves again.

Now onto the fun part:
We cruised straight up Navajo until we got to the giant cat box. It’s a Sahara Desert-style sandbar the size of Long Island about 3/4 of the way to the back of the canyon.

Found an incredible spot around the west side sheltered from wakes and wind, and setup a day camp.

My wife and Dad chilled on the boat while Mom and I explored, then later my bro showed up with his wife and 3 boys and I took the boys fishing.

We didn’t have to go far... literally 40 yards away to a rocky structure in the same small pond we were beached in.

We all used bright green crappie jigs on 1/8 ounce jig heads with white painted heads with eyes.

I caught four crappie (one of which was very large, very healthy) and a smallmouth that fought like Manny Pacquiao and wasn’t more than 10” long.

The boys also caught several crappie and several smallmouth and my bro joined us and caught several too.

All in all the smallmouth were small and healthy while the crappie were generally the largest any of us had seen. I guess we caught about 15-20 in total over the course of only an hour from 12:30 to 2:00pm.

We caught and released all of them so another angler can enjoy.

Then a storm blew through and sandblasted us with gusts of wind driving the sand dune into our eyes, clothes, boat, every nook and cranny LOL.

We pulled up anchor and hightailed it back into the channel, only to watch the storm blow on by and bring blue sky’s again.

Mom explored the dune while all this was going on and Courtney (bros wife) and her boys hiked to the back of the dune where a spring was leaching fresh water into the sand. I later found on google earth that water may be leaching from the Navajo generating stations potash evaporation fields... yikes!

Anyway, a great day on the lake in water temps around 60-63 degrees. Lake Powell is truly a wonder of wonders and I can’t think of a better place to be this time of year.

We’re thankful to have the means, and grateful to the many people dedicated to keeping this lake and it’s endless natural wonders viable for generations to come.

Wayne give your team our compliments ;)

Happy Easter everyone. Remember what it’s all about and conduct your lives and your social media comments accordingly.

This is where we beached and caught all the fish:


And, there’s an abandoned rental boat (Antelope Point) wedged firmly in a slot canyon here you could plunder if you’re a pirate:

 

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Chris great report, enjoyed reading it.
My wife and I will be making our first trip to LP second week in May. I would like to launch at Antelope Point, Just wondering if it's pretty self explanatory when you turn into Antelope Point for the valet service? Is there an office or do you need to call them?
Thanks,
Also really enjoyed your pictures.
 
Chris great report, enjoyed reading it.
My wife and I will be making our first trip to LP second week in May. I would like to launch at Antelope Point, Just wondering if it's pretty self explanatory when you turn into Antelope Point for the valet service? Is there an office or do you need to call them?
Thanks,
Also really enjoyed your pictures.


If you’re a planner like me you’ll cal anyway... but take my word for it you don’t need to.

1. They’re open 8am to 5pm.(yes that means you have to be back by 5)
2. It’s the first right turn once you enter the main entrance (if that first gate is closed just go clockwise around the back side via the main marina parking lot.
3. Just go in the office, fill in paperwork, pay $20.
4. If there are a lot of launches in might be 20 min or so
5. Just load your boat, prep for launch, get in boat, they drive you down and you launch. Away you go.
6. You can get around the 8-5 limit by getting a slip at the marina for your duration. They’ll launch you, secure the trailer in their locked parking lot, then go park your vehicle in the public lot and leave the keys with security. Then when you return to Antelope marina just go find your slip, tie up for the night and get a golf cart ride up to your vehicle, stopping at security to grab your keys along the way. Then just make sure your last day to go back to the valet area and hook up your trailer, and leave the keys with them and they’ll get you a golf cart ride to your boat.
7. When you want to get picked up off the lake, call on Channel 16 requesting Antelope Point Boat Valet, they’ll redirect you to another channel, then give them your valet # and they’ll meet you at the bottom of the ramp, you drive on, he hooks you in and drives up the ramp...

Pretty slick! We tipped em $10 each time too, so a total investment of $40 well worth it.
 
Our family converged on south Lake Powell this weekend for a mini family reunion and fishing!

Mom and Dad came which is the first time since they brought us here as kids in 1979!

First things first:
Antelope Point boat Valet is seriously the best thing ever... load your boat, get in and they launch you. You start the motor and cruise away. They take your truck and trailer and park inside the secure area.

When you return, call channel 14 and they come get you. Drive boat onto trailer, ride up the ramp in comfort, they park you in the public lot. You’re done. No half mile walk (x2) no waiting at the bottom of the ramp etc. and it saves the 6 or 7 mile trek from Wahweap.

It’s the best $20 we ever spent and will never launch our boat ourselves again.

Now onto the fun part:
We cruised straight up Navajo until we got to the giant cat box. It’s a Sahara Desert-style sandbar the size of Long Island about 3/4 of the way to the back of the canyon.

Found an incredible spot around the west side sheltered from wakes and wind, and setup a day camp.

My wife and Dad chilled on the boat while Mom and I explored, then later my bro showed up with his wife and 3 boys and I took the boys fishing.

We didn’t have to go far... literally 40 yards away to a rocky structure in the same small pond we were beached in.

We all used bright green crappie jigs on 1/8 ounce jig heads with white painted heads with eyes.

I caught four crappie (one of which was very large, very healthy) and a smallmouth that fought like Manny Pacquiao and wasn’t more than 10” long.

The boys also caught several crappie and several smallmouth and my bro joined us and caught several too.

All in all the smallmouth were small and healthy while the crappie were generally the largest any of us had seen. I guess we caught about 15-20 in total over the course of only an hour from 12:30 to 2:00pm.

We caught and released all of them so another angler can enjoy.

Then a storm blew through and sandblasted us with gusts of wind driving the sand dune into our eyes, clothes, boat, every nook and cranny LOL.

We pulled up anchor and hightailed it back into the channel, only to watch the storm blow on by and bring blue sky’s again.

Mom explored the dune while all this was going on and Courtney (bros wife) and her boys hiked to the back of the dune where a spring was leaching fresh water into the sand. I later found on google earth that water may be leaching from the Navajo generating stations potash evaporation fields... yikes!

Anyway, a great day on the lake in water temps around 60-63 degrees. Lake Powell is truly a wonder of wonders and I can’t think of a better place to be this time of year.

We’re thankful to have the means, and grateful to the many people dedicated to keeping this lake and it’s endless natural wonders viable for generations to come.

Wayne give your team our compliments ;)

Happy Easter everyone. Remember what it’s all about and conduct your lives and your social media comments accordingly.

This is where we beached and caught all the fish:


And, there’s an abandoned rental boat (Antelope Point) wedged firmly in a slot canyon here you could plunder if you’re a pirate:

The kids made my wife cry.(In joy)
 
Right now or at least last week one could get a striper every cast with half a chovie and a 1/8 oz lead head casting away from the boat along the wall 30-40 ft away and just letting it sink on its own.
West wall from the dam chain floats north for 300 yards at least. I know you're going north but you might keep this in mind.
 
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