LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT MARCH 30, 2005 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3556 Water Temperature: 51-55 F |
| Days are getting longer and warmer but afternoon winds have prevented the lake surface from retaining any residual warming. A calm day will see the temperature shoot up and increase fish activity. Bass and stripers are active and can be caught on a regular basis now. Look for both species of fish in the backs of canyons and bays where main channel water depth is 25-35 feet. This depth is where water color changes from clear to a murky green. Shad have moved to this location and grebes and other birds will mark the spot when feeding. Each canyon will have a spot where fish of all species congregate. Look for the signs and “feel” of fish activity before even making a cast. The fish holding zone will have similar characteristics in each canyon. Stripers and bass are near shad. A good search pattern is to troll shad raps while watching the graph. If a striper hits the trolled lure, play the fish with occasional glances at the graph. Stripers have banded together in larger schools so it is common to see the school follow the hooked fish under the boat. When stragglers are seen, immediately have your fishing partner cast deep diving crankbaits or drop spoons to the bottom to get additional hookups. More stripers can be caught in a short time with spoons and cranks than with trolling. Continue to work the area with spoons until the striper school moves on. When the fish holding spot is found work the area thoroughly. Stripers will be holding on points and ridges at about 25 feet. Bass will be in the same area (1-10 feet deep) but usually not associated with stripers. By that I mean, stripers may be caught on a point and bass will be further down the shore or in a cove instead of on the point with stripers. Bass may lay low while stripers feed and then become active after the striper school passes. Catch one species of fish and the others should be within 200 yards of that location. When one spot plays out go to the next canyon instead of trying a half-mile away in the same canyon. It may be most productive to search for stripers by graphing and dropping spoons on schools marked mid channel. Each day will provide different opportunities but using the graph and shad lures will pay dividends in large fish this spring. Right now reports indicate best fishing for stripers on the southern end of Lake Powell from Wahweap to Rock Creek and from 7-Mile upstream on the north end. Bass are caught equally well at all locations. |
LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT MARCH 23, 2005 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3556 Water Temperature: 51-55 F |
March weather has been a bit testy which has the fish trying to decide how to respond. One day is warm and the next cold. Water temperature has vacillated 10 degrees. Surprisingly, stripers in the lower lake have been more dependable than the weather.
Stripers near Lone Rock in Wahweap Bay have moved shallow (10 feet) to feed and then deep (45 feet) to ride out the cold front. On any given day they can be caught trolling with deep divers (20-25 feet) when they are in the deep slots and with regular shad lures (12-15 feet) when they are feeding on the points.
It may be time to give these fish a rest as heavy fishing pressure lately has made for a crowded fishing pattern. It looks a lot like a NASCAR event on warm afternoons with most boats trolling in left-hand circles. But the rewards are great with most anglers getting at least a couple of the 6-pound plus beauties.
Lone Rock is close but the same striper catching opportunity exists in Gunsight, Padre, Navajo, Last Chance and Rock Creek. Use the experience gained from trolling at Lone Rock to boost your catch in other locations.
1. The key elements are to get a lure that trolls true and deep. The best lures have been Norman D-22, Big Mac, Shad Rap (size 9), and salt water deep diving rapalas with the metal lip. Basically any lure that will troll between 15-25 feet and resembles a shad.
2. Troll at 3-3.5 mph. Those trolling slower are not catching as many fish.
3. HINT: I have caught the most fish by trolling deep water close to shore. Each time a shallow ridge appears on the graph I turn the boat towards deep water. This forces the lure to turn and follow the ridgeline. Stripers hanging off the point attack the lure as it drops over the lip into deep water. This zigzagging technique has been deadly and improved my catch rate tremendously. Know how deep the lure runs so you can judge when to turn and when to continue straight across a ridge. Bumping bottom once on a ridgeline is a good thing. Snagging is not!
CAUTION: Trolling more than two lines will cause the lures to tangle when making quick erratic turns.
Using these techniques in the backs of most canyons where water depth is 25-50 feet will allow you to find your own private school of big stripers. If stripers are present they will not ignore this method. Use this search technique anywhere on Lake Powell. Stripers are staging in the backs of many canyons and eating shad when the water warms. Prime time seems to be 3 PM each afternoon.
Bass fishing is getting better on warm afternoons. Try drop-shotting - or use tubes and plastic grubs on steep walls and fast falling vertical structure for bass. A large temperature differential between main channel and protected coves mark potential bass hotspots. The thermometer may be the most important bass catching tool right now. Remember that cloudy water warms faster than clear water. Fish stained water for best results when the sun is out and water is warming.
LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT MARCH 16, 2005 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3557 Water Temperature: 51-55 F |
| Unseasonably warm weather was replaced by cold windy March bluster. Stripers were lurking on the deep water edge of the shallows to stage for spawning and feeding purposes. Despite the rapid drop in water temperature from 60 back to 51, stripers moved into the shallows instead of retreating to the depths. Shad were the wild card. They didn’t move from their shallow murky homeland and stripers stayed with them. Last week trolling with down riggers and deep running shad lures was the best technique for putting a respectable number of stripers in the boat. To catch fish yesterday I had to put the deep runners back in the box and put on the regular crank baits that run 12 feet deep. Shad raps, Lucky Craft Bevy Shad and Staysee, Husky jerks, and Wally Divers were hot lures. Stripers were eating big adult shad so larger lures were better than small for taking the larger stripers. Lures with large hooks hold more of the big stripers than lures with normal size hooks. The only deference to cold water was a slow down in striper metabolism. My normal fast trolling had to be throttled back to 2 MPH for more consistent strikes. In fact, a stop and go action was better than a steady retrieve for slow moving fish. Striper strikes were soft and slow. The hook up was not always secure as many of the short biting stripers came off the hook after being played for a few seconds. But the hooked striper then followed the fleeing lure and would chase it all the way to the boat. The bait was often taken a second time. A good striper holding habitat is the emerging island near the main creek channel in the back of major canyons. Follow the main cut all the way to the back. Look for birds perched and flying near the canyon terminus in more favorable shad locations. Look for a vertical edge in 15-20 feet of water which could be used as a shad trapping zone. Cast suspending jerk baits to the shallows and then drag them with a stop and go action into deeper water. Stripers and bass will be right on the break where deep water meets shallow. This shallow shad pattern will work for both bass and stripers for the remainder of March and into April. Bass are more prone to take some time off after a cold front passes, but they can be jump started with the stop and go jerk bait action. Walleye will spawn as the water warms once more. Fishing has surprised me by starting earlier than normal. The quality of fish caught was expected. This season has started with a bang and will get even better in April. Do not miss a spring fishing trip to Powell. This will be a year to remember. |
LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT MARCH 9, 2005 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3558 Water Temperature: 53-57 F | |
| Warmer days have started the fish migration from deep water to shallow. Shad are now secure in the feeling that the journey to shallow water is safe. Threadfin shad cannot withstand rapid cooling or heating which can be fatal to the small forage fish acclimated to cold water. Shad that were deeper than 70 feet all winter were seen this week at depths of 25 – 50 feet. Game fish follow shad and are enjoying the warming water. While game fish metabolism is still slow, the urge for increased nutrition prior to the spawn is fueling a new interest in chasing shad. While feeding periods during winter may have been days apart, game fish now will eat on a daily basis. The trick is to find out when the activity period will be and where the activity will occur each day. Most logically feeding occurs at the time of maximum daily warming in the afternoon. | |
| Since colored water is warmer, go toward the shallow end of the canyon. The water color change from clear to murky is the starting point. Cover ground quickly to find fish congregations. Trolling while graphing is a good way to “see” what’s happening. Look at the graph to discern schools of bait, schools of game fish and individual fish targets. If game fish are suspended from 20-40 feet then trolling may be the most productive method. If fish traces are near bottom then jigging a spoon, jig, swim bait or anchovy on the bottom may be best. Most likely game fish traces in open water will be stripers. Try to stay over schools of fish. They will move away from the boat so be stealthy and quiet. Drop baits quickly to a waiting school. Deep diving crank baits are the ticket for suspended stripers. Try to find a lure that will troll at 20-25 feet for the best results. This week a Norman DT-22 and large-sized Shad Rap in shad colors trolled at 3 mph worked in Wahweap Bay in the 45-foot slot between Lone Rock and the camping beach. Find a congregation of stripers by trolling and then stop and cast to the area of highest concentration. Use the same deep diving lures for casting and trolling. | |
| Bass and walleye will be near shore or some rock or brush structure. Casting diving crank bait to points and shallow structure will appeal to basking bass. Earlier in the day try drop-shotting small worms and grubs along vertical structure in protected coves where water is warmer. Rip baits (Bevy shad, husky jerk), or spinner baits worked along quick sloping drop-offs are a good bass catching technique in these conditions. Walleye will be found near shad in colored water for one more week. Then they will move to rock slides to spawn. For now the same crank baits and plastic offerings that work for bass will take walleye. The weekend (March 11-13) weather will be warm and sunny making it a perfect time to find early season fish. |
LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT MARCH 2, 2005 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3559 Water Temperature: 50-53 F |
| The first significant warming of Spring occurred over the weekend. That means there was a detectable temperature difference between certain areas of the lake. Let me assure you that cold-blooded bass can tell when the water starts to warm. A one-degree temperature gradient may spell the difference between catching lots of fish and not so many. The details: Water temperature over most of the lake is 50 in the morning and rises to 52 by afternoon. In most canyons there will be a favored location where water is warmer. Find the warm spot and fish will be there. The elements causing a warm spot are water color, sun exposure and protection. Water colored by plankton, algae and/or suspended sediment is some shade of green or brown when compared to the clear blue water in the main channel. The suns rays are absorbed better by colored water causing better heat retention. Murky water will be warmer than clear water in the spring time before runoff begins. Sun shining directly on a rock wall rising from the water, causes more warming than from a rock wall that is partially shaded. Look for spots with a sunny exposure in the afternoon when the suns rays are strongest. Last, find a cove where colder water from the main channel cannot funnel directly into the cove. A sheltered cove at a right angle to the wind direction that inhibits mixing with main channel water will retain the thin warm layer and concentrate fish. |
Ron and Sheridan Colby with striper caught spooning on bottom under a school of 2-pound stripers. Note the green water color depicting warmer water than found in the main channel. |
| Find a warm spot and bass will be close by during March. Right now that warm spot is only 53-55 degrees. Warm water is only a thin surface layer so bass will come shallow to seek the heat. Later in the month the main lake will warm to 54 degrees and the warm spots will be as much as 6 degrees warmer. This week bass will be close to the steep wall warmed by the sun and protected from the cooler main lake. That means coves instead of channel. Flip weedless plastic or pork with short casts to the rock wall. Drag crank baits across points or along walls to find bass. As the lake gets warmer bass will move up on sandy flats and sun themselves near old stumps, stickups or tumbleweeds. Striped bass are drawn from the depths as the water surface warms. Shad have not moved yet and are still deep – probably 60-90 feet deep. Schools of 1-3 pound stripers are searching mid depths and probing but not finding food. Schooling fish seen on the graph now are most likely stripers. A mid depth scouting striper school will show up with separation between individual fish targets. When a school is seen on the graph, react quickly by spooning, casting or trolling. Get the school started and they will stay with the bait and even follow the boat for a short distance. Bigger stripers are still on the bottom but are aware of the school activity above them. Letting a spoon fall below an active school of mid depth stripers is the secret to catching larger striped bass. Spring warming heralds the beginning of a great year of fishing predicted for 2005. Bass and stripers are being caught right now on warm afternoons. |
LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT FEBRUARY 23, 2005 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3559 Water Temperature: 50-52 F Fishing has started sooner than expected this year. I suspect the reasons include healthy striped bass that continue to eat despite cold temperatures and shad schools that are easy prey in close proximity. With plenty of forage, large-bodied adults continue to take advantage of easy shad meals. Big stripers need lots of food, even in cold water. The result is almost daily feeding. When stripers are eating anglers can catch them. Halls Creek / Bullfrog seems to be the most consistent spot. Stripers were recently found in the back of Halls Creek and were susceptible to flat line trolling with deep diving Shad-Raps in shad colors. Stripers were shallow, 25-40 feet, for this time of year. The big silver predators were gorging on shad and willing to take lures. This technique does not always work. Stripers dive to the bottom when not actively feeding and will not rise to a shallow lure. Troll for a while and continually scan for deep schools. Deep stripers can be caught by vertically jigging spoons on resting fish, slow trolling cut bait near bottom, or by stationary bait fishing with much chumming. Find a school on the graph and use your preferred technique. Stripers can be found in almost every major canyon. They feed for short periods each day and can be caught when active. Night fishing is excellent around the lighted marinas. The Halls buoy field is good with the current hot spot being the houseboat pumpout station area. Wahweap marina is still good but better at night than in the daytime. Use a green light for best results. Drop anchovies to the bottom and stay alert for soft biting winter fish. A bonus catfish will occasionally be caught. Walleye are now in prespawn mode and will show up on steep vertical structure on warm afternoons and evenings. There are more walleye upstream from Bullfrog than down. Largemouth bass have been caught both shallow and deep on warm, calm afternoons in between storm fronts. |
| LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT FEBRUARY 17, 2005 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3560 Water Temperature: 48-50 F A fishing trip in February can be a real grab bag. You never know what is in store. We launched at Stateline Alternate ramp without incident and no competition. Parking was easy and the walk was short from vehicle to boat. The weather forecast was for clouds and wind but it was calm and often sunny. As we idled through the houseboats toward the channel we looked at each other and said, "where should we go?" There have been some recent fish reports of stripers and largemouth being caught toward the back of Navajo Canyon and the Padre Bay Canyons where the water begins to appear stained. Bass have been caught as deep as 40 feet but sometimes right on the bank. Stripers have taken anchovy bait fished right on the bottom at depths greater than 60 feet. I am sure this winter pattern would work in the back of most canyons, particularly those with some constant stream inflow. Bass are most active during the brightest part of the day. They tend to move up when the sun is shining with the most direct angle to the water's surface. Morning and evening find all fish deep. Shad are found on the lake bottom at depths greater than 60 feet. There is seldom enough separation between fish and bottom to recognize the characteristic elliptical ball-shaped shad school often seen on the graph. But do not be deceived. Bass and stripers are feeding on shad and will be in close proximity. Find any fish traces on the graph and that spot is worth fishing. As we did not relish a long run uplake we tried graphing Wahweap Bay from Ice Cream Canyon toward Lone Rock where we had found stripers feeding over a month ago. After perhaps 20 minutes we graphed a few fish near bottom at 90 feet on the right-hand corner turning toward Lone Rock. I dropped a 1-ounce green/white Stump Jumper, which is a hair jig with a spinning blade fished much like a spinner bait. I thought the slow approach with a little flash might get winter stripers going. Ron used a large 2-ounce spoon with feather tail on the hook. On the second drop, a striper hit as I steadily reeled the stump jumper maybe 20 feet off the bottom. It turned out to be a nice 5-pounder. There were no trailing stripers swimming up with this one. We drifted and dredged bottom for another 5 minutes when Ron caught a 6.5-pound fish on the big spoon. There was still no increase of activity noticed on the graph as often happens when a school fish is hooked. |
For the next hour we continued to catch single stripers off the bottom. The surprising pattern was that each fish was caught on a different spoon. No single spoon accounted for more than one fish. I think we had to drop the lure right directly in front of a resting fish on the bottom. Perfect placement caused the reaction bite rather than just providing the 'right lure' to fussy fish. We boated 6 stripers weighing over 30 pounds and lost 3 other similar fish. It was a rewarding half-mile boat trip from 12-2 PM on a warm afternoon. We tried for another hour without success. My guess was this day's short feeding period was over. Graphing is critical to winter striper fishing success. Graph a few fish marks near bottom and work the area with spoons. If that doesn't work, anchor and chum while fishing anchovy bait right on the bottom. Bait seems to work best in late afternoon while reaction spoons should be used during peak sunshine. Night fishing under lights near marinas is still working. Fish deep and methodically for winter success. |
| LAKE POWELL FISHING FORECAST - SPRING 2005 Lake Powell fish eased into winter with a full belly and added swagger. Smallmouth and stripers have not enjoyed such large average size for decades. Winter food was plentiful with shad-snacks there for the grabbing anytime it warmed for a moment. With spring arriving, fish girth will increase even more with the weight of developing eggs soon to be spawned. Quality of spring fish, from striped bass to catfish, will be truly remarkable. Summer fish food depends on success of the shad spawn. Shad numbers have peaked for two straight years. Another large shad spawn would be unprecedented. History says that threadfin shad will not survive in large numbers. But, if current drought conditions and low lake levels are responsible for producing extra shad food, the new low point in lake elevation may offset conventional wisdom. Another great shad production year is a distinct possibility. Adult striped bass size is nearing the best ever seen at Lake Powell with 4-6 pound fish common and 7-10 pound fish possible on any spring trip. Anglers that fished for the new and improved fat-model stripers last year found that historic bait fishing techniques were less effective than fast moving artificial shad reaction lures. Trolling a shad lure at 3 mph in the back of the canyon was much more effective than dunking an anchovy on a steep cliff wall in the main channel. Expect trolling and casting to be the most successful technique this spring too. A failed shad spawn would make anchovy bait fishing the most successful technique by early summer. A strong spawn means more trolling, casting and spooning with an early boil-fishing season kicking off in June. Smallmouth bass adults currently weigh from 1.5 to 2.5 pounds. These fish are adding weight from developing eggs for spring spawning. Old bass recently finding good forage conditions will never grow to super large size. Bass get most of their length as they grow in the first two years. The new crop of bass spawned into plentiful food conditions in 2003 and 2004 will develop into the new trophy class. Expect to catch many 2-pound bass this spring with an occasional “big one”. Three to four pound bass are a year away from being common depending entirely on the success of the upcoming shad spawn. If the shad spawn is not plentiful then summer smallmouth will remain in the two-pound range. Bass fisherman relied more on hard plastic lures in 2004 and would be well advised to continue to use shad-imitating crankbaits as bass prepare to spawn this spring. Fishing during the spawn last year was a true highlight as weather patterns allowed all bass to spawn at about the same time. Sight-fishing for bedding bass was awesome in 2004 and has the potential to be even better in 2005. The very best time period to find spawning bass is the window between rapid warming and start of the runoff. It warms in the desert two weeks before the high country snow starts to melt. Prime time will be between April 15 - May 15 depending on weather patterns. Use soft plastic baits on lead head jigs or, even better, try a weightless plastic Senko for bedding bass. When the spawn concludes in late May bass will leave the shallows to chase shad and hard plastic baits will be preferred. Walleye survive in high numbers when shad are plentiful. All indications point to an exceptional spring walleye season. May is the best month for catching walleye with some early catches in April and some late fish continuing into June. Live nightcrawlers are the favored bait. Tip a plastic jig with worm or drag a worm harness along steep rocky points and breaks for consistent walleye catches. Trolling a shad lure (wally diver) that bumps bottom on the rocky point as it passes the shallowest point is perhaps the best walleye technique. There is the added bonus of trolling up bass and stripers while waiting for a walleye strike. Catfish turn on when water warms above 70 F in May. Fishing a murky water shoreline in May can produce any of Powell’s sportfish species. Cats will eat a plastic grub or whack a crankbait just as well as a striper or bass as they warm up with the water. As summer gets closer catfishing with bait on sandy beaches will be great each night. Expect a few bonus bluegill near brush or big boulder rocks during spring warming. Crappie will be very localized. There are not enough fish for a lakewide crappie report. If the report sounds optimistic it was read correctly. Look for bigger and better on all fishing fronts in 2005. Don’t miss a spring fishing trip to Powell. When the spring runoff covers the fresh concrete ramps in May boat access will be excellent as well. |
| LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT JANUARY 13, 2004 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3595 Water Temperature: 45-50 F Note: This report is worth repeating in 2005 since the same conditions are now in place. Use the lessons learned last year to increase your cold weather catch this January. BULLFROG REPORT - Winter Fishing Primer - January 2004 Left BF marina at 8 AM and headed for Moki canyon. Four boats scattered out in the canyon graphing for stripers. Doug Miller and I graphed a few fish half way back in the first cut on the left. Doug had a rod rigged with a white Ľ ounce jig head and one-inch anchovy chunk. I was using a drop shot anchovy rig with 2 dropper hooks. I chummed the spot with 3 cut anchovies and we dropped our baits to the bottom. Doug hooked a nice fish which pulled hard and broke off near the boat. I didn’t get a touch. The school spooked and we moved up the canyon to see how the other boats were faring. Near the upper end of Moki the other boats were doing well on anchovies where water depth was 35-50. All of the fish were hitting near the bottom. A few fish came on spoons but most were taking anchovy bait. The fishing slowed as we added our boat to the armada. The first lesson learned was that cold winter fish are very susceptible to boat noise. They are biting very sporadically and sudden noise puts them down. Use the electric motor when approaching a likely fishing spot. We returned to the first spot. Doug hooked another fish quickly after chumming and dropping to the bottom. I am still without a bite on the drop shot rig. I changed to a similar white jig head that could be fished on the bottom not 6 inches up. Second lesson - the bait has to be touching bottom or returning to the bottom more often than it is suspended. I examine Doug’s rig further and find that he is using an 8-pound test fluorocarbon leader while I have regular monofilament. I switched to fluorocarbon, did everything else just as I had been earlier and this time caught fish. Third lesson - Slow moving winter fish are visually examining the bait very closely. Anything that looks strange results in rejection. The bait must look like a free floating piece of chum that has settled to the bottom. Invisible line is necessary when the fish are this fussy or cold. A jig head was acceptable. Finally, the bite is imperceptible. When I finally got the bite I was very gently lifting the bait one inch off the bottom and setting it back down. On one lift the bait was heavy. That was the bite. No other indication was given. I set the hook on a hunch and the fish was there. Good 4 pound fat striper. Now that you know the pattern, fishing will be good for you in the back of Bullfrog Bay, Moki Canyon, Forgotten, Lake and Halls Creek. I wouldn’t hesitate to try for stripers in the back of any Lake Powell canyon where water depth was 40-70 feet. Use 8 pound fluorocarbon. Fish ON THE BOTTOM with a one inch chunk of anchovy where a few fish are graphed. Do not use the big motor near the fishing spot. Chum a few pieces of anchovy steadily. Set the hook on any unusual sensation. It doesn’t cost anymore to set the hook. |
| LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT DECEMBER 29, 2004 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3564 Water Temperature: 50-52 F Water temperature has reached real wintertime levels now making it difficult to catch fish. It is not impossible - just difficult. Striped bass will be found near shad over the submerged creek channel in most major canyons. Shad like open water as far away from structure as possible. They would prefer aquatic weeds for protection but that is just not available to them at the depths where water temperature is most stable. Shad are holding at 60-150 feet. Stripers are lying right on the bottom in the same general area. Feeding happens on a random basis. When actively feeding stripers are very visible on a graph. When resting they appear to be part of the bottom. The most difficult portion of the trip is convincing one striper to bite. One fish feeding will excite his schoolmates. Probe the bottom with jigging spoons, large feather jigs, or anchovies to get that first bite. Fishing is slow. Catching more than 5 fish would be a great trip. Night fishing for stripers with lights will produce a larger catch. Bass fishing has slowed down but smallmouth are probably more catchable than stripers. Use drop-shot rigged plastic tubes, grubs or senkos on deep drops near creek channel intersections. Smallmouth will commonly be 30-50 feet deep now that shad have gone deep. Work the bait down a rocky point or against a steep wall until the fish holding location is found. It is slow fishing but some real trophy bass can be caught this time of year. |