First time to powell/bullfrog

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Edward Gerdemann said:
Walleye are great to eat but fight like a log. Smallies skyrocket out of the water, rip line off the reel and never give up. While they're not quite a good to eat as walleye, they aren't bad, either - far superior to stripers IMHO. :LOL:

Ed Gerdemann
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Couldn't agree more. We have only recently started targeting stripers(they are a good fight, but pound for pound there's nothing tougher in fresh water than a smallie).
 
Edward Gerdemann said:
Walleye are great to eat but fight like a log. Smallies skyrocket out of the water, rip line off the reel and never give up. While they're not quite a good to eat as walleye, they aren't bad, either - far superior to stripers IMHO. :LOL:

Ed Gerdemann
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Ed, I need your expert advise ---- I am very proficient at catching smallies at lake powell --- my question --- how do you catch large smallies? This last weekend, I probably caught 100 total, but only 1 or 2 over 13 inches --- best one caught was on a large jerk bait --- all others taken on grubs / drop shot, neko, ned...... were 10 to 12 inches ------
 
davew said:
Ed, I need your expert advise ---- I am very proficient at catching smallies at lake powell --- my question --- how do you catch large smallies? This last weekend, I probably caught 100 total, but only 1 or 2 over 13 inches --- best one caught was on a large jerk bait --- all others taken on grubs / drop shot, neko, ned...... were 10 to 12 inches ------
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I occasionally have trips like that, too, where I catch a bunch of littles ones and only a few bigger boys. Sometimes that's just the way it is. I've generally found the bigger smallies are usually a bit deeper than the smaller ones or are on some special piece of structure, i.e. a small overhanging ledge, a crevice in a cliff or on a small rock pile towards the back of a canyon. I probably caught my biggest Lake Powell smallmouth on the latter piece of structure. I caught another real dandy on top of a long gravel point that wasn't more than six feet deep where he struck. The reason he was there is that point was loaded with crayfish and he was going after them. The biggest fish will be where the most food is.

If you're finding a lot of fish in less than 15 feet, try using an unweighted wacky rigged Senko. Last year I found that under these conditions the Senko usually caught larger average size fish than drop shotting a Shad Shaped Worm. I like the 4-inch Senko in the 901 (Watermelon/White laminate) color, however a 4 or 6-inch Senko might mean even bigger fish. Also, the bigger the fish the slower it seems to want the lure. If you think you're fishing slow, slow down even more. I drop shot like I'm almost fishing live bait, and I fish the Senko by casting it out, letting it sink and slowly bringing it back with a lift and fall action.

To sum it up, I'd advise if you're catching nothing but little ones try fishing a bit deeper, look for areas of plentiful forage, try an unweighted wacky rigged Senko and slow down. Remember, sometimes the bigger ones just aren't hitting and the little ones are. That just happens sometimes. :)

Ed Gerdemann
 
Welcome to Lake Powell Bass! Don't listen to these guys. When ever we go to the lake, we have Bass for breakfast, Walleye for lunch and Striper for dinner. The catfish are always there is we want a change in the diet. And if we get lucky, Crappie for a mid day snack. If they are not all delicious, then you have to question their cooking ability. haha

But seriously, When you are coming thru Hanksville, stop on by and say Hi. We can give ya some pointers, tell ya where we like to go and may even be able to dig up a spare map for ya. Lake Powell is awesome and you'll have a great time.

One thing to remember though, the higher the water level, the better it is. You are visiting during a low point. When you are planning your next trip (which you will) aim for September. Not as crowded, water is still warm and days are still really pleasant and not ungodly hot.

Welcome to Lake Powell!
 
Ed--- thanks for the pointers --- slow has never been by best suit --- I might have to try to ease into it. -- It takes FOREVER for a unweighted senko to drop to the bottom in 30 ft of water --- I am going to have to bring a book. Thanks again
 
Dave I. said:
Welcome to Lake Powell Bass! Don't listen to these guys. When ever we go to the lake, we have Bass for breakfast, Walleye for lunch and Striper for dinner. The catfish are always there is we want a change in the diet. And if we get lucky, Crappie for a mid day snack. If they are not all delicious, then you have to question their cooking ability. haha

But seriously, When you are coming thru Hanksville, stop on by and say Hi. We can give ya some pointers, tell ya where we like to go and may even be able to dig up a spare map for ya. Lake Powell is awesome and you'll have a great time.

One thing to remember though, the higher the water level, the better it is. You are visiting during a low point. When you are planning your next trip (which you will) aim for September. Not as crowded, water is still warm and days are still really pleasant and not ungodly hot.

Welcome to Lake Powell!
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Do you run a shop down there?
 
Well the wind is still looking calm for this wed/thurs. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. We've decided to stay down there at the defiance lodge instead of camping. Just wanted to make the first trip as stress free as possible. We will scout out the camping stuff for future trips. Some final questions, in that clear of water, how long of a leader do you guys use on your crawler harnesses for walleye? Also, I have plenty of 15- 20 ish feet, deep diving cranks, is there a need for down riggers at powell if I'm trolling for stripers? or just running them off the back of the boat ok? any need for planer boards? Again, thank you for all of the replies/advice.
 
I thought so, she’s my grandma “B”. I remember her telling me about selling you a grader that belong to my grandpa.
 
bassNblast said:
Well the wind is still looking calm for this wed/thurs. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. We've decided to stay down there at the defiance lodge instead of camping. Just wanted to make the first trip as stress free as possible. We will scout out the camping stuff for future trips. Some final questions, in that clear of water, how long of a leader do you guys use on your crawler harnesses for walleye? Also, I have plenty of 15- 20 ish feet, deep diving cranks, is there a need for down riggers at powell if I'm trolling for stripers? or just running them off the back of the boat ok? any need for planer boards? Again, thank you for all of the replies/advice.
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leader length should be 4 feet or longer

I never use down riggers and find stripers come up to check out my lure when I find the right spot.

Planer boards are too complicated for me as I would rather cast to trailing stripers instead of trying to get the planer boards out of the water.

Fishing should be really good next week. Water temperature will be perfect and all species of fish very frisky.
 
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well, I'm back. Thank you for all the tips and info. What a cool place to fish. We caught all the stripers we wanted over by the mouth of Moki canyon, they are a fun fish on light tackle, we just used anchovies and a plain lead head. We caught quite a few smallies around all the rocky points and edges. Used a yamamoto curly tail on an 1/8 ounce head. Picked up walleye with bottom bouncers and jigs by stanton creek. The bottom bouncers were interesting, there was definitely a learning curve. With all the bottom contour changes, I ditched the rod holders and held the rod so I could keep dropping and reeling up to adjust and that helped me catch a few. I wish we could have made it further up lake, furthest we got was forgotten canyon. With only a 24 gallon tank and not extra fuel, we didn't want to chance anything. Weather was perfect wed and thurs, wind really came up thurs evening but we were off the lake before it happened, that was nice. I can't imaging fishing down there when it gets hotter, we were burning up and it was only high 70's. Maybe we'll head back down there in October.

One thing on the way back Friday morning, we had seen a pick up completely totalled that had hit and killed a cow on the road, I hope he's ok. Kinda scary in that open range area, lots of cows on the road.
 
Open range goes all the way down to the pay booth . There is a signal on the road from Hanksville that says open range next 13 miles . That is wrong its more like 80 miles . They like to be near the road to at night. I was getting gas at Hanksville one night and seen a totaled truck towed in . When do they pick up the cows and move them ??
 
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