Dworwood
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
We arrived a little after 10 on Friday and I drove past the campground entrance so I pulled in the station to turn around and talk with my neighbor who went with us. After a short discussion we headed back to the camp ground, as I was turning around my boat tire brake caliper came off and locked up the tire. I could hear something but couldn’t figure out what it was until the tire blew out and it only took about 70 feet to do that. This is the second time a caliper has come off at powell! We changed the tire and head to the boat shop for bolts. We got that fixed and unloaded at the executive ramp around noon. Ran into @Littlesaltwash and chatted for a few minutes with him, his wife, and their two daughters, we never found them again after that because my phone would not connect all weekend, phone service is not as good for some reason as it has been in the past for me.
We headed North and checked out a few spots that have been good in the past with no luck. Tried around tapestry where we have done well on stripers with no luck. Headed to good hope watching for boils all the way. Checked around mm 117 and still no surface action. After @dallas massie reported on bullfrog and @Kbass reported on halls we decided to head back and try closer to home before dark. We caught our first fish where Dallas talked about near dome rock and thought we had it figured. We ended up catching a few fish before dark. Did I mention my electric trolling motor had a problem while we were up north? My SIL spent over an hour trying to get that fixed on the water without luck, that took some fishing time away like the tire issue had done. This crew was so efficient that every time we had a few fish in the live well they would fillet them while I was driving so I got ONE picture!
SATURDAY, day two we spent the first hour of daylight getting the electric motor running in the camp ground, took more fishing time away but we got it fixed and we’re back in business. A little late getting out we headed to Halls to try and find @Kbass spot. Didn’t really find many fish where he did but found a few on the shelf just outside of the mouth and caught fish there spooning, not many! A boat came by and reported catching a bunch a couple of turns down so off we went, didn’t find those fish either. We were wondering what the heck was going on? We spent the day South as far as Iceberg, still no surface activity anywhere. We saw a lot of fish at the 60 foot level, water temp was from 77 up north to 80 down south and bait balls were everywhere we went from 60 feet to the surface. Fishing for stripers was tough, we trolled several different lures but 10XD and 8XD sexy Shad and red caught the best this trip. We fished main channel shelves, canyons and everything in between. We returned to the area we caught fish the night before and did not catch a fish Saturday evening. We pulled the boat and had a fish fry in the camp ground with my neighbor and his two sons, fresh striper and SM is tough to beat. That evening @greyhackle read a report about catching small mouth near bullfrog so we decided to try that in the morning.
Sunday morning we broke out the top water and Ned rigs and hit a favorite spot of mine, first thing my SIL spotted fish chasing Shad and game was on. I caught a sm right off and everyone caught small mouth in this little bay. These were some of the best SM I have caught at powell and they threw up Shad every time we brought one in. We lost several fish but had a good morning, we should have given up on the stripers sooner and we would have brought more fish home! All the fish we caught were fat and healthy, as good as I have seen in a long time. I was disappointed in the north, we never got rid of the rough water (wake boats) all the way to GH bay this trip. Weather, friends, family and scenery were terrific this weekend. I wish I had better news to report but it was tough fishing, we caught around twenty fish, like I said they filleted them before I could get pictures, most were caught trolling, some spooning near halls and others scattered around the lake. Maybe @greyhackle will fill in what I have forgotten to mention. I will say SM fishing is Ok right now. We stayed in the camp ground which was a first for me. @4LOJO and his wife were a couple of spots away and we got to visit with them for a bit, they did see a boil but a ski boat drove through it before they got a chance to fish it, fishing was slow for them too. The lake was as busy as I have seen since COVID! I don’t do holidays anymore but there were a lot of people and the walk to the parking lot hasn’t changed much and many thanks to those who give rides!
Good luck out there and stay safe! (If my memory returns I will add information later)
We headed North and checked out a few spots that have been good in the past with no luck. Tried around tapestry where we have done well on stripers with no luck. Headed to good hope watching for boils all the way. Checked around mm 117 and still no surface action. After @dallas massie reported on bullfrog and @Kbass reported on halls we decided to head back and try closer to home before dark. We caught our first fish where Dallas talked about near dome rock and thought we had it figured. We ended up catching a few fish before dark. Did I mention my electric trolling motor had a problem while we were up north? My SIL spent over an hour trying to get that fixed on the water without luck, that took some fishing time away like the tire issue had done. This crew was so efficient that every time we had a few fish in the live well they would fillet them while I was driving so I got ONE picture!
SATURDAY, day two we spent the first hour of daylight getting the electric motor running in the camp ground, took more fishing time away but we got it fixed and we’re back in business. A little late getting out we headed to Halls to try and find @Kbass spot. Didn’t really find many fish where he did but found a few on the shelf just outside of the mouth and caught fish there spooning, not many! A boat came by and reported catching a bunch a couple of turns down so off we went, didn’t find those fish either. We were wondering what the heck was going on? We spent the day South as far as Iceberg, still no surface activity anywhere. We saw a lot of fish at the 60 foot level, water temp was from 77 up north to 80 down south and bait balls were everywhere we went from 60 feet to the surface. Fishing for stripers was tough, we trolled several different lures but 10XD and 8XD sexy Shad and red caught the best this trip. We fished main channel shelves, canyons and everything in between. We returned to the area we caught fish the night before and did not catch a fish Saturday evening. We pulled the boat and had a fish fry in the camp ground with my neighbor and his two sons, fresh striper and SM is tough to beat. That evening @greyhackle read a report about catching small mouth near bullfrog so we decided to try that in the morning.
Sunday morning we broke out the top water and Ned rigs and hit a favorite spot of mine, first thing my SIL spotted fish chasing Shad and game was on. I caught a sm right off and everyone caught small mouth in this little bay. These were some of the best SM I have caught at powell and they threw up Shad every time we brought one in. We lost several fish but had a good morning, we should have given up on the stripers sooner and we would have brought more fish home! All the fish we caught were fat and healthy, as good as I have seen in a long time. I was disappointed in the north, we never got rid of the rough water (wake boats) all the way to GH bay this trip. Weather, friends, family and scenery were terrific this weekend. I wish I had better news to report but it was tough fishing, we caught around twenty fish, like I said they filleted them before I could get pictures, most were caught trolling, some spooning near halls and others scattered around the lake. Maybe @greyhackle will fill in what I have forgotten to mention. I will say SM fishing is Ok right now. We stayed in the camp ground which was a first for me. @4LOJO and his wife were a couple of spots away and we got to visit with them for a bit, they did see a boil but a ski boat drove through it before they got a chance to fish it, fishing was slow for them too. The lake was as busy as I have seen since COVID! I don’t do holidays anymore but there were a lot of people and the walk to the parking lot hasn’t changed much and many thanks to those who give rides!
Good luck out there and stay safe! (If my memory returns I will add information later)
