Huge Striped Bass - Navajo Canyon

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CHRIS MCBETH

CHRIS MCBETH

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Based on Wayne’s report the Striped Bass were laying their eggs and “boiling” pre-dawn we decided to shoot up to the lake for a day (from Scottsdale!)

We arrived around 12:30, were out on the lake by 1:30, and we made it to the back of Navajo Canyon by 2:00pm moving at a pretty good clip.

Amy and I simply trolled back and forth using Bomber Deep Fat Free Shad 3” crankbaits and within 30 seconds of casting had two good sized Stripers on the line!

We then reset, turned around, and caught two more.

And two more.

And two more!

All were 22” or bigger and starting in the 3 pound range. I actually think my scale was underestimating because the largest of the bunch was about 27” long and scale said 6.2 pounds while my brain told me it was more like 10.

We honestly didn’t expect to catch anything in the middle of the day so we only had our one puny cooler with us. It was filled by 4 of the largest fish either of us had ever caught!

I’m notifying everyone now:

There’s a 6+ pound 24+” Striped Bass swimming around back in that canyon with a $20 lure sticking out of its mouth 🤨

If you catch her, the lure is yours!

We had so much fun we’re not even going to get up at 3am tomorrow trying for the pre-dawn boils... instead we’re going to sleep in, take our time, and go back to Navajo and do this day all over again!

Wayne it was a pleasure meeting your lovely wife and we’re grateful you offered to clean these beasts for us!

All in all, it was an anglers dream day for this guy!E838CF29-0649-40D1-9053-27606DE3290D.jpeg
 

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That is awesome!
We have been fishing for 2 days out of Wahweap, and haven't been able to catch any strippers yet.
We have only been able to catch a bunch of small mouth.
We will definitely try trolling tomorrow.
Thanks for the report.
 
Seems like Navajo is the hot spot currently... the day Amy and I went we didn't even get there until 2pm in the middle of the day... the water was about 72 degrees by then, and as others here have posted the fish finder was going nuts. The entire bay is filled with very big Stripers. The biggest one I got was a 26-27 inches, and although my cheap digital scale said 6.2 pounds, I've lifted weights much of my life and I'm fairly sure it was closer to 10lbs. That said, ALL the Stripers we caught were the biggest either of us had ever seen let alone caught. All caught trolling, using Bomber Deep Fat Free Shad 3" crank baits "Bama Shad" style. https://www.amazon.com/Bomber-Fishi...fMmL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch&th=1&psc=1
 
Were you top water trolling or using down riggers? Thanks in advance. We get there today for a five day stay. Can’t wait to start fishing!!
 
At that time we were trolling deep (15-20 feet deep) using the mentioned Bomber Deep Fat Free Shad.

That said, I think if you have a fish finder once you located schools you should also try dropping spoons or anchovies straight down on them to the appropriate depth.

We’ve had good luck trolling but for it to succeed there has to be a lot of fish around.

With a graph and some bait, you can find a large nomad and drop a line right on him and pick it up almost every time... or so I’ve been told.

Bait fishing is my next endevour.
 
We bait fished in 50 feet of water using jig heads and chunks of anchovies.
We located the school and started chumming.
We would see the school start to swarm on the chum and then cast out over them and let our bait settle into them.
I only wish we had more bait and time.
We were fishing on a southern face of a point just past the two big islands in Navajo canyon.
 
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