July 13, 2023
Water temperature 74-82 F
Lake Elevation 3568 MSL
Fantastic spring runoff into Lake Powell is beginning to slow down after a wet and wild spring
that allowed the lake to rise approximately 60 feet. For the past few years, while the lake has
been extremely low, all boats launching at Wahweap have been forced to travel through the
main channel while heading uplake. Rising water allowed the Castle Rock Cut, between
Wahweap Bay and Warm Creek, to fill with about four feet of water. The Castle Rock shortcut
reduces the uplake trip by 12 miles from Wahweap launch ramp to the mouth of Warm Creek.
The Cut has been full of all kinds of boats that take advantage of the calm water and the sorter
uplake trip. It is uncertain how long the Cut will remain open as the lake level stabilizes and
then declines. It may only be open for a week but each day it is open will make travel uplake
much better.
My fishing trip this week was amazing as we launched at Wahweap Auxiliary Ramp before the
sun came up and headed uplake looking for stripers feeding on the surface. After idling though
the Castle Rock Cut we put the boat on plane and traveled about 200 yards before we saw
surface activity on the calm water. The boat was taken off plane and idled toward the surface
activity. There were 4 anxious anglers in the boat who immediately cast toward the fish
feeding on the surface. The first cast resulted in 3 hits from surfacing stripers. Two fish missed
the hook while bumping the surface lures but the first striper was hooked and landed. We look
around and saw many small surfacing schools within range. Our boat driver headed toward the
next school and within 2 minutes we were close enough to cast. Another striper was landed
and we knew this was going to be a great day of fishing.
Small striper schools were abundant in Warm Creek. They hit the surface, fed quickly on small
tiny shad, dove deep and then rose to attack the next shad school. We saw many surfacing
schools feeding from the Castle Rock Cut to the mouth of Warm Creek. Many schools were
feeding in the main channel from the mouth of Warm Creek to Gunsight and beyond toward
Padre Bay. Some schools were out of range or went down too quickly but the catch rate was
about one to two fish from each school that came up within casting range. Striper size was
about 1.5 to 3 pounds. Average time between each surfacing school was less than 5 minutes.
Fish behavior was dependent on time of day. Fish caught before the sun came up were feeding
individually. We even caught some individual smallmouth bass surfacing with the stripers and
eating shad. It seemed these fish were chasing small groups of shad. Then as the morning got
lighter and the sun rose, stripers began bunching up and feeding on larger shad schools that
were grouped tightly together. As the sun got higher the number of surfacing striper schools
declined. The best time to fish was from first light to 8 AM. We were able to find more striper
schools feeding on top from 8 to 10 AM. After 10 AM the surface action quit and stripers
dropped down into deeper, cooler water. It may be possible to catch deep stripers on spoons
or by trolling but, we had 50 fish to clean and the sun was getting HOT so we went in and took
care of the fish.
The surface feeding activity we saw was more active than slurps but not quite as aggressive as
full-blown boils. Shad were abundant and it seems that the striper surface feeding action will
continue into August. Shad have lots of brushy habitat that can be used for protection from
aggressive predators. Stripers were robust and healthy. It looks like shad, stripers and bass will
have a great summer with high water, plenty of brushy cover and ample food and plankton for
each individual species. That is great news for FISHING at Lake Powell.
Heading through the Cut
Water temperature 74-82 F
Lake Elevation 3568 MSL
Fantastic spring runoff into Lake Powell is beginning to slow down after a wet and wild spring
that allowed the lake to rise approximately 60 feet. For the past few years, while the lake has
been extremely low, all boats launching at Wahweap have been forced to travel through the
main channel while heading uplake. Rising water allowed the Castle Rock Cut, between
Wahweap Bay and Warm Creek, to fill with about four feet of water. The Castle Rock shortcut
reduces the uplake trip by 12 miles from Wahweap launch ramp to the mouth of Warm Creek.
The Cut has been full of all kinds of boats that take advantage of the calm water and the sorter
uplake trip. It is uncertain how long the Cut will remain open as the lake level stabilizes and
then declines. It may only be open for a week but each day it is open will make travel uplake
much better.
My fishing trip this week was amazing as we launched at Wahweap Auxiliary Ramp before the
sun came up and headed uplake looking for stripers feeding on the surface. After idling though
the Castle Rock Cut we put the boat on plane and traveled about 200 yards before we saw
surface activity on the calm water. The boat was taken off plane and idled toward the surface
activity. There were 4 anxious anglers in the boat who immediately cast toward the fish
feeding on the surface. The first cast resulted in 3 hits from surfacing stripers. Two fish missed
the hook while bumping the surface lures but the first striper was hooked and landed. We look
around and saw many small surfacing schools within range. Our boat driver headed toward the
next school and within 2 minutes we were close enough to cast. Another striper was landed
and we knew this was going to be a great day of fishing.
Small striper schools were abundant in Warm Creek. They hit the surface, fed quickly on small
tiny shad, dove deep and then rose to attack the next shad school. We saw many surfacing
schools feeding from the Castle Rock Cut to the mouth of Warm Creek. Many schools were
feeding in the main channel from the mouth of Warm Creek to Gunsight and beyond toward
Padre Bay. Some schools were out of range or went down too quickly but the catch rate was
about one to two fish from each school that came up within casting range. Striper size was
about 1.5 to 3 pounds. Average time between each surfacing school was less than 5 minutes.
Fish behavior was dependent on time of day. Fish caught before the sun came up were feeding
individually. We even caught some individual smallmouth bass surfacing with the stripers and
eating shad. It seemed these fish were chasing small groups of shad. Then as the morning got
lighter and the sun rose, stripers began bunching up and feeding on larger shad schools that
were grouped tightly together. As the sun got higher the number of surfacing striper schools
declined. The best time to fish was from first light to 8 AM. We were able to find more striper
schools feeding on top from 8 to 10 AM. After 10 AM the surface action quit and stripers
dropped down into deeper, cooler water. It may be possible to catch deep stripers on spoons
or by trolling but, we had 50 fish to clean and the sun was getting HOT so we went in and took
care of the fish.
The surface feeding activity we saw was more active than slurps but not quite as aggressive as
full-blown boils. Shad were abundant and it seems that the striper surface feeding action will
continue into August. Shad have lots of brushy habitat that can be used for protection from
aggressive predators. Stripers were robust and healthy. It looks like shad, stripers and bass will
have a great summer with high water, plenty of brushy cover and ample food and plankton for
each individual species. That is great news for FISHING at Lake Powell.
Heading through the Cut
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