Lake Powell Fish Report – June 13, 2018
Lake Elevation: 3612
Water temperature: 72 - 75 F
By: Wayne Gustaveson http://www.wayneswords.com or Wayneswords.net
Striper slurps continue over the length of the lake. Typically slurping stripers begin feeding when the sun hits the water. If in a shaded canyon just randomly throw surface lures toward the shore in areas where bottom depth is about 25 feet. Stripers, smallmouth and largemouth bass respond well in low light to a surface lure hitting near shore, or the edge of a drop off, or even in open water in the middle of the bay. Watch for splashes in the back of the canyon and cast in that direction. Those splashes could be bass or stripers or gizzard shad. Any of these are worth targeting. It is fun to catch bass and stripers while gizzard shad tend to attract sport fish so they are worth targeting with surface lures.
On my fishing trip this week, the first random cast with an Ima Skimmer surface lure resulted in a 2-pound striper, followed by 4 smallmouth bass over 2 pounds and one largemouth bass. As the sun started to break over the high cliff wall we noticed a small surface disturbance in the middle of the bay in deeper water. After seeing one fish jump we confirmed that these were slurping stripers and we headed toward the school.
The trick is to get the boat close enough to cast but not close enough to spook the school. On this day we had more schools spook and go down before we could make a good cast that landed just beyond the school so we could work our surface lures back over the feeding fish. It is definitely best to come up behind the school so the fish are swimming away from the boat. We had way too many schools that were coming toward us and spooked before we could get a good cast off. It is worth it to take an extra turn or two and approach the school from the side or from the rear.
Surface lures work well with a perfect cast and a great retrieve. Watching fish hit the topwater is almost as fun as catching them. You can probably catch more fish on a white jig or grub that is closer to the size of the tiny shad stripers are eating. These slurps only stay up for a few minutes at best. Once they go down, the school often goes right under the boat and can be caught on spoons or other fast falling lures like a heavy rattletrap. The school is in range for less than a minute so react quickly when the graph lights up with 30 or more fish.
In the southern lake striper slurps were found in Padre Bay near Dominguez Rock, Gregory Butte, Dove Canyon, and Rock Creek. In the northern lake slurps were seen in Bullfrog Bay, Halls Creek, Cedar Canyon to Good Hope Bay and Red Canyon. This is a lakewide event but with more shad in the northern lake the best place to try is from Bullfrog to Trachyte Canyon.
Smallmouth bass fishing is great in the early morning on surface lures lakewide and later in the day on plastic grubs and senkos near isolated rock slides and along rocky shorelines where water depth is 10-20 feet. Larger bass are deeper at 20-35 feet.
Walleye are being caught trolling, and casting in cloudy water. Wind is forecast to blow in the afternoon this week. When the wind comes up try trolling along windy points and flat ledges with a bottom depth of 10-30 feet. Catch one walleye and return to that spot to catch more. You can cast for walleye using a plastic bass grub with a piece of worm attached and a slow retrieve while maintaining bottom contact. Walleye group together. Catch one and more are likely to be found in the same spot.
Blue gill and green sunfish are quite visible now as they are nesting in shallow water. Look for a 12-inch circular nest on the bottom and drop a tiny plastic jig on to the nest and watch the bluegill come over to remove it. Set the hook when he picks it up. Male, nest guarding, bluegill are the most colorful fish in the lake.
Lake Elevation: 3612
Water temperature: 72 - 75 F
By: Wayne Gustaveson http://www.wayneswords.com or Wayneswords.net
Striper slurps continue over the length of the lake. Typically slurping stripers begin feeding when the sun hits the water. If in a shaded canyon just randomly throw surface lures toward the shore in areas where bottom depth is about 25 feet. Stripers, smallmouth and largemouth bass respond well in low light to a surface lure hitting near shore, or the edge of a drop off, or even in open water in the middle of the bay. Watch for splashes in the back of the canyon and cast in that direction. Those splashes could be bass or stripers or gizzard shad. Any of these are worth targeting. It is fun to catch bass and stripers while gizzard shad tend to attract sport fish so they are worth targeting with surface lures.
On my fishing trip this week, the first random cast with an Ima Skimmer surface lure resulted in a 2-pound striper, followed by 4 smallmouth bass over 2 pounds and one largemouth bass. As the sun started to break over the high cliff wall we noticed a small surface disturbance in the middle of the bay in deeper water. After seeing one fish jump we confirmed that these were slurping stripers and we headed toward the school.
The trick is to get the boat close enough to cast but not close enough to spook the school. On this day we had more schools spook and go down before we could make a good cast that landed just beyond the school so we could work our surface lures back over the feeding fish. It is definitely best to come up behind the school so the fish are swimming away from the boat. We had way too many schools that were coming toward us and spooked before we could get a good cast off. It is worth it to take an extra turn or two and approach the school from the side or from the rear.
Surface lures work well with a perfect cast and a great retrieve. Watching fish hit the topwater is almost as fun as catching them. You can probably catch more fish on a white jig or grub that is closer to the size of the tiny shad stripers are eating. These slurps only stay up for a few minutes at best. Once they go down, the school often goes right under the boat and can be caught on spoons or other fast falling lures like a heavy rattletrap. The school is in range for less than a minute so react quickly when the graph lights up with 30 or more fish.
In the southern lake striper slurps were found in Padre Bay near Dominguez Rock, Gregory Butte, Dove Canyon, and Rock Creek. In the northern lake slurps were seen in Bullfrog Bay, Halls Creek, Cedar Canyon to Good Hope Bay and Red Canyon. This is a lakewide event but with more shad in the northern lake the best place to try is from Bullfrog to Trachyte Canyon.
Smallmouth bass fishing is great in the early morning on surface lures lakewide and later in the day on plastic grubs and senkos near isolated rock slides and along rocky shorelines where water depth is 10-20 feet. Larger bass are deeper at 20-35 feet.
Walleye are being caught trolling, and casting in cloudy water. Wind is forecast to blow in the afternoon this week. When the wind comes up try trolling along windy points and flat ledges with a bottom depth of 10-30 feet. Catch one walleye and return to that spot to catch more. You can cast for walleye using a plastic bass grub with a piece of worm attached and a slow retrieve while maintaining bottom contact. Walleye group together. Catch one and more are likely to be found in the same spot.
Blue gill and green sunfish are quite visible now as they are nesting in shallow water. Look for a 12-inch circular nest on the bottom and drop a tiny plastic jig on to the nest and watch the bluegill come over to remove it. Set the hook when he picks it up. Male, nest guarding, bluegill are the most colorful fish in the lake.
