June 2006

[wayne gustaveson]

June 29, 2006 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3610 Water Temp: 77-83 F

Lake Powell is warm and stable. Lake elevation peaked at 3610.88 MSL. Summer heat has slowed fishing success. A conversation with an angler this week puts this in perspective. He said fishing was much slower on his last trip – He only caught 25 bass and stripers. Slower fishing at Powell is still pretty good. Stripers are moving deeper with expanding warm surface water. It is more difficult to find and start a school feeding. It may take 15-30 minutes for a deep resting school to respond to a shower of anchovy chum. But the schools do respond and fishing is still good with bait in the main channel from Wahweap to Padre Bay. The best spots are at the dam buoy line, Navajo Canyon points, and the mouth of Warm Creek. Many of these stripers are plankton feeding yearlings but a significant number of 3-4 pound fish are mixed in.Midlake bait fishing is best on Moki Wall and at the mouth of Halls Creek in the main channel.With runoff subsiding and water clearing, fishing is getting much better in the northern lake. Big runoff brought a huge nutrient load into the lake that is now being mobilized into algae. Expect clearer water with a significant algae bloom in many bays and coves. Floating algae should not hamper fishing success. Fishing from Bullfrog north during July should be the best the lake has to offer. Yearling stripers are slurping voraciously near Buoy 113-114. In most other lake locations only an occasional slurp is seen. Boils won’t happen until July and then most of the surface feeding will be in the northern lake and in the San Juan arm. Remember to use small surface lures and silver spoons to catch slurping stripers. The lure must be presented to the first feeding fish in the forward direction of travel to get a hook up. Casting into the middle of the slurp will cause the fish to spook. Yearlings have the competitive advantage over adult stripers and should be harvested to allow shad to live longer and grow larger. Go Slurp Fishing and help save some shad! Bass are in the brush. Put on a surface lure and don’t take it off until October. You can retie occasionally but always have a surface lure ready to cast. Morning and evening are best but topwater bass and stripers can be caught at any time of day. Put a plastic grub on another rod and alternate fishing the surface and the bottom to find feeding bass. Intermediate sized Super Spook Jrs and Kinami walking baits have the best size and profile for surface casting while shad are small. My favorite Jumpin minnow surface lure.Night fishing under green or white lights is excellent. Many 1-4 pound stripers have been caught on the north end of Castle Rock where bottom depth is 60 feet. Find a school of stripers during the day and go back at night to do some very serious fish harvesting.Have a wonderful and safe July 4th Holiday.

June 21, 2006 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3610 Water Temp: 75-82 F

The lake level is stabilizing and surface water temperature is steady. The constancy allows fish to slip into summer time patterns. That is really a good thing because fish will be in the same spots and do the same things for most of the summer.Stripers will be on the lookout for shad. The first hatch of shad was good in the southern lake and great in the northern lake. Since then shad numbers are lagging in the south but consistently good up north. Stripers will have a brief boiling period where young stripers will eat larval shad each morning and evening. The boils will get bigger and better with time from Bullfrog to Hite and in the San Juan. But, from Rainbow to Wahweap boils will simmer and then decline until more shad are found. If looking for boils, go to the upper reservoir.The lack of shad near Wahweap means that the over abundant adult stripers will continue to be caught with anchovies in incredible numbers. Stripers are holding at 30-50 feet in the main channel from the dam to Warm Creek, including Navajo Canyon. Catches of 30 plus fish per trip are common and those results should continue for the rest of the month. Night fishing at Wahweap and Antelope Point gets better each day. Try a green or white light from your boat or fish from the public fishing docks to enjoy catching fish in the cool comfort of a balmy evening.Bigger bass have gone deeper during the heat of the day. Probe the depths to 30 feet with a plastic grub or tube to find some decent smallmouth bass. If you just like to catch fish then throw the soft plastic bait near shore to find an eager army of little bass willing to bite at most times of the day. The real excitement comes from throwing top water lures around brushy pockets and rocky points at first light in the morning. Bass and stripers are searching the shallows for food during twilight. One of the most common patterns found in summer is a consistent topwater bite. It is possible to fish all day with a Super Spook Jr., Jumpin Minnow or surface popper. At the end of the day the surface bait will be responsible for catching just as many fish as the deep running plastic baits.Catfish and bluegill are active in large numbers. Use live worms on a very small hook for good panfish action. Kids around the houseboat should always have a rod rigged and ready for sunfish that swarm the boat looking for shade.Summer is here but the fish haven’t quit biting. Take fishing tackle along on your family vacation this year.

June 14, 2006 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3609 Water Temp: 75-82 F

Rising temperatures and lake levels have made big stripers go deeper while largemouth bass have moved into the shallows. Stripers weighing more than 4 pounds cannot live in warm surface water and must go deeper to find a cool refuge. Cool water may be found at 30 feet but mature stripers often go to 60 feet to rest during the heat of the day. Stripers may still be caught on anchovy bait placed near the resting school. A shower of anchovy chum may nudge the school into activity. Striper fishing is still good in mid June but fish are caught deeper and more chumming is required to keep the school going. Between the deep resting striper school and the surface resides another band of abundant yearling stripers. These 8-14 inch fish are mostly eating plankton in 5-15 feet of water but will pop to the surface when a school of larval shad is located. These little boils are seen early and late in the day. Boil occurrence increases near the tributary inflow areas and are less near the dam. Look in the backs of canyons or coves to find the diminutive boiling fish. Larger stripers will not boil until next month when shad grow large enough to swim to open water where they will attract attention from schooling 2-3 pound fish. Largemouth bass seek out dense brush as their primary living area. Newly flooded tamarisk forests were quickly occupied by bass and bluegill. Casting to brush is not common in rocky Lake Powell so anglers will have to search for long forgotten spinnerbaits, topwater lures and weedless hooks to successfully present a lure in the brushy habitat. The effort will be rewarded with shallow water and surface strikes from both big and small largemouth bass. Smallmouth bass are abundant in shallow water but most of these are the small active juveniles. Larger adult bass will be found at 15-35 feet. Use plastic baits on jig heads to get down to the waiting fish. Partially flooded brush sticking out of the water is only 2 feet deep. Weedless tackle will not be needed when fishing deep water at the edge of the brush. Catfish can be caught all times of the day and night on shallow sand areas. They find the water temperature to be ideal for feeding and may be at the peak of activity for the year. Use a smelly bait of soft texture like chicken liver to entice catfish to bite. Another favorite bait is hotdog rounds. This bait may be easier to keep on hand in the food cooler.Night fishing for stripers is getting much better lake wide. Use a white or green light and some anchovy bait to catch more stripers at night.

Striped Bass Hot Spot Update. June 14, 2006​ Dam – Fish the ledge on west side which coincides with barricade 3-4 and 5. If those spots are taken go uplake. Corner as lake turns left (north) at Buoy 3. Fish the shade line in the morning.Power Plant Intake – (Construction boom on rim) Fish early before boat traffic starts.Buoy 9 – Gently sloping outcropping near shore is the best place.Small canyon just upstream from Buoy 9 before the lake turns left heading for Navajo.Mouth of Navajo on the main channel side. Either side of the entrance along main channel.First corner of Navajo Canyon – Fish shade line in the morning. Look for a yellow rope on the right side to tie up to a good spot.Double islands in navajo Cyn – Go beyond islands and fish the first and second points on the left hand side of the channel.Mouth of Warm Creek and main channel.Padre Butte between Buoy 21A and 22B – Fish the channel beyond Padre Butte to the south.Jacks Arch – mouth of San Juan.San Juan - Too muddy stay in main channelBuoy 65 -East channel wall 200-500 yards down lake of Cottonwood Canyon Buoy 74 - Mouth of Bowns and Long Canyons, 50-100 yards from main channel inside of Bowns Canyon’s NE wall. Buoy 92/93 - West wall of main channel 50-150 yards down lake from mouth of Lost Eden Canyon.Halls Ramp – Cliff wall downstream from ramp.Buoy 99 A at Hansen Creek.

June 7, 2006 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3607 Water Temp: 75-80 F

Lake Powell has risen beyond last year’s high water mark. Water is now flooding old shoreline vegetation and providing wonderful fish habitat for all small fish. That’s great news for the new shad crop. The first shad spawn was very productive. But all predators are waiting with open mouths for more shad. Any cover that allows shad to elude capture for even one extra day is very welcome. Shad grow quickly and their food chain value is enhanced with each extra day’s growth. With predators being extremely numerous, each shad will be of the utmost importance in determining how sport fish fare this year. Brush availability has caused some changes in fish behavior. Largemouth bass have moved into the flooded trees. Fish the shallow cuts lined with tumbleweed/tamarisk growth. Use topwater baits for big bass early and late in the day. Soft plastic jerk baits like senkos and zoom flukes tossed on the bank and then reeled into the water make a presentation shallow bass love. The shapes lurking under the floating debris are 2+ pound largemouth bass in very shallow water. Smallmouth bass are still on rocks and flats. Their attraction is to rocky habitat instead of brush that largemouth desire. Bigger bronze bass have gone as deep as 30 feet on rocky structure but most can be caught at 15-25 feet with soft plastic baits either bounced on bottom or retrieved in a slow swimming motion. Use a drop shot or Carolina rigged plastic grub or tube in chartreuse, watermelon or smoke color.Walleye have gone deeper and are more likely to feed at twilight. They are still caught but it is increasing more important to use a live worm to enhance the walleye bite.Stripers are starting to boil on small shad. Look toward the back of the canyon morning and evening for striper feeding surface disturbances (slurps). Larval shad can barely swim. Yearling stripers feed with no sense of urgency and make very little commotion. Toss a small lure (spoon, crappie jig, or small surface lure) in front of the first fish leading the pack to get a hookup. Throwing into the middle of the slurp often makes the fish spook and sound. Drop ¾ ounce wallylures or kastmasters to the bottom after the fish go down to catch a few more fish. Sometime the larger striper will be under the surface feeding yearling’s waiting for the next shad/spoon to fall.After slurping a few yearlings, get in the bait box for anchovies and head to the main channel walls to catch 4-5 pound stripers during the day. That bite continues to be strong. Warmer surface water forces big stripers to go deeper to find a cool haven. Steep walls offer the required cool temperature and depth while maintaining close proximity to crayfish and forage fish. Stripers live in the first cold temperature break and come shallow to feed when the opportunity presents itself.Catfish are very active in the warm surface water and can be caught each evening on shallow sandy beaches large enough to park a boat.NOTE: The San Juan has come alive with 1-3 pound stripers boiling on shad. Best spot is Piute Bay. Lake is muddy upstream from Neskahi. Smallmouth bass fishing is excellent in the same locations. Striped Bass Hot Spot Update. June 7, 2006​ Dam – Fish the ledge on west side which coincides with barricade 3-4 and 5. If those spots are taken go uplake. Corner as lake turns left (north) at Buoy 3. Fish the shade line in the morning.Mouth of Antelope - Both sides at entrance and first corner as canyon turns left.Power Plant Intake – (Construction boom on rim) Fish early before boat traffic starts.Buoy 9 – Gently sloping outcropping near shore is the best place.Small canyon just upstream from Buoy 9 before the lake turns left heading for Navajo.Mouth of Navajo on the main channel side. Either side of the entrance along main channel.First corner of Navajo Canyon – Fish shade line in the morning. Look for a yellow rope on the right side to tie up to a good spot.Double islands – Go beyond islands and fish the first and second points on the left hand side of the channel.Mouth of Warm CreekPadre Butte between Buoy 21A and 22B – Fish the channel beyond Padre Butte to the south.Jacks Arch – mouth of San Juan.San Juan - from Nasja to Piute Canyon.Buoy 65 -East channel wall 200-500 yards down lake of Cottonwood Canyon Buoy 74 - Mouth of Bowns and Long Canyons, 50-100 yards from main channel inside of Bowns Canyon’s NE wall. Buoy 92/93 - West wall of main channel 50-150 yards down lake from mouth of Lost Eden Canyon.Halls Ramp – Cliff wall downstream from ramp.

June 1, 2006 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3605 Water Temp: 68 -75 F

Fishing continues to delight all with catches of lots of fish. June brings warm weather and rapidly rising water. Normally that causes fish to get lost. Not this year. Stripers are still hungry and bass are prowling the flats. Striper fishing is hot from the Power Plant Intake to the mouth of Warm Creek all the way into Navajo Canyon. Main channel fishing is more challenging after boat traffic starts mid morning, but even boat wakes are not bad mid week. Get out early and cast bait on jigheads, Carolina or drop shot rigs, or just put a chunk of bait on a hook without weight and let it sink slowly. A handful of chum cast around the boat will usually draw fish within a few minutes. If none come just move to the next outcropping or point and try again. Is it really that easy? Yes, striper fishing in the southern lake is easy - if you avoid a few common errors. Do not use oversized anchovy hooks. Do not use braided or highly visible line unless tipped with fluorocarbon leader. Do not move the bait too fast – slower is better. Do not use excess swivels, snelled hooks, one-ounce weights with beaded chains, wire leaders and other unnecessary highly visible terminal tackle. Keep it simple. If all around you are catching fish but none seem to bite your line, use lighter monofilament line and just a single hook. Attach half an anchovy and toss it close to the cliff wall. Let it slowly settle while pulling line off the reel. Make sure the line stays slack so the bait progress is not impeded. When the lines begins to peel rapidly off the reel, close the bail and set the hook. Fishing will be easy for y ou after this experience. Gustaveson kids have 3 on at once - again! From Bullfrog upstream the big runoff is peaking and making the water muddy. Bait fishing is getting better around Bullfrog and all points south. The Escalante and mouth of San Juan at Jacks Arch are hot for stripers. Expect good bait fishing to last through June. Walleye and crappie peaks are over. There will still be a bonus fish caught occasionally but it is past prime time for these species. Fishing for bluegill and catfish is getting better as the other species fade out. Smallmouth bass are easy to catch but their location may be a surprise. Bass are consistently found in 15 feet of water. The favored habitat is a long flat on the edge of deep water. Find a terraced shoreline and follow the stair steps down to 15 feet. Then slowly drag a drop shot or Carolina hooked plastic grub or tube along the bottom at that depth. Bass like the swimming motion. Hopping the lure off the bottom still works but the slow swimming technique is better. Swimming grubs work lake wide. Sand flat habitat with a few rocks is the target. Shallow rocky shoreline is favored by small bass but the bigger fish are hunting on flats.

Striper Hot Spots Locations:​ Dam – Fish the ledge on west side which coincides with barricade 3-4 and 5. If those spots are taken go uplake. Corner as lake turns left (north) at Buoy 3. Fish the shade line in the morning.Mouth of Antelope - Both sides at entrance and first corner as canyon turns left.Power Plant Intake – (Construction boom on rim) Fish early before boat traffic starts.Buoy 9 – Gently sloping outcropping near shore is the best place.Small canyon just upstream from Buoy 9 before the lake turns left heading for Navajo.Mouth of Navajo on the main channel side.First corner of Navajo Canyon – Fish shade line in the morning. Look for a yellow rope on the right side to tie up to a good spot.Double islands – Go beyond islands and fish the first and second points on the left hand side of the channel.Mouth of Warm CreekBuoy 21A in Padre Bay – Fish the shoreline near Padre Butte.Jacks Arch – mouth of San Juan.San Juan - from Nasja to Piute Canyon.Escalante- find rocky outcroppings along smooth cliff wall.Most Canyons from Rincon to Hansen Creek have respectable striper schools