| June 25, 2008 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3628 Water Temp: 74-78 F Call To Arms! |
Threadfin shad need you help. They have had an above average spawn and are present in large numbers. But shad size is very small. Two-pound stripers have now found an easy meal and are relentlessly pursuing tiny shad. Stripers easily eat 100 shad per day. That can make short work of the shad population. But while stripers are chowing down they can be seen by all passers by. Alex Harper plays his first ever striper This is where you come in. Fishing for boiling stripers is perhaps the most exciting and rewarding sport fishing in freshwater. Boils are seen in almost every canyon and bay this week. We are asking you to take a few minutes out of your busy schedule to catch a striper. Each wave runner can have a rod attached. Ski boats can have rods rigged with surface lures just waiting for the boil to pop up in front of the skier. Houseboats can pause in the main channel to cast into a mid channel boil. Put one of the group on the top deck to act as lookout for the next surface disturbance. The most reliable baits are "walking" surface lures like Jumpin Minnows, and Super Spook Jr. With shad being small the best bait that is small enough to match shad size and heavy enough to cast is a spoon like Hopkins, CC spoon, Wallylure and Kastmaster. Perhaps the most versatile choice is the rattle trap lipless vibrator. Better yet rig 3 rods with these three choices to see which works best. 
Patience may be better than changing lures. After 9 AM surfacing schools changed personality and began to eat full size lures. A rattletrap cast well beyond the lead fish and retrieved quickly caught a fish each time. A silver or blue spoon cast into a sounding school would catch a fish as they went under the boat. A mini walking bait got hit each time it as placed in front of the leading fish in the school. So time of day makes a difference. It seems the boils are going all day long but fish may be most catchable from 8-10 AM. Bass are in the brush and getting more catchable every day. Walleye are perhaps at their peak right now. Troll the edge of long points braking into the main channel or cast plastic grubs into shade pockets on steep structure breaking into deep water. Catfish are providing great action from your houseboat or campsite each night at dusk. Catching is improving but chasing and seeing fish is excellent. |
| June 18, 2008 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3624 Water Temp: 70-75 F |
Its not a boat wake -Those are stripers! The good news is a large shad spawn occurred in the upper lake. These small fish are protected from intense predation by low visibility. As soon as the small stripers can see shad there will be day-long boils in the upper lake. In the lower lake the slurp boils are heating up. Tiny shad are being discovered in more and more canyons. Now Rock Creek has come alive with 8-12 inch stripers slurping in larval shad less than an inch long. These micro boils are going strong in Navajo Canyon, San Juan between Cha and Piute Canyons, Last Chance and other canyons yet to be discovered. There are many stripers that didn't get the shad memo. They remain in the channels eating plankton. There has been a resurgence of steady catching at the Dam, Navajo Canyon, Padre Bay, Last Chance, Lake Canyon, Halls Creek at mouth and Moki Canyon mouth. If stripers elude your best efforts, realize that they are making a transition between the open clear water and shad water in the back of the canyon. When regular spots don't produce, look toward the back of the canyon to find migrating stripers. The search image is changing from plankton to shad. Anchovies will work better in clear deep water while a small white jig or small spoon may be better in the murky, shallower water. 
Walleye did not put on much of a show this spring. Now may be the time. It is mid June but the water temperature is now at the point that walleye have become very active and are showing up in greater numbers than any time this spring. They seem to like the water in the 70's for stronger activity. Catfish are providing a strong evening fishery and many bonus cats are being caught by anchovy fishermen whose bait gets too close to the bottom. Fishing is still great at this amazing fishery. Cast in front of the leading fish - Don't throw into the middle of the school. |
| June 11, 2008 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3619 Water Temp: 69-75 F |
| The past week was marked by major events for lake visitors. Most notably the Castle Rock Cut was flooded and opened for uplake travel for the first time in over 5 years. It was an absolute thrill to cross from Wahweap to Warm Creek without the need to transverse 12 miles of rough main channel wakes to get to the mouth of Warm Creek. Waters touched on June 6th and boats were using the passage freely on June 10th. It is wise to go slow, stay in the center of the slot, and pass others with courtesy and caution. Channel markers are minimal now but will improve. CRC IS OPEN! The other major event is almost as important. The FIRST BOILS were seen in Navajo Canyon and on the San Juan near the mudline. Two-pound stripers have found the newly spawned larval threadfin and gizzard shad. Tiny shad have almost no swimming ability making them easy prey. Stripers don't really need to "boil" to eat the little shad. Instead they move easily along the surface and slurp in the big tasty fish plankton. Stripers will be seen lined up on top, shoulder to shoulder, with mouths all oriented in the same direction as they mow through the shad crops. Stripers are looking at tiny shad - less than an inch long. A full size lure thrown into the middle of the striper line is a foreign object that may spook the school. It is critical to use a smaller profile lure, like a bass popper or Zara Spook Jr. But the most critical need is to place each cast precisely in front of the fish leading the school. Drop the lure 2-feet in front of the leader to consistently catch fish. 
Brian Walters with striper catch. For now there are still massive schools of striped bass in the main channel that have not found shad. These schools are still surviving on plankton. There seems to be no end to the number of stripers that can be caught on anchovy bait once a school is located. Many may miss out by fishing the conventional depths of 30-40 feet. That is the right starting point to find plankton eating fish and to chum them into activity. As soon as the school moves up to feed reduce bait depth to increase catch. Most of the schools this week are feeding at about 15 feet. The best way to find the right depth is to watch the bait descend in clear water. As soon as it disappears from view stop the descent. That is where the fish will be most abundant - right at the edge of visibility. Other species are having moments as well. Catfish and sunfish will be spawning this week making them more visible and easier to catch. |
| June 4, 2008 By Wayne Gustaveson Lake Elevation: 3612 Water Temp: 67-72 F |
| Lake Powell continues to rise. It is at the highest level reached in the last 5 year and still has many feet to go. Castle Rock Cut will get wet this week and then be passable the next week. Launching at Hite on the old dirt road is possible once more. The bad news is fishing success is suffering for the effects of high water. The runoff has reduced water clarity to zero from Hite to Good Hope and in the upper San Juan. I do not recommend going there to fish until the runoff slows in June or the lake tops out in July. Driftwood is a hazard in the main murky channel and in the backs of canyons where stranded drift wood is floating again. The newly covered shoreline is fishless except for spawning carp. Brian and family - Antigua Landscape and Design The good news? Largemouth bass have moved into the brush pockets and are catchable again to those that know how to work live brush habitat. Fishing in the green branches of flooded tress is not for beginners. It would be a great learning experience to fish a texas-rigged senko in the flooded tamarisk forest. You might try it early some morning. Dependable stripers are keeping fishing hot. Schools remain in the same locations that have been reported since early spring. Many are being caught each day at the dam, buoy 3, Navajo Canyon, Cookie Jar, Last Chance, Jacks Arch, Lake Canyon and mouth of Halls Creek. Schools can be started with a shower of finely cut anchovy bait and kept going for an hour or two depending on time of day. Keep sprinkling another few pieces of bait out in a regular pattern to keep the fish going. There are still some amazingly high numbers of stripers caught each day. Stripers are larger in the southern lake where competition between schooling fish was not as intense last year. Predator fish are more numerous in the northern lake. The best news is that most stripers are fat and healthy, especially in the southern lake. Fishing will improve as the lake clears, and becomes stable. For right now striper fishing is still hot. Concentrate on locating striper schools for a quick catch of willing fish. Some of the less sought after fish are near spawning. Catfish and sunfish are very catchable now. Use live worms and bobbers for sunfish. Liver, shrimp, worms and table scraps are great catfish fare. Bring the fishing rods along on the family Lake Powell vacation. Saturday, June 7 is free fishing day. Enjoy fishing this day on us. |