Lake Powell Fish Report – June 29, 2015
Lake Elevation: 3613
Water Temperature 82 - 85 F
By: Wayne Gustaveson Wayne's Words
Lake Powell is Red Hot!
The water surface temperature is well over 80 degrees first thing in the morning. The air temperature is well over 100 degrees each day. The air cools off into the high 70s after the sun has been down for a long time at night. The wind is mostly calm. All of this explains why so many boaters, swimmers, campers and recreationist love the lake in July. What a great place to be!
Anglers can enjoy the July celebration at the lake right along with the crowd. But there is a window when fishing success is excellent. The time frame is early morning and late evening. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are very aggressive and easy to catch on topwater lures, shallow running crankbaits and weightless wacky rigged senkos. The time to start fishing is when the sun begins to light up the eastern sky between 4-5 AM (MST). Fishing is great until about 7 AM when bass blink at the sun and move back into the brush or slip into the depths.
Evening bass fishing gets good again as the sun settles low in the west. Again topwater and crankbaits cast close to the brushy shoreline are the best bet. Sunfish have found shelter in the freshly flooded green brush and old tumbleweed piles that are now underwater. Largemouth bass live in the brush with the sunfish and smallmouth bass are in deeper water not far away so they can make a quick trip into the brush for a meal.
Bass fishing is steady all day long. Just cast plastic grubs to shallow reefs or quick falling slick rock slopes and points to find bass eagerly awaiting a forage fish swim by. There is no question that bass fishing provides the best success right now. To catch a lot of fish, target smallmouth bass.
Striped bass are not slurping/boiling as much this week as they have during most of June. From their behavior today it seems that the supply of small shad has lessened. Where big slurping groups were seen last week there are now only very small groups or individual stripers working the surface in the early morning in the southern lake. It is probably only a coincidence but declining surface action in the south usually means improving surface feeding in the northern lake.
The best surface action seen this week is in the evening. Watch for a quick boil of larger 18-20 inch stripers, in the main channel or main canyon as the sun sets in the evening.
During the daylight hours the most consistent striper technique is trolling along the shallow sloping shoreline where bottom depth is 25-30 feet. Trolling results are steady for 18-inch stripers. Target rocky points and reefs and troll along the 25-foot bottom depth strata with medium depth crankbaits. Remember to drop a spoon to the bottom or cast a crankbait behind the boat when a stripers is caught trolling. The other members of his group will be trailing- along behind the hooked fish. It’s a great way to increase the catch rate.
Trolling with 12-foot divers along the 12-foot depth strata still provides some decent walleye success. Walleye numbers are still above average and catching continues in midsummer. We found today that fast trolling (4-5 MPH) for stripers resulted in an occasional walleye when the lure passed near a bush or some other likely walleye hangout.
Fishing is still good and you can cool off by swimming with the fishes when you get hot.
Lake Elevation: 3613
Water Temperature 82 - 85 F
By: Wayne Gustaveson Wayne's Words
Lake Powell is Red Hot!
Anglers can enjoy the July celebration at the lake right along with the crowd. But there is a window when fishing success is excellent. The time frame is early morning and late evening. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are very aggressive and easy to catch on topwater lures, shallow running crankbaits and weightless wacky rigged senkos. The time to start fishing is when the sun begins to light up the eastern sky between 4-5 AM (MST). Fishing is great until about 7 AM when bass blink at the sun and move back into the brush or slip into the depths.
Evening bass fishing gets good again as the sun settles low in the west. Again topwater and crankbaits cast close to the brushy shoreline are the best bet. Sunfish have found shelter in the freshly flooded green brush and old tumbleweed piles that are now underwater. Largemouth bass live in the brush with the sunfish and smallmouth bass are in deeper water not far away so they can make a quick trip into the brush for a meal.
Bass fishing is steady all day long. Just cast plastic grubs to shallow reefs or quick falling slick rock slopes and points to find bass eagerly awaiting a forage fish swim by. There is no question that bass fishing provides the best success right now. To catch a lot of fish, target smallmouth bass.
Striped bass are not slurping/boiling as much this week as they have during most of June. From their behavior today it seems that the supply of small shad has lessened. Where big slurping groups were seen last week there are now only very small groups or individual stripers working the surface in the early morning in the southern lake. It is probably only a coincidence but declining surface action in the south usually means improving surface feeding in the northern lake.
The best surface action seen this week is in the evening. Watch for a quick boil of larger 18-20 inch stripers, in the main channel or main canyon as the sun sets in the evening.
Trolling with 12-foot divers along the 12-foot depth strata still provides some decent walleye success. Walleye numbers are still above average and catching continues in midsummer. We found today that fast trolling (4-5 MPH) for stripers resulted in an occasional walleye when the lure passed near a bush or some other likely walleye hangout.
Fishing is still good and you can cool off by swimming with the fishes when you get hot.
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