Lake powell smallmouth history

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RandyAustinFishing said:
I would encourage anglers to keep the smaller fish and release all larger ones. It takes quite a few years for smallies to reach trophy size. Wayne how many years would it take for a smallie to reach 5lbs? Can you imagine how great this fishery would be when 5lbers are as common here as they are in Lake Mohave.
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5 pounds is the upper limit including the lake record. How about some nice 3-pound smallmouth. I think you will be impressed with the size of smallmouth this spring. You may have to fish a bit deeper but there are a lot of these guys swimming around right now.
 

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wayne gustaveson said:
5 pounds is the upper limit including the lake record. How about some nice 3-pound smallmouth. I think you will be impressed with the size of smallmouth this spring. You may have to fish a bit deeper but there are a lot of these guys swimming around right now.
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a +3lb smallmouth is so much fun to catch! i used to wander down the bank of the canal some evenings and use my light rig for stream fishing to see if i could get any bites. one night i latched onto a small mouth about 3&1/2lbs and i felt like i had snagged a freight train. it was a fun fight for a while to bring it in on 4lb line. i did end up eating it.

[edit, i'm sorry you are sad that i ate a fish, but it was so damaged by the lure that catch and release wasn't really possible. normally i catch and released almost all fish i caught - i mostly went out fishing to walk the streams or to be on the lakes when we used the canoe or kayak]...
 
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I have no doubt there are some 4 and 5lb smallies in the lake. We caught several 17 and 18 inch smallies last season, all released so I know those are still out there. Yes they are fun but seeing some of the tanks come out of Havasu and Lake Mohave, I was just just wondering how old a Lake Powell smallie would be if it reached 5lbs. I have heard over 10 years but I suspect the growth rate is different depending on the body of water and forage.
 
I've always felt there were more big smallmouth in Powell than angling success would indicate. My theory is most of them spend most of their time in very deep water and feed primarily at night. I also believe they spawn much deeper than smaller bass. I never hear of anyone night fishing for smallmouth at Powell. I don't like night fishing as I don't like being on the lake after dark, but I'm certain night fishing for smallmouth during the warmer months would be spectacular here. With all the reefs Powell would be a dangerous lake to run at night, however a GPS unit would help. I keep threatening to try night fishing on Powell, but action during the day is so good that it's tough to get up to going out after dark. :)

Ed Gerdemann
 
Edward Gerdemann said:
I've always felt there were more big smallmouth in Powell than angling success would indicate.
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Spoken like a true fisherman!

That comment right there is why fishermen continue to go back fishing over, and over, and over. The unknown of what lurks beneath the surface. The eternal optimism that the next cast night just be the one to hook that trophy! Who knows? I'm with Ed -- let's go try to find out!
 
I read about night fishing for smallies with interest.
Several years ago while camped out at the Hide out camp ground at flaming gorge I got to thinking that after dark is when the crawdads are supposed to be most active. And so that’s probably when the SMB Would be feeding.
So after it was good and dark I wiggled into my wet suit, put on the scuba gear, got a dive light and went to see all the mud bugs and bass.
In a half hour dive I didn’t see any crawdads at all. And the only bass I saw was a huge smally about 30 feet down and hiding in the back of an underwater cave.
It is the biggest small mouth I have ever seen.
The surprising thing was that the whole slope was overrun with rainbows. Some of them were pretty big as well.
Night diving is kind of SPOOKY!!!!
 
treetop said:
I read about night fishing for smallies with interest.
Several years ago while camped out at the Hide out camp ground at flaming gorge I got to thinking that after dark is when the crawdads are supposed to be most active. And so that’s probably when the SMB Would be feeding.
So after it was good and dark I wiggled into my wet suit, put on the scuba gear, got a dive light and went to see all the mud bugs and bass.
In a half hour dive I didn’t see any crawdads at all. And the only bass I saw was a huge smally about 30 feet down and hiding in the back of an underwater cave.
It is the biggest small mouth I have ever seen.
The surprising thing was that the whole slope was overrun with rainbows. Some of them were pretty big as well.
Night diving is kind of SPOOKY!!!!
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Your success with finding crawdads at night doesn’t surprise me. Even though it is said that they feed at night, I haven’t found that to be the case in Rocky Mountain lakes. I am an owner in a scuba diving shop and we’ve found that daytime is the best time to catch the little critters. I’ve dove at night for them and do much better during the daytime. That being said, I look at what the SMB are eating when fishing during daytime hours and 9/10 times they have crawdads in them. While not scientific, I believe daytime produces more fish.
 
dlandon said:
Your success with finding crawdads at night doesn’t surprise me. Even though it is said that they feed at night, I haven’t found that to be the case in Rocky Mountain lakes. I am an owner in a scuba diving shop and we’ve found that daytime is the best time to catch the little critters. I’ve dove at night for them and do much better during the daytime. That being said, I look at what the SMB are eating when fishing during daytime hours and 9/10 times they have crawdads in them. While not scientific, I believe daytime produces more fish.
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Sounds right to me - had a scuba biz for 20 yrs. Send me contact info- we can exchange scubafish stories!!! Where are you located??
 
dlandon said:
Our store is in Orem in Utah County. Have you ever tried underwater fishing for bass with an ice fishing rod?
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Nope but we used to go "snorke/Jigging in the patch reefs of Roatan!!! = wife in the boat - snorkel the bait/hook out to a hump - dangle it in front of the fish till the right one takes it!!! Are you North American Scuba???
 
Wayne. How many smb do you think we're introduced from your glorious first time "mistake" and through the 80's. How many smb do you think are in Lake Powell now.

Fun history lesson. Heading up in late April to try to catch a few hundred.
 
George Quinif said:
Wayne. How many smb do you think we're introduced from your glorious first time "mistake" and through the 80's. How many smb do you think are in Lake Powell now.

Fun history lesson. Heading up in late April to try to catch a few hundred.
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There were probably 1000 stocked in 1982.
Then from 83-89 probably an average of 50-100 K annually for the next 7 years. So 350,000 to 700,000 stocked fish. Now with natural reproduction there are 2-5 million produced annually over the length of Lake Powell.
When I have time this afternoon I will look over the old data and see if my guess is accurate and make changes here as needed.
 
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