Looking for Largemouth

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RickSifish

RickSifish

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Quick question for the bass fisherman... I'm taking my father in law to Powell next week and he has fished Powell in the past for largemouth and he wants to catch some.. thanks to this site I believe we can catch some...
Here's my question.... from Bullfrog is it best to go north or south? I don't mind taking a boat ride to get him on some good fish... if I go south do I go all the way to San Juan? Escalate? And if San Juan - do we go all the way to the back?
Thanks again so much!!!!
 
Bass fishermen tend to run uplake to the Good Hope area during spring tournaments. Sometimes the anglers staying in Bullfrog Bay win the tournament. Largemouth bass habitat is brushy cover. Find underwater brush in 5-25 feet of water and catching success increases immediately. But water level is below the brush line now so you have to find a sunken tumbleweed pocket, a grove of young submerged trees, aquatic weeds or some other reason for LMBass to hold out. So I cant say run to Canyon X to catch bass. Each canyon will have a pocket or two when LMB hang out.

Smallmouth bass like rocky structure and are easier to find. Largemouth bass get active in the spring time sooner than smallmouth. LMB will get active in the afternoon as water temperature climbs. Smallmouth will do the same but really don't turn on unless water temp exceeds 57 degrees.

So I am not much help. You can have a great fishing day either north or south from Bullfrog if the conditions are right. In the spring I find the critical factors are warming water with afternoon fishing being much better than morning.

My advise is to find green colored water in the back of canyons close to Bullfrog. When water is green then look for underwater structure - in the afternoon. If water temperature exceeds 57 degrees then running uplake or down may be wise.

Maybe some bass fishermen will give you more information.
 
When brush is hard to find weve had success with LM in areas with huge boulders, and shallower drop off areas with shelf like structure (long flat rock stacked over each other).
 
Thanks a lot guys... I'll let you know what we find... we fished for smallies last spring and found them in the big rocks... but didn't find LM there... but that could be also we were using cranks and jerk baits-- time for a jig or worm..
We also only fished for a couple days..
 
A few years ago in March on a Friday we went up Trachyte Canyon for a shore lunch. After we got finished with lunch we decided to explore the back of the canyon. We discovered three man made pools covered with braches. Upon further investigation we found ten real nice largemouth bass 250 yards up the creek. All were released back into the lake. Needless to say there was a bass tournament going on.

If you find tough fishing try the creeks at the back of the canyons. Two tournaments going on in March and I’m sure some so called pro will be trying to stack the deck.

We will be at Good Hope March 22-27 Green and Tan Lund Tyee. Look us up if you’re up that way. Good luck on your trip.
 

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Ed Feller said:
A few years ago in March on a Friday we went up Trachyte Canyon for a shore lunch. After we got finished with lunch we decided to explore the back of the canyon. We discovered three man made pools covered with braches. Upon further investigation we found ten real nice largemouth bass 250 yards up the creek. All were released back into the lake. Needless to say there was a bass tournament going on.

If you find tough fishing try the creeks at the back of the canyons. Two tournaments going on in March and I’m sure some so called pro will be trying to stack the deck.

We will be at Good Hope March 22-27 Green and Tan Lund Tyee. Look us up if you’re up that way. Good luck on your trip.
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Wow! All the boats speeding as far north as possible make sense now! :mad:
 
That's just so sad... fishing is to be fun and enjoyed... But I guess that's what happens when they put a price tag on a fish... - tournament prize $$.. I'm not against tournaments-- in fact the competition can be fun and exhilarating, but it can bring out the worst in some people...
 
I'm a smallmouth guy and thus am not your resident largemouth expert for Lake Powell. Nevertheless I did a lot of late winter/early spring largemouth fishing on the lower Arizona desert lakes back in the 90s. Back then I would go into the backs of the coves/canyons looking for brush and murky/muddy water. If I could find an area where some runoff was coming in that was even better. I would slow roll spinnerbaits and pitch jigs in those areas. While I didn't catch a lot of fish I usually caught some nice ones. I'm sure this pattern could be duplicated on Powell. One other thing I would try in these areas is a weightless wacky-rigged Senko. I would pitch it to cover and just let it settle down watching my line like a hawk. With any little twitch I would set the hook.

Ed Gerdemann
 
I personally love the Juan but it is a far trek to get to the stained water. Not worth it for a day trip. The rincon has good populations of smb, lmb, and stripers but the water is super clear most of the time so you have to make longer casts and a more precise presentation. I've personally have yet to figure out halls and bullfrog but there are fish there I just can't figure out where the structure is. Lol. Good hope north has a ton of area to fish. Just pick an area and try it. Like everyone else has said rocks and bushes. This time of year water temp is important. 55 and below slow down. Around 52 to 55 the bass really start to pick up trying to feed for the spawn, you can start to use crankbaits, spinnerbaits etc. once the water temp hits the mid 60's the first wave of bass will look to spawn. The spawn up north usually hits around the end of April. I'm planning on being up,there this next weekend also. Good warming trend should turn the fish on. Watch the weather the wind gets over 20mph it's pretty rough. It seems like the area outside forgotten is always rough. Good luck
 
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Well... we found a few large mouth... and everything was pretty deep.. in the big rocks.. jigs seemed to work best.. I tried most everything... seemed the green color was also the color of choice.
My father in law didn't catch a LM but my buddy and I did... here's a pic of a couple he caught.
 

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Can't stand this weather. Told the wife I'm out of here at 4:00 am tomorrow. Be at Good Hope Wednesday trough Sunday. The weather is shaping up to be a great week! Will give a report if I get cell service or when I get back. Older Lund Green & Tan Tyee. Stop by and say hi and trade reports.
 
Ed Feller said:
Can't stand this weather. Told the wife I'm out of here at 4:00 am tomorrow. Be at Good Hope Wednesday trough Sunday. The weather is shaping up to be a great week! Will give a report if I get cell service or when I get back. Older Lund Green & Tan Tyee. Stop by and say hi and trade reports.
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This week/weekend should be really good. With the warm weather and calm winds forecast, the fish should be really turning on. I am jealous, wish we could get away too!
 
We will be heading down thursday after work, on the water friday morning. Will be somewhere between bullfrog and good hope in a 99 chaparral 21ft. Stop n say hi if you see us.
 
Lance Cue said:
We will be heading down thursday after work, on the water friday morning. Will be somewhere between bullfrog and good hope in a 99 chaparral 21ft. Stop n say hi if you see us.
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You and 100 other bass fisherman and their boats - it's a tournament this weekend :-(
 
Lance Cue said:
Bummer, guess we will avoid good hope
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Based on my experience about 80% go to GHB and some go to Rincon and other's all places in between. It's a big lake and so it probably won't be too bad, but because they are under pressure to perform they can fish right in your back pocket from time to time if you know what I mean? Weigh in is about 4:00pm back in Bullfrog so you should have the evenings to yourself :)

And they are nice guys - extremely dedicated fisherman. One of my best friends is way into this (and will probably be reading this). He eats/sleeps/drinks fishing. Most knowledgeable guy I know when it comes to anything fishing.
 
You can always tell there is a tournament when you camping in GHB....what sounds like a fleet of bombers will greet you just before sunrise as the participants fly up the lake! In my experience, 99% of the folks are pleasant, but they are not afraid to fish closer than I find comfortable. I usually just concentrate on walleye and stripers.
 
It's been a bit but I'll be down too. I'll be in Triton bass boat pre-fishing anywhere from San Juan to Good Hope Weds and Thursday. Fishing the tourney over the weekend. Give a shout. Always nice to meet wordlings.
 
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