Edward Gerdemann
Well-Known Member
I always like to start my fishing season with a bang, but last week's season-opening trip to Lake Powell was an absolute explosion. Despite weather issues in three days fishing my longtime fishing partner John Conrad and I caught 222 smallmouths, one largemouth, one striper and one walleye - 225 total fish. What is even more amazing is over half of these fish were caught within sight of Wahweap Marina proving you don't have to go very far to find good fishing on Lake Powell.
Our "worst" day was Wednesday. We got in only 3 1/2 hours fishing before being blown off by the wind. Still, during that time we caught 38 smallmouths including some pretty nice fish. Because of the wind we fished on the north shore just below Wahweap Marina along Lakeshore Drive. On Thursday we motored through Maytag Straights up past the channel bend at the mouth of Warm Creek. We fished the rocky bay on the north side of the channel and then worked the south side all the way back to the channel bend. Fishing was incredible as we took 104 bronze backs and one ugly striper. We had no wind issues on Thursday but had to contend with 30 to 45 minutes of light rain. Friday we decided to stay in Wahweap Bay. We fished the south shore ledges near the mouth of Wahweap and then finished working up the north side along Lake Shore Drive. This day we caught 79 smallmouths, one largemouth and one walleye.
John took top smallmouth honors with a 2-lb., 4-oz. beauty on Thursday. The largemouth, which I caught, was our biggest bass of the trip at around 2 1/2 pounds. We caught many smallmouths between 1 1/4 and 1 3/4 pounds and quite a few smaller fish. We fished just two presentations - weightless wacky rigged Yamamoto Senkos and drop shot Yamamoto Shad Shaped Worms. The only color we used on both baits was 901 (watermelon/white laminate) which has proven over time to be a great color on Powell throughout the season.
Our presentations were slow, the slower the better. We caught fish on both the initial drop and on the retrieve. Slow retrieves with a lot of dead sticking seemed to work the best. We took most our fish between eight and 15 feet deep, although we did catch a few fish both shallower and deeper. Our deepest fish was taken at around 23 feet. Despite catching a lot of fish, we did not find them along the entire shoreline or structures we fished. We would fish small areas and catch four or five fish and then fish a fairly long stretch without a strike before getting into them again. The tops of points, offshore reefs and cuts going back into the bank were the best spots. We caught fish on boulders, gravel and sand substrate.
What was ironic is most the fish we took were stuffed full of crayfish. There was little evidence of them feeding on shad or other forage fish. Yet, both our presentations more represented baitfish than crayfish which proves Powell smallmouth are opportunistic feeders and will grab just about anything that comes into their feeding range that looks like food. In short, you don't have to get too technical out there to catch a lot of fish.
To some it up it was a great opening trip. John and I will back next week to see if the explosion continues.
Our "worst" day was Wednesday. We got in only 3 1/2 hours fishing before being blown off by the wind. Still, during that time we caught 38 smallmouths including some pretty nice fish. Because of the wind we fished on the north shore just below Wahweap Marina along Lakeshore Drive. On Thursday we motored through Maytag Straights up past the channel bend at the mouth of Warm Creek. We fished the rocky bay on the north side of the channel and then worked the south side all the way back to the channel bend. Fishing was incredible as we took 104 bronze backs and one ugly striper. We had no wind issues on Thursday but had to contend with 30 to 45 minutes of light rain. Friday we decided to stay in Wahweap Bay. We fished the south shore ledges near the mouth of Wahweap and then finished working up the north side along Lake Shore Drive. This day we caught 79 smallmouths, one largemouth and one walleye.
John took top smallmouth honors with a 2-lb., 4-oz. beauty on Thursday. The largemouth, which I caught, was our biggest bass of the trip at around 2 1/2 pounds. We caught many smallmouths between 1 1/4 and 1 3/4 pounds and quite a few smaller fish. We fished just two presentations - weightless wacky rigged Yamamoto Senkos and drop shot Yamamoto Shad Shaped Worms. The only color we used on both baits was 901 (watermelon/white laminate) which has proven over time to be a great color on Powell throughout the season.
Our presentations were slow, the slower the better. We caught fish on both the initial drop and on the retrieve. Slow retrieves with a lot of dead sticking seemed to work the best. We took most our fish between eight and 15 feet deep, although we did catch a few fish both shallower and deeper. Our deepest fish was taken at around 23 feet. Despite catching a lot of fish, we did not find them along the entire shoreline or structures we fished. We would fish small areas and catch four or five fish and then fish a fairly long stretch without a strike before getting into them again. The tops of points, offshore reefs and cuts going back into the bank were the best spots. We caught fish on boulders, gravel and sand substrate.
What was ironic is most the fish we took were stuffed full of crayfish. There was little evidence of them feeding on shad or other forage fish. Yet, both our presentations more represented baitfish than crayfish which proves Powell smallmouth are opportunistic feeders and will grab just about anything that comes into their feeding range that looks like food. In short, you don't have to get too technical out there to catch a lot of fish.
To some it up it was a great opening trip. John and I will back next week to see if the explosion continues.
