Lake Powell Fish Report – May 8, 2019
Lake Elevation: 3575
Water temperature: 62-65 F
By: Wayne Gustaveson http://www.wayneswords.com or Wayneswords.net
Lake Powell came up 6 inches per day this week. If that filling rate continues, the Castle Rock Cut will be navigable by Memorial Day. If the runoff increases, the Cut could open sooner. That would make everyone happy, to travel more quickly uplake, to fish in the channel for stripers with less boat traffic, and to avoid going wakeless through the Antelope Point Marina.
It is about equal and hard to decide whether bait fishing for stripers or casting for smallmouth is the best choice. I suppose the best method is to fish for stripers in the morning and then switch to bass when the temperature warms up in the afternoon.
Bait fishing is very productive in the main channel from the Dam to Navajo Canyon. Further uplake there is less fishing pressure and just as many stripers at Labyrinth Wall, Buoy 25, Grotto Canyon and the wall opposite of Grotto.
Many stripers were caught on bait at the mouth of Lake Canyon, Moki Wall, small cove just upstream from Moki, and on the next corner before turning uplake. Just take some bait and try all along the northeast wall upstream from Moki until a cooperative school of stripers are found.
Stripers are struggling now to find food and that will continue until June when shad spawning (Both gizzard and threadfin shad) will provide forage and the health of the striper population will improve.
Smallmouth bass fishing is steady with spawning males guarding nests, while females and immature bass search for crayfish in 5-30 feet of water. Shoreline structure is the key to finding bass. At current lake levels search along the shoreline where rock piles provide good bass habitat. The best habitat we found was a protruding point with large (kitchen table size) flat rocks submerged from 5-20 feet deep. When fishing flat rock points the catch rate shot up considerably.
We used single and double-tailed green grubs (crayfish color) on a 3/16 ounce jig head. Cast out and let the grub hit bottom before working it back to the boat. Occasionally we found a few tumbleweeds along the shoreline. Casting grubs into those tumbleweeds was sometimes rewarded by catching a few really nice largemouth bass.
Walleye catching is heating up with more toothy-tigers showing up each day. They will hit the same green bass grubs. If specifically targeting walleye then adding a night crawler or Power Bait to the hook increases the catch. Slow down the retrieve and maintain bottom contact to target walleye. The best time to catch walleye is early morning and late evening.
Fishing success is good despite the unsettled weather that has moved in. All species are available to catch. Make sure to check the weather and wind reports when planning your trip to Lake Powell.
{Here is evidence of Lake Powell slam on collected on the last fishing trip.}
Lake Elevation: 3575
Water temperature: 62-65 F
By: Wayne Gustaveson http://www.wayneswords.com or Wayneswords.net
Lake Powell came up 6 inches per day this week. If that filling rate continues, the Castle Rock Cut will be navigable by Memorial Day. If the runoff increases, the Cut could open sooner. That would make everyone happy, to travel more quickly uplake, to fish in the channel for stripers with less boat traffic, and to avoid going wakeless through the Antelope Point Marina.
It is about equal and hard to decide whether bait fishing for stripers or casting for smallmouth is the best choice. I suppose the best method is to fish for stripers in the morning and then switch to bass when the temperature warms up in the afternoon.
Bait fishing is very productive in the main channel from the Dam to Navajo Canyon. Further uplake there is less fishing pressure and just as many stripers at Labyrinth Wall, Buoy 25, Grotto Canyon and the wall opposite of Grotto.
Many stripers were caught on bait at the mouth of Lake Canyon, Moki Wall, small cove just upstream from Moki, and on the next corner before turning uplake. Just take some bait and try all along the northeast wall upstream from Moki until a cooperative school of stripers are found.
Stripers are struggling now to find food and that will continue until June when shad spawning (Both gizzard and threadfin shad) will provide forage and the health of the striper population will improve.
Smallmouth bass fishing is steady with spawning males guarding nests, while females and immature bass search for crayfish in 5-30 feet of water. Shoreline structure is the key to finding bass. At current lake levels search along the shoreline where rock piles provide good bass habitat. The best habitat we found was a protruding point with large (kitchen table size) flat rocks submerged from 5-20 feet deep. When fishing flat rock points the catch rate shot up considerably.
We used single and double-tailed green grubs (crayfish color) on a 3/16 ounce jig head. Cast out and let the grub hit bottom before working it back to the boat. Occasionally we found a few tumbleweeds along the shoreline. Casting grubs into those tumbleweeds was sometimes rewarded by catching a few really nice largemouth bass.
Walleye catching is heating up with more toothy-tigers showing up each day. They will hit the same green bass grubs. If specifically targeting walleye then adding a night crawler or Power Bait to the hook increases the catch. Slow down the retrieve and maintain bottom contact to target walleye. The best time to catch walleye is early morning and late evening.
Fishing success is good despite the unsettled weather that has moved in. All species are available to catch. Make sure to check the weather and wind reports when planning your trip to Lake Powell.
{Here is evidence of Lake Powell slam on collected on the last fishing trip.}