BrianID
Well-Known Member
Just came back from being on Lake Powell for the last 11 days. I had a great time and the weather couldn't have been much better. We didn't have any tough windy days. For the first 5 days I camped around Wahweap and had no trouble catching stripers by the dam. If was my first time seeing any part of the lake South of Danglin Rope (mile marker 42) Smallmouth fishing was good but not great. Around Wahweap, I probably only averaged about 10 smallmouth per hour when I targeted them which is still good but I've averaged much better in the past. Water temp around Wahweap 10 days ago was mid to upper 60's but warmed up into the mid 70's a couple days ago.
Last Saturday I boated up Lake to San Juan area and fished with my brother and dad for 5 days. Water temp was 68 to 80 degrees but mostly in lower 70's. As expected, the smallmouth fishing was better up there than it was around Wahweap. However, it wasn't as good as it has been in the past for numbers of bass. This may have been due to the rapidly rising water level. Some bass were shallow (less than 3 feet of water) and some were caught in 30 to 40 feet of water and many in 10 to 20 feet of water. The size and health of the smallmouth and largemouth seem to be comparable to past years. We probably caught 25 largemouth around 2-3 pounds. We didn't catch any bass over 3lbs this trip but we haven't caught many big bass from Lake Powell in the past. I averaged only around 50 bass per morning when in the past I've probably averaged closer to 100 bass per morning. As in the past, I mostly fished topwater baits in the morning. If I had put down the topwater baits and fished with a ned rig or 4" Yamamotto grubs I bet I would have caught closer to 100 bass each morning. I shouldn't complain too much because when I did pick up the ned rig I did go 7 consecutive casts on catching SMB. I just enjoy topwater baits so much that it is hard to put them down. This was my 1st time fishing with a ned rig and was really impressed. The 4" Yamamoto grubs may still get eaten by bass a little better than a ned rig but not by much. The most impressive part of the ned rig was the durability of the zman plastic. I caught over 100 fish(SMB, LMB, catfish and stripers) on a single piece of plastic. All LMB were released. We did keep some SMB for lunch but didn't even come close to keeping our limit each day. It is a lot of work trying to fillet than many little SMB.
There were slurps everywhere from mile marker 45 to bullfrog as well as the San Juan. I'm sure there were some in the lower lake but the water was rough when I drove through it so I wouldn't have been able to spot them as well. We rarely had to search more than 5 minutes to find another slurp to fish and it wasn't uncommon to see 3 or 4 slurps at a time. Casting a fly rod with small flies was the most consistent technique we found for getting them to eat. We caught them on small white grubs, small lipless Crankbaits, small swim baits, small surface stick baits "walking the dog", smaller whopper plopper and kastermasters. Small white grubs, small lipless Crankbaits and small surface stick baits walking the dog were to most consistent. Casting a flyrod was the most enjoyable technique for us.
Anchovie fishing for stripers was very good anywhere we tried. If we wanted to catch numbers of stripers, anchovies were the way to go. For example in an hour of chasing slurps with a fly rod, my brother and I only boated 7 stripers. In an hour of anchovy fishing we could easily catch 3-4 times as many. I did try and interesting experiment while anchovy fishing for stripers. Line size can make a really big difference. I first tried 15lb fluorocarbon and had only one soft bite while my dad caught over 10 strippers on lighter line. After switching to 4lb fluorocarbon I immediately caught 3 strippers. Sometimes while anchovy fishing the stripers don't care about line size but other times they can be very picky.
Fishing for catfish off the back of the houseboat was as good as always. We also caught some walleye and crappie but never really targeted them.
Last Saturday I boated up Lake to San Juan area and fished with my brother and dad for 5 days. Water temp was 68 to 80 degrees but mostly in lower 70's. As expected, the smallmouth fishing was better up there than it was around Wahweap. However, it wasn't as good as it has been in the past for numbers of bass. This may have been due to the rapidly rising water level. Some bass were shallow (less than 3 feet of water) and some were caught in 30 to 40 feet of water and many in 10 to 20 feet of water. The size and health of the smallmouth and largemouth seem to be comparable to past years. We probably caught 25 largemouth around 2-3 pounds. We didn't catch any bass over 3lbs this trip but we haven't caught many big bass from Lake Powell in the past. I averaged only around 50 bass per morning when in the past I've probably averaged closer to 100 bass per morning. As in the past, I mostly fished topwater baits in the morning. If I had put down the topwater baits and fished with a ned rig or 4" Yamamotto grubs I bet I would have caught closer to 100 bass each morning. I shouldn't complain too much because when I did pick up the ned rig I did go 7 consecutive casts on catching SMB. I just enjoy topwater baits so much that it is hard to put them down. This was my 1st time fishing with a ned rig and was really impressed. The 4" Yamamoto grubs may still get eaten by bass a little better than a ned rig but not by much. The most impressive part of the ned rig was the durability of the zman plastic. I caught over 100 fish(SMB, LMB, catfish and stripers) on a single piece of plastic. All LMB were released. We did keep some SMB for lunch but didn't even come close to keeping our limit each day. It is a lot of work trying to fillet than many little SMB.
There were slurps everywhere from mile marker 45 to bullfrog as well as the San Juan. I'm sure there were some in the lower lake but the water was rough when I drove through it so I wouldn't have been able to spot them as well. We rarely had to search more than 5 minutes to find another slurp to fish and it wasn't uncommon to see 3 or 4 slurps at a time. Casting a fly rod with small flies was the most consistent technique we found for getting them to eat. We caught them on small white grubs, small lipless Crankbaits, small swim baits, small surface stick baits "walking the dog", smaller whopper plopper and kastermasters. Small white grubs, small lipless Crankbaits and small surface stick baits walking the dog were to most consistent. Casting a flyrod was the most enjoyable technique for us.
Anchovie fishing for stripers was very good anywhere we tried. If we wanted to catch numbers of stripers, anchovies were the way to go. For example in an hour of chasing slurps with a fly rod, my brother and I only boated 7 stripers. In an hour of anchovy fishing we could easily catch 3-4 times as many. I did try and interesting experiment while anchovy fishing for stripers. Line size can make a really big difference. I first tried 15lb fluorocarbon and had only one soft bite while my dad caught over 10 strippers on lighter line. After switching to 4lb fluorocarbon I immediately caught 3 strippers. Sometimes while anchovy fishing the stripers don't care about line size but other times they can be very picky.
Fishing for catfish off the back of the houseboat was as good as always. We also caught some walleye and crappie but never really targeted them.
Last edited:
