LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT
NOVEMBER 24, 2004
NOVEMBER 24, 2004
By Wayne Gustaveson
Lake Elevation: 3568
Water Temperature: 57-60 F
Expect fishing to be difficult through Thanksgiving. Rapid lake level drop due to the flood downstream will put fish off for a few days. Bass just don't like a rapid fall in lake level after enjoying a steady lake for the past 6 weeks.
After lake stabilization expect fishing to improve. Topwater fishing is all but over for the year except for some unpredictable singular events. Crank down to catch stripers and bass feeding on shad in deeper water. Lipless crankbaits work for prowling predators probing the shoreline where shad used to be. Trolling, casting and spooning will be the effective techniques for December.
Anchovies and spoons dropped on striper schools located on the graph may be the best approach for striper fishing. Bouncing plastic jigs and grubs on the bottom will produce smallmouth bass for another few weeks.
LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT
NOVEMBER 19, 2004
NOVEMBER 19, 2004
By Wayne Gustaveson
Lake Elevation: 3570
Water Temperature: 58-61 F
Water temperature continues to warm in to the 60's each calm afternoon. That allows some shad to remain in the shallows. However, the shad migration has begun. Striper feeding is more likely to be done in deep water. The projected stormy weather in the next few days should end striper surface feeding in the shallow coves.
On November 18th we found one cove off Padre Bay with shad remaining in the back. A school of stripers were in attendance driving shad to ground at the very shallowest portion of the canyon. These stripers would hit top water lures when actively pushing shad. But when they were cruising the top water lures were ignored.
In Gunsight and Padre Canyon stripers moved in and fed occasionally. When they were actively feeding they would take lipless vibrator lures (Lucky Craft and Rattletrap), but not topwater. Trolling and casting lipless cranks worked along with jigging spoons on bottom for resting schools, but success depended on finding a striper school and sticking with it. When the school moved catching ceased.
Bass have gone deeper and were not found aggressively feeding in the shallows as they were last week.
In the upper lake shad are numerous and striper schools have broken down. Small groups and single stripers can be caught occasionally casting, trolling and jigging but large schools have not been found. Night fishing is perhaps the best technique for catching stripers. It is not advisable to travel all the way to Good Hope when night fishing at Bullfrog/Halls or Wahweap will be as good or better than uplake.
From now on plan on fishing deep with spoons, plastic baits and anchovies for best success.
LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT
NOVEMBER 11, 2004
NOVEMBER 11, 2004
By Wayne Gustaveson
Lake Elevation: 3570
Water Temperature: 58-61 F
For striper fishing there is really only one place to be right now. That is between Warm Creek and West Canyon accessed out of Wahweap or Antelope Point Marinas. All other locations are reporting difficult fishing success for stripers.
Stripers in Padre Bay have left open water probing for shad in the backs of short canyons and cuts. On good weather days there is still an occasional boil to mark the site of a roving school. Most often no splashes are seen, but casting a Jumpin Minnow or Sammy to the shore in weedy shallow water draws a reaction strike from stripers up to 10 pounds. Cast two lures side by side and create your own boil.
Striper action is good in the channel that once was the Castle Rock cut in Warm Creek. Gunsight Canyon, Padre Canyon, Kane Creek, Kane Wash, Face Canyon, coves at mouth and side canyons of Last Chance, and mouth of West Canyon all get visits from stripers schools with big fish in attendance. Find a shallow shad school hiding in the "grass" near shore and stripers will visit again soon. Mark the spot and return occasionally to find an actively feeding striper school.
On bad weather days stripers are resting at the first drop-off near shallow shad schools. Pull back from shore and find striper schools on the graph. Follow the submerged creek channel (100 feet) and look on the first terrace (45-60 feet) for resting striper schools. Drop spoons to create a subsurface boil that can be seen on the graph screen.
It would pay to make a trip now to mark the location of these schools caught half way between the surface and the depths. In another two weeks both shad and stripers will slow down and become much less mobile. When that happens some of the biggest catches of the year can be had. The good part is that both shad and stripers will be found near these same spots through the month of December. Trip after trip to the same spot will be very successful once a permanent holding location is found.
Big bass are feeding in with stripers in the shallow shad spots. Bass tournament anglers working shallow shad schools in Padre Bay and Face Canyon with surface baits have placed highly in recent events. Smaller bass are still on the rocky points and terrace drop-offs eating crayfish.
Fishing for stripers is hot at night under lights using small pieces of anchovy fished at 30-40 feet in Wahweap Marina. Tie up to the bouy line or houseboats slips in the private boat marina near main ramp.
LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT
NOVEMBER 3, 2004
NOVEMBER 3, 2004
By Wayne Gustaveson
Lake Elevation: 3570
Water Temperature: 60-63 F
The wind blew hard and then calmed. Water temperatures remained poised just barely on the warm side allowing shad to stay shallow until the next major storm front arrives. Topwater fishing will have its last hurrah during the next few days or weeks until the wind blows hard again and temps sink into the 50's. Fishing will not cease with 50-degree water, it will just change to a deep bite which can still be quite rewarding.
For those seeking that last surface casting adrenaline rush, stripers and bass were recently found in sandy coves and nooks near the main channel. Deep-water channels leading into shallow weedy coves mark shad sanctuaries where wide-bodied large stripers cannot effectively follow. The rooted aquatic weeds make it even more difficult for predators to catch shad. Do not expect to see boils. When shad are seen, cast surface lures near shore and retrieve them into deeper water. Stripers will hit as soon as the lure gets in range. It is possible to create your own boils as the big fish hit lures fleeing away from shore.
Smallmouth bass will be feeding on shad near trapped shad schools. Bigger bass will take topwater lures above the weed beds on shad flats. Smaller bass will be on the rocky points and ledges. They are willing customers for standard plastic grubs, tubes and senkos fished on jig heads or dropshot rigs.
Bird sign is more important than ever now. Boating activity is way down. Freeloading birds are hungry without a few camps to rob. Ravens follow striper schools from the air hoping for a shad attack. They know shad leap out on shore often when pushed by stripers in shallow water. If they get there before the shad can wriggle back in the water they get an easy meal. Look for ravens, great blue herons, gulls and coyotes on shore. They are fish markers!
If fish signs are present but stripers are not found. Go deeper off shore and drop spoons at the first 45-foot dropoff. Schools will hold in deep water while resting and waiting for a return run on shallow shad. The shallow/deep combination should produce fish for the next week from Bullfrog downstream. We sample Bullfrog upstream next week and should have a good report of the fishing pattern uplake upon our return.
Catfishing is still good.
LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT
OCTOBER 28, 2004
OCTOBER 28, 2004
By Wayne Gustaveson
Lake Elevation: 3570
Water Temperature: 65-67 F
Stripers and smallmouth are gorging on shad in between storm fronts. It rains and blows forcing shad to leave the shallow sanctuaries where big-bodied fish are just too broad to enter. Shad go deep to wait out the storm but find no relief from the constant striper attacks. As soon as the winds calm shad search out shallow sandy coves with aquatic vegetation where a short respite from striper harassment is possible.
Stripers follow shad from deep water to shallow. When shad are deep, stripers guard the narrow slot canyon keeping shad pinned in the back. Periodically stripers make runs into the shad preserve and eat their fill. When attacking they can be caught on crank baits, topwater and spoons. After the attack they go back out and guard the door once more. Find a resting school and they are real suckers for jigging spoons. Find them in 40-50 feet of water while shad are resting at the back of the canyon from 10-30 feet.
If the resting striper school was there yesterday but gone today and not found attacking shad in the slot canyon then look in shallow weedy coves along the main channel. Ravens, seagulls, herons and sometimes coyotes will be near the shad/striper action. With boating activity now at a minimum, ravens are keying on stripers. DO NOT pass up ravens walking or roosting near shore. Do not expect to see intense boiling action. Just cast top water lures to shore, near birds to create your own personal striper boil. Stripers are waiting for shad to venture too far from shallow water and eat everything that gets in range. Cast right to shore each time and work the lure into deep water for best success. There will be weeds in the best shad-holding spots so surface lures work better than crank baits. I like to walk the shoreline this time of year. I watch shad schools and see stripers probing along the weedy shoreline. Six-pound stripers are awesome fighters in 2 feet of water.
Stripers are working shallow shad schools in Warm Creek near the Castle Rock cut. Padre Bay is active from Padre Canyon to the mouth of Face. I have to speculate about uplake action but feel confident about finding the same patterns in the San Juan, Escalante, and Rincon.
The abundance of shad upstream may mask the feeding that is occurring from Bullfrog to the Colorado Inflow. Fast trolling reaction lures was working upstream from Good Hope at last report.
Shad and stripers have mostly left the Antelope Point Marina. Quick boils have been sighted at Buoy 3 so stripers are moving away from this artificial sanctuary. Some main channel stripers previously found at the mouth of Navajo, (then at Antelope marina) have moved into Navajo canyon and more likely into Warm Creek where more of the previously described shallow shad coves may be found.
LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT
OCTOBER 21, 2004
OCTOBER 21, 2004
By Wayne Gustaveson
Lake Elevation: 3570
Water Temperature: 67-69 F
A major storm front has Powell in its clutches and will dominate the fishing scene for the short term. This comes at a time of transition when shad and stripers are moving from open water to the backs of canyons and coves.
Most of the year shad have held over the deep water of the main channel from Wahweap to Good Hope. With full moon during the last week of September shad moved out of the channel and into the coves during the day. Number of striper boils was greatly reduced in open water as stripers seemed to lose contact with shad.
Recently, striper feeding activity was seen in coves in close proximity to the main channel. Both shad and stripers were moving and could not be counted on to reappear in the exact same location from day to day. Shad in high abundance in the back of long canyons far from the channel were unmolested by stripers.
Shad trawl sampling from Trachyte to Wahweap from October 12-16 found shad in peak abundance at the Colorado River inflow near Trachyte (2000/tow). Bullfrog, San Juan, Wahweap all had similar shad abundance at a high level (20-50/tow) for this late in the year. These shad were caught in open water so it is obvious that shad were moving out of cover into the channel after dark.
Now in mid October stripers have made initial movements into long canyons holding resident shad schools. The progression is logical. Small-sized shad in the main channel were easy targets. No need to chase adult shad when slow swimming young were easy prey. As young shad finally grew larger and left the channel to avoid the daily attacks, stripers lost contact and had to look on-shore instead of looking straight up for a meal. Lack of large open water shad schools caused stripers schools to fragment, as feeding in coves did not benefit a large striper school. Small numbers of shad trapped in coves became less desirable for stripers who want more prey. Now foraging probes into canyons far way from the channel are beginning and striper schools are reforming to work over the larger shad schools found in canyons.
Looks to me like the stripers are just reloading for a strong feeding spree in November after this storm front passes. Water temperature is still favorable for shad to stay shallow for a few more weeks. The battleground now becomes the long canyons where water depth is 40-60 feet. This is the winter holding area for both species. Neither has gone deep so a few boils will be seen in coves near main canyon channels.
This will be the time to look between Good Hope and Trachyte (highest shad density on the lake) for intense striper feeding activity. Recent reports of fast trolling shad type reaction baits were good for major striper catch rates. The long canyons (Navajo, Last Chance, Rock Creek, Escalante, San Juan, and Colorado River inflow) will now produce more stripers than seen last month.
Remember that stripers in high forage areas need a fast moving shad to induce a bite so cast or trolled crank baits may be the best. Conversely, stripers separated from shad and searching for a meal may take anchovies. Use the graph. Think about the conditions encountered. Then try to match your techniques to existing conditions for best results.
INTERIM FISH REPORT
OCTOBER 18, 2004
OCTOBER 18, 2004
THOUGHTS ON SHAD AND STRIPER MOVEMENTS
We have seen an interesting cycle of movement with shad and stripers. Most of the year shad have held over the deep water of the main channel from Wahweap to Good Hope. With full moon during the last week of September shad moved out of the channel and into the coves during the day. Boils ceased in open water as stripers seemed to lose contact with shad.
Then some striper feeding activity was seen in coves off the main channel but in close proximity. Both shad and stripers were moving and could not be counted on to reappear in the exact same location from day to day. Shad in high abundance in the back of long canyons far from the channel were unmolested by stripers.
Shad trawl sampling from Trachyte to Wahweap from October 12-16 found shad in peak abundance at the Colorado River inflow near Trachyte (2000/tow). Bullfrog, San Juan, Wahweap all had similar shad abundance at a high level (20-50/tow) for this late in the year. These shad were caught in open water so it is obvious that shad were moving out of cover into the channel after dark.
Now in Mid October stripers have moved into canyons holding resident shad schools.
The progression is logical in retrospect. Small shad in the main channel are easy targets. No need to chase adults when slow swimming young are easy prey. As young shad finally grew larger and left the channel to avoid the daily attacks, stripers lost contact and had to look on shore instead of looking straight up for a meal. Lack of large open water shad schools caused stripers schools to fragment as feeding in coves did not take a large striper school for feeding success. Small numbers of shad in coves became less desirable for stripers who want more prey. Now probes into canyons far way from the channel are beginning and striper schools are reforming to work over the larger shad schools in canyons.
Looks to me like the stripers are just reloading for a strong feeding spree in November. Water temperature is still favorable for shad to stay shallow for a few more weeks. The battleground now becomes the long canyons where water depth is 40-60 feet. This is the winter holding area for both species. Neither has gone deep so boils will be seen in coves near main canyon channels for the short term.
This will be the time to look between Good Hope and Trachyte (highest shad density on the lake) for intense striper feeding activity.
LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT
OCTOBER 14, 2004
OCTOBER 14, 2004
By Wayne Gustaveson
Lake Elevation: 3570
Water Temperature: 68-71 F
Shad are still trapped in the backs of cuts and coves within view of the main channel. Bass and stripers are taking advantage of shad-snacks by lying in deeper water at the mouth of coves. Any attempt by shad to leave the cove is blocked by an immediate bass attack. Anglers can use this behavior to their advantage. Cruise the main channel and watch for small, almost insignificant drainages that have a short sandy floodplain. Stop at the mouth of the cove and toss surface lures or shallow running crank baits to the back of the cove. If the cove is guarded the attack will be quick. If there is no action then proceed to a new cove and repeat the process. Move quickly between coves until a shad cove is found. Once located you can return and find a repeat fish catching performance over the length of your trip. Shad stay in some coves for weeks and may escape from others overnight.
Bass attack location in slick rock coves opening to a sandy plain in back is predictable. Bass will be at the narrowest point near trapped shad. Canyon constriction allows bass to guard the cove and prevent shad from leaving the shallow flood plain. Lack of rocky structure does not necessarily mean that bass are not present. Canyon constriction in this instance is the only cover needed. See where the shad should be and then look for ambush points when fishing a new cove.
While there are many shad in the backs of long slot canyons (such as Padre Canyon) it appears that bass and stripers have no need to venture that far from the channel to feed. Confine the search to the channel edges for best results. Save the long, deep canyons until November when shad and stripers move deeper for winter.
Stripers are running shad to the shoreline for the first and last hour or daylight. Large striper schools have broken down into small groups. Stripers do not need a big school to work on shad trapped in a cove. While open water boils have almost ceased there is a greater likelihood that a few stripers will be roaming the shallows at any time of day. It is common now for bass anglers to hook a striper while fishing a shoreline - especially with crankbaits and surface lures. Striper schools resting in deepwater can be graphed and captured using vertical jigging techniques any time of day.
Smallmouth are still extremely vulnerable to conventional plastic baits (jigs and dropshot) fished on the bottom but larger bass seem to be suspended and taken on reaction cranks and topwater baits. I have seen many bass over 2 pounds and one at three pounds in the past week.
There is a wild event going on at Antelope Point Marina. Shad are using the boat slips for overhead cover and stripers are chasing shad around the marina. The fun begins at morning twilight and continues sporadically throughout the day till dark. If inclined to fish in the marina please respect wakeless speed rules and be courteous to boats passing through in the travel lane. Be prepared to catch a cable or two and lose some lures. I am not recommending this as a fishing spot - just reporting on fish presence.
Night fishing for stripers with green lights is improving with darker nights - especially in the midlake areas. Catfish are willing customers seeking a smelly morsel of food each night at dusk and after dark.
LAKE POWELL FISH REPORT
OCTOBER 7, 2004
OCTOBER 7, 2004
By Wayne Gustaveson
Lake Elevation: 3570
Water Temperature: 68-71 F
STRIPERS/SHAD MOVE SHALLOW!
Stripers have now made the anticipated change from feeding in open water to feeding in shallow coves and cuts. Fall fishing at Powell is normally a search of many canyons looking for a cove or two containing shad. Stripers station themselves in deep water waiting for shad to attempt an escape. Open water feeding has dominated the fishing scene recently delaying the on-shore movement of shad and stripers.
The move began last week following full moon and is now almost complete. Shad have left (or been driven out of) the channel for the back of the canyon where shallow water protects them from large stripers. From now on it will be more common to find stripers feeding along the shore instead of open water. Birds benefit from frantic shad leaping onto shore to avoid striper onslaughts. Anglers can then key on bird activity to help pinpoint striper schools.
Stripers have been feeding in open water of Padre Bay all summer. This week the same stripers were found running shad to the back of the restroom cove and to long points extending off Padre Butte. Those looking for boils in open water will miss stripers feeding within a few feet of shore. Boil timing remains the same - there is a quick boil from 7-8 AM. Then there is a random boil sometime during the 10-2 PM period. Stripers come up once more in the last hour of light. Boils are less common now than they were when stripers were in open water.
The best technique this weekend will be to search U-shaped coves near the main channel where water depth is 2 feet or less. Find shad trapped near shore and stripers and smallmouth will be gorging nearby. Shad schools in shallows are huge and may look like a dark shaped whale moving slowly in the shallow water. Feeding shad schools can also look like wind riffles moving in calm water where no wind exists.
Fishing will be challenging until one of the favored shad coves is found. Once located fishing fortunes will improve dramatically. Smallmouth bass are staying in the coves within easy striking distance of shad. Stripers are holding further out and only periodically move in to terrorize the frightened shad. This is an exciting time of year to fish. Remember to look very shallow. The best lures for us this week were Lucky Craft bevy shad and rattletraps.
The exception to the near shore rule: main channel stripers will still feed between the sheer canyon walls from Navajo to Glen Canyon Dam. Expect boils anytime of day - especially at mid day. The evening boil is still going near Glen Canyon Dam.