jlandon
Active Member
We just got back Saturday from a week on the lake. Our report is basically what a lot of others have been reporting on the south end. Fishing the whole week was the slowest we've seen it in the 8 years we've been doing this annual trip. Our guess was the the full moon, accelerated early warm temps, and low water (not much brush) contributed to a change in fishing. We also saw more boats there the first few days than we normally see so I'm guessing the fishing pressure didn't help.
The fish were hard to catch in the backs of canyons and coves. We did try main lake points but it was kind of the same story. Our best success was right at the entrance to main canyons so maybe you can consider those main lake points. We'd mark fish but they were tight lipped. We found the most success fishing little areas like singular points or large submerged structure where you wouldn't normally think to fish. Don't get me wrong though, we still caught fish and the catch rate was better than anything I'll get up on the lakes in northern Utah. But for LP standards, the catch rate was really slow for the spring. We still did catch all the main species even though we were primarily targeting bass. The biggest surprise of the trip was the large bluegill we were able to catch. They were a ton of fun to pluck out when we found them.
The size of the bass was way down for our group too. We always have a group of 13 to 15 guys and there was only one smallmouth caught all week over 2lb and only one largemouth caught over 3lb. For comparison, our group last year caught a plethora of smallies over 2lb and many largemouth over 3lb with a couple over 4lb. So it was an odd year in that regard.
I did catch my new personal best crappie at 1.9lb. I didn't get a measurement but I'd guess it was 14 or 15 inches. The crappie seem to be doing well. Another highlight was hooking an almost 12lb carp in the mouth with a ned rig. It was eating off the wall and I got a perfect cast right above its head where my lure slipped right now in front of it's face to wear it sucked my lure in. It gave me a fun fight but they're kind of nasty
.
All in all, the weather was amazing all week and the company was great. Even if the the fishing is slow, you can't beat a week on Lake Powell with beautiful weather. Tight lines everyone and hopefully the fishing success improves.
The fish were hard to catch in the backs of canyons and coves. We did try main lake points but it was kind of the same story. Our best success was right at the entrance to main canyons so maybe you can consider those main lake points. We'd mark fish but they were tight lipped. We found the most success fishing little areas like singular points or large submerged structure where you wouldn't normally think to fish. Don't get me wrong though, we still caught fish and the catch rate was better than anything I'll get up on the lakes in northern Utah. But for LP standards, the catch rate was really slow for the spring. We still did catch all the main species even though we were primarily targeting bass. The biggest surprise of the trip was the large bluegill we were able to catch. They were a ton of fun to pluck out when we found them.
The size of the bass was way down for our group too. We always have a group of 13 to 15 guys and there was only one smallmouth caught all week over 2lb and only one largemouth caught over 3lb. For comparison, our group last year caught a plethora of smallies over 2lb and many largemouth over 3lb with a couple over 4lb. So it was an odd year in that regard.
I did catch my new personal best crappie at 1.9lb. I didn't get a measurement but I'd guess it was 14 or 15 inches. The crappie seem to be doing well. Another highlight was hooking an almost 12lb carp in the mouth with a ned rig. It was eating off the wall and I got a perfect cast right above its head where my lure slipped right now in front of it's face to wear it sucked my lure in. It gave me a fun fight but they're kind of nasty
.All in all, the weather was amazing all week and the company was great. Even if the the fishing is slow, you can't beat a week on Lake Powell with beautiful weather. Tight lines everyone and hopefully the fishing success improves.
