Edward Gerdemann
Well-Known Member
Fall bass fishing on Lake Powell can be challenging and frustrating on one hand and absolutely outstanding on the other depending on the day and the weather. Neil Salmi and I experienced a bit off all that last week - periods of fast action followed by long stretches of nothing, beautiful, calm warm weather followed by windy, cold and driving rain. That's what fall on Lake Powell can be. It's sort of a high risk, high reward time of year.
We fished Wednesday the 23rd and Thursday the 24th. We decided to stay in the far lower end rather than run up to my favorite spots around Gregory Butte and Last Chance Bay due to all the unhealthy fish I caught up there in September. On Wednesday we fished two spots in Warm Creek, the reefs and shelves at the mouth on the east side and the area that used to be the double islands up near Castle Rock. The early morning was overcast and the action was fairly fast for a while down at the mouth. We were often catching smallmouths on successive casts in water ranging anywhere from 10 to 25 feet deep. We didn't catch substantial size, but we managed quite a few 11 to 13-inch "eaters" and a few dinks. When the sun popped through the clouds, however, the action died.
We then moved up near Castle Rock. At first the strikes were few and far between, but in the early afternoon we found a couple spots where we were able to catch a bunch of fish. Twelve feet seemed to be the magic depth up here, however I did catch a couple much deeper. Our final tally for Wednesday was 50 total fish, mostly smallmouths with a couple green ones thrown in. Our largest were around 1 1/2 pounds.
Thursday was different. While Wednesday was warm and calm, Thursday was cold and windy and ultimately rainy. It started off like a beautiful day, calm and partly overcast, ideal for fishing it would seem. Because Neil had a commitment that afternoon we decided to stay in Wahweap and fish the shelves down near the no-wake zone. It couldn't have started better with four fish in our first five casts, and then it just quit. We could hardly buy a strike. And then the wind kicked up and it turned much colder. Finally around 8:00 a.m. we managed to start picking up a few, but the action was not fast and it was just getting colder and windier. Around 9:00 a.m. I noticed some very dark clouds moving in, and we decided to call it a morning. Unfortunately we waited a bit too long as rain started falling as we started back. Before we could reach the ramp the rain started coming down in sheets driven by an ever stronger wind. By the time I drove the boat back on the trailer I was soaked and shivering. We should have come back sooner, but we had started to catch a few and we didn't want to leave.
In about two and a half hours we did manage 14 smallmouths, mostly those 11 to 13-inchers with a few larger ones. We took them at depths ranging from 10 to 25 feet with a majority at around 15-18 feet. Both days we fished drop shot rigs and my standby Yamamoto Shad Shaped Worms. We mostly used the watermelon/white laminate, but I did catch some on the natural shad color. I don't think color made much difference. I caught most of my fish on horizontal presentations, however Neil had quite a bit of success fishing vertically below the boat. The slowest possible presentations were best as the fish did not seem to be in a chasing mood.
On the bright side all the fish we caught were fat and healthy. I found both crayfish and shad in their stomachs. All the ones we kept made very nice fillets, and I can attest they tasted quite good. All in all it was a typical late October trip. I've had better October trips but also a lot worse. Despite all the issues, it's still fun to be out on Lake Powell. I never get tired of it.,
We fished Wednesday the 23rd and Thursday the 24th. We decided to stay in the far lower end rather than run up to my favorite spots around Gregory Butte and Last Chance Bay due to all the unhealthy fish I caught up there in September. On Wednesday we fished two spots in Warm Creek, the reefs and shelves at the mouth on the east side and the area that used to be the double islands up near Castle Rock. The early morning was overcast and the action was fairly fast for a while down at the mouth. We were often catching smallmouths on successive casts in water ranging anywhere from 10 to 25 feet deep. We didn't catch substantial size, but we managed quite a few 11 to 13-inch "eaters" and a few dinks. When the sun popped through the clouds, however, the action died.
We then moved up near Castle Rock. At first the strikes were few and far between, but in the early afternoon we found a couple spots where we were able to catch a bunch of fish. Twelve feet seemed to be the magic depth up here, however I did catch a couple much deeper. Our final tally for Wednesday was 50 total fish, mostly smallmouths with a couple green ones thrown in. Our largest were around 1 1/2 pounds.
Thursday was different. While Wednesday was warm and calm, Thursday was cold and windy and ultimately rainy. It started off like a beautiful day, calm and partly overcast, ideal for fishing it would seem. Because Neil had a commitment that afternoon we decided to stay in Wahweap and fish the shelves down near the no-wake zone. It couldn't have started better with four fish in our first five casts, and then it just quit. We could hardly buy a strike. And then the wind kicked up and it turned much colder. Finally around 8:00 a.m. we managed to start picking up a few, but the action was not fast and it was just getting colder and windier. Around 9:00 a.m. I noticed some very dark clouds moving in, and we decided to call it a morning. Unfortunately we waited a bit too long as rain started falling as we started back. Before we could reach the ramp the rain started coming down in sheets driven by an ever stronger wind. By the time I drove the boat back on the trailer I was soaked and shivering. We should have come back sooner, but we had started to catch a few and we didn't want to leave.
In about two and a half hours we did manage 14 smallmouths, mostly those 11 to 13-inchers with a few larger ones. We took them at depths ranging from 10 to 25 feet with a majority at around 15-18 feet. Both days we fished drop shot rigs and my standby Yamamoto Shad Shaped Worms. We mostly used the watermelon/white laminate, but I did catch some on the natural shad color. I don't think color made much difference. I caught most of my fish on horizontal presentations, however Neil had quite a bit of success fishing vertically below the boat. The slowest possible presentations were best as the fish did not seem to be in a chasing mood.
On the bright side all the fish we caught were fat and healthy. I found both crayfish and shad in their stomachs. All the ones we kept made very nice fillets, and I can attest they tasted quite good. All in all it was a typical late October trip. I've had better October trips but also a lot worse. Despite all the issues, it's still fun to be out on Lake Powell. I never get tired of it.,
