Edward Gerdemann
Well-Known Member
I believe it was Dr. James Henshall who in the late 1800s declared the smallmouth bass inch for inch and pound for pound the gamest fish that lives. After 61 years of pursuing this fish I'd be hard pressed to contradict Dr. Henshall, and this was reaffirmed last week when long time fishing partner John Conrad and I enjoyed perhaps the best combined three days of smallmouth fishing we've ever experienced on Lake Powell.
Fishing last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we took 229 smallmouths, three largemouths and a few sunfish. The smallmouth fishing was astonishing with the fish full of fight. They provided us with line-peeling runs, deep bulldogging headshakes and spectacular leaps often clearing four plus feet above the surface. These fish demonstrated all the attributes that would make Dr. Henshall proud. What made this trip even more amazing is we were fishing on a very bright full moon, usually the worst condition for daytime fishing. This proves when you have a chance to go fishing, go. Don't wait for the perfect conditions.
On Tuesday we stayed in close and fished the rocky bay on the north side of the channel above Warm Creek, the ledges at the mouth of Warm Creek and what used to be the double islands just through the cut in Warm Creek. The first bay was the best spot as we took 60 fish in the first three plus hours. The mouth of Warm Creek was generally a bust, however the double islands provided some reasonably good action to end our day which we finished with 83 smallmouths and two largemouths. Wednesday we made the run up to Last Chance to fish the canyons and coves that had produced for us on past Autumn trips, however we soon discovered there were few fish in the backs of these places. Most of what we caught came from a boulder field at the mouth of one fairly small cove. By 10 a.m. we had tallied "just" 17 fish between us. We then motored back to the mouth of Last Chance where two large gravel islands caught my eye. I'd noticed these islands in the past during lower water levels, but I had never fished them. Something just told me we should try them. It turned out to be a great decision as over the next two and a half hours we took 40 smallmouths and one largemouth to finish our day with 58 bass. Thursday we decided to try the rocky coves just off the main channel below Gregory Butte and then return to the gravel islands. The action was steady all day with the coves producing very well, and the islands were just as spectacular as they were on Wednesday. We headed back to Stateline launch ramp having taken 89 fish, all smallmouths.
The pattern was essentially the same all three days. Although we caught a few fish at 20 feet and below, a vast majority of what we caught were in less than 15 feet of water. We took many at less than five feet. In the mornings up to around 10:00 a.m. we had our best luck fishing weightless presentations. After 10:00 drop shotting produced best even though most fish were still shallow.
When fishing weightless I used four-inch Yamamoto Senkos while John had good luck on a Yamamoto Shad Shaped Worm. Those thinking the Shad Shaped Worm is strictly a drop shot bait should try fishing it weightless. It was a great producer, particularly in the shallowest water. We did all our drop shotting with Shad Shaped Worms. As for colors we used mostly the watermelon/white laminate (Yamamoto Color 901) in both the Senko and Shad Shaped Worm. I also had good success with green pumpkin/white laminate (909). When I ran out of Shad Shaped Worms in the 901 color I switched to natural shad (306). I doubt that lure color was a major factor as I believe any reasonable color would have produced. The best presentation with both techniques was slow with many fish hitting on the initial drop. It paid to watch your line closely as any little twitch usually meant a strike.
The reason I believe the gravel islands were so good is they were right off the main channel and received a lot of wake action from the boat traffic creating mud lines all around the islands. I also believe these wakes stirred up crayfish producing the feeding frenzy we experienced. Our best areas were the long, shallow gravel points extending off these islands right under the mud lines. We would often have six or seven strikes in as many casts. The deeper fish we caught came on vertical presentations right under the boat after spotting them on the graph. We actually caught some fish vertically at just 12 feet. We normally would not expect fishing right below the boat to be effective this shallow, but I believe the mud line helped in that regard.
It was clear these bassing were eating mostly crayfish as the ones we kept were stuffed full of them. However, I did have an 11-inch smallmouth spit out a six-inch gizzard shad while I was playing it. This disproves the idea that smallmouths eat nothing but small forage, and that they can make use of gizzard shad longer than most people believe.
We were somewhat surprised we didn't catch a walleye or two or even a catfish under those mud lines as we have in the past, but we were not disappointed about that given all the smallmouth action we had. It will be interesting to see if this pattern continues to hold up after this week's storms or if the bass will move into the backs of the big canyons and coves as is the normal fall pattern. I've got two more trips scheduled in October so I should find out. No matter where they are, I'm convinced Lake Powell smallmouth will continue to live up to Dr. Henshall's proclamation, and that's just fine with me!
Fishing last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we took 229 smallmouths, three largemouths and a few sunfish. The smallmouth fishing was astonishing with the fish full of fight. They provided us with line-peeling runs, deep bulldogging headshakes and spectacular leaps often clearing four plus feet above the surface. These fish demonstrated all the attributes that would make Dr. Henshall proud. What made this trip even more amazing is we were fishing on a very bright full moon, usually the worst condition for daytime fishing. This proves when you have a chance to go fishing, go. Don't wait for the perfect conditions.
On Tuesday we stayed in close and fished the rocky bay on the north side of the channel above Warm Creek, the ledges at the mouth of Warm Creek and what used to be the double islands just through the cut in Warm Creek. The first bay was the best spot as we took 60 fish in the first three plus hours. The mouth of Warm Creek was generally a bust, however the double islands provided some reasonably good action to end our day which we finished with 83 smallmouths and two largemouths. Wednesday we made the run up to Last Chance to fish the canyons and coves that had produced for us on past Autumn trips, however we soon discovered there were few fish in the backs of these places. Most of what we caught came from a boulder field at the mouth of one fairly small cove. By 10 a.m. we had tallied "just" 17 fish between us. We then motored back to the mouth of Last Chance where two large gravel islands caught my eye. I'd noticed these islands in the past during lower water levels, but I had never fished them. Something just told me we should try them. It turned out to be a great decision as over the next two and a half hours we took 40 smallmouths and one largemouth to finish our day with 58 bass. Thursday we decided to try the rocky coves just off the main channel below Gregory Butte and then return to the gravel islands. The action was steady all day with the coves producing very well, and the islands were just as spectacular as they were on Wednesday. We headed back to Stateline launch ramp having taken 89 fish, all smallmouths.
The pattern was essentially the same all three days. Although we caught a few fish at 20 feet and below, a vast majority of what we caught were in less than 15 feet of water. We took many at less than five feet. In the mornings up to around 10:00 a.m. we had our best luck fishing weightless presentations. After 10:00 drop shotting produced best even though most fish were still shallow.
When fishing weightless I used four-inch Yamamoto Senkos while John had good luck on a Yamamoto Shad Shaped Worm. Those thinking the Shad Shaped Worm is strictly a drop shot bait should try fishing it weightless. It was a great producer, particularly in the shallowest water. We did all our drop shotting with Shad Shaped Worms. As for colors we used mostly the watermelon/white laminate (Yamamoto Color 901) in both the Senko and Shad Shaped Worm. I also had good success with green pumpkin/white laminate (909). When I ran out of Shad Shaped Worms in the 901 color I switched to natural shad (306). I doubt that lure color was a major factor as I believe any reasonable color would have produced. The best presentation with both techniques was slow with many fish hitting on the initial drop. It paid to watch your line closely as any little twitch usually meant a strike.
The reason I believe the gravel islands were so good is they were right off the main channel and received a lot of wake action from the boat traffic creating mud lines all around the islands. I also believe these wakes stirred up crayfish producing the feeding frenzy we experienced. Our best areas were the long, shallow gravel points extending off these islands right under the mud lines. We would often have six or seven strikes in as many casts. The deeper fish we caught came on vertical presentations right under the boat after spotting them on the graph. We actually caught some fish vertically at just 12 feet. We normally would not expect fishing right below the boat to be effective this shallow, but I believe the mud line helped in that regard.
It was clear these bassing were eating mostly crayfish as the ones we kept were stuffed full of them. However, I did have an 11-inch smallmouth spit out a six-inch gizzard shad while I was playing it. This disproves the idea that smallmouths eat nothing but small forage, and that they can make use of gizzard shad longer than most people believe.
We were somewhat surprised we didn't catch a walleye or two or even a catfish under those mud lines as we have in the past, but we were not disappointed about that given all the smallmouth action we had. It will be interesting to see if this pattern continues to hold up after this week's storms or if the bass will move into the backs of the big canyons and coves as is the normal fall pattern. I've got two more trips scheduled in October so I should find out. No matter where they are, I'm convinced Lake Powell smallmouth will continue to live up to Dr. Henshall's proclamation, and that's just fine with me!
