When in May to go to Powell?

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LPLIFE

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Hey Everyone

I grew up in Utah and Lake Powell was my favorite place on earth. I moved to MN and WI for the last 10 years and finally just moved back to Utah.

While away I’d read Wayne’s report every week and wish I was at Powell.
Now that I’m back I’m planning a trip down in May (we used to have a timeshare membership the week of Mother’s Day growing up).

I know from reading the weekly reports that May is a great time to go. I like to fish walleye, Bass, strippers, crappie, etc. I also know that there is the mudline working it’s way through the lake at that time. I was wanting to make it up to good hope bay this trip as I have heard so much about it and never been.

Can you help me know what week in May would be best when balancing mud lines and water temps and everything else there is to consider. It could also be early June but I was thinking May would be better. I really like walleye as that is what I fished for in Mn and Wi, but love bass fishing too. I have a small family so breaking away for a long weekend will use a lot of my Fishing “chips” if you know what I mean. I won’t be back for a little bit and want to take the best advantage of the time I have there.

Thanks so much for your help!!!
 
The first two weeks of May is my best guess right now. As it gets closer watch the weather reports and try to go on the best weather days - No big storms. The runoff is not expected to be as large this year but the mud line will move down to Good Hope by mid May or the end of May for sure.

Welcome Back!


So the goal is to get to Good Hope Bay for the Walleye before the mud line starts? For some reason I thought the mud line helped with the water temp and lower visibility and making the fish turn on a little more (Not the initial mud line as its too dense, but the aftermath).

I normally fish bullfrog up to a little past Moqui. Is it worth going all the way to good hope bay for walleye or overall fishing, Will only target Walleye in early am or late evening.

Thanks again for helping me!!!
 
Don't be deterred by dirty water, it is your friend on Lake Powell! It took me several trips up north to not be turned off by the deeply stained water. Really anything more than a foot or so of visibility is just fine. If you can easily see your propeller, keep fishing! And when the water is stained and cool, the walleye will bite all day.....
 
Don't be deterred by dirty water, it is your friend on Lake Powell! It took me several trips up north to not be turned off by the deeply stained water. Really anything more than a foot or so of visibility is just fine. If you can easily see your propeller, keep fishing! And when the water is stained and cool, the walleye will bite all day.....

Thanks, Dorado. You also agree its best to get up there first week or two of May? Do you just trust your charts when the water it that stained? I'm slightly afraid of the "alligators".
 
There are lots of people on here that know the lake better than me! But It seems to really depend on when and how big the runoff is. Some years it is totally unfishable by mid-May up at GHB (especially when there is a big runoff and the lake is low....the muddy water moves rapidly downstream). It does not seem like that will be an issue this year. I prefer late April-early May, but that is as much to avoid the water sports crowd...

When the water is dirty, stick to the main river channel when you are on plane until you know where the whales are hiding...trolling around or putting at low speed is fine, just keep your eyes glued to the sonar!
 
I hate to contradict some of the more senior members of the site, but I think it is WAY too early to make any predictions on what run off will look like this year. Last year at this time the outlook was bleak and we all know how that turned out.

I do agree with Wayne that the first two weeks are when to target. And watch the weather and adjust as able. Post cold front is tough fishing.

As far as water clarity it is not just the “whales” you have to worry about. North of Bullfrog early in the year there can be entire trees floating in the main channel. Not to mention all the smaller debris that can also cause havoc with your prop.
 
I hate to contradict some of the more senior members of the site, but I think it is WAY too early to make any predictions on what run off will look like this year. Last year at this time the outlook was bleak and we all know how that turned out.

I do agree with Wayne that the first two weeks are when to target. And watch the weather and adjust as able. Post cold front is tough fishing.

As far as water clarity it is not just the “whales” you have to worry about. North of Bullfrog early in the year there can be entire trees floating in the main channel. Not to mention all the smaller debris that can also cause havoc with your prop.
I agree however we surely are not in a weather pattern like last year. I had 2' of snow on the ground in SW Colorado when I made my March trip to Halls Crossing last year and this year we have had nothing since end of January. Mountains are right at 90% so definitely feels a bit reduced from the records last year.
 
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A crystal ball would be awesome, but that’s not going to happen ;). All said, I wish I could plan my trips according to run off, weather patterns, and when fish are going to bite, but I have to go when it planned and as such, adapt my fishing techniques according to the conditions. I recently watched some professional tournament fishermen talk about catching fish when the conditions are tough and it came down to their go to baits. For me, I also have a couple go to baits that I use when fish don’t want to play, but they usually produce smaller fish. The big ones still elude me. I’ll be there the last week of April and I’ll be trying some new methods, so I guess we’ll see. Good luck everyone with spring fun!
 
I hate to contradict some of the more senior members of the site, but I think it is WAY too early to make any predictions on what run off will look like this year. Last year at this time the outlook was bleak and we all know how that turned out.

I do agree with Wayne that the first two weeks are when to target. And watch the weather and adjust as able. Post cold front is tough fishing.

As far as water clarity it is not just the “whales” you have to worry about. North of Bullfrog early in the year there can be entire trees floating in the main channel. Not to mention all the smaller debris that can also cause havoc with your prop.
Agree it is to early to predict, but never to early to speculate! ;)

Last year the increase between mid-February and April 1 in snow water content was nothing short of amazing. The likelihood of that happening again is pretty slim (but we can always hope). It does look like a warm but active pattern starts back up again this weekend, so the snowpacks should at least keep increasing....Looks like the inflows are going to increase much earlier than last year too, the 10 day forecast has a lot of warm days in it.....
 
Thank you everyone for your input and help. Trying to learn how this all works. Grateful for the help!

So just to confirm.... I want to get to Good Hope Bay before the mud line starts ~mid may? If runoff starts before I get there (due to unpredictable timing), I would want to just fish as I normally do slightly "downstream" where not so muddy and not go to GHB?

How long does it take for the water to clean up enough to go back to GHB? Few weeks?

Also, I don't have to go to GHB, I just had never been there and thought it would be fun. I mostly care about good fishing! Would it be better fishing if I waited a few weeks til mid/late May (warmer water) and just didn't plan to fish GHB due to mud issues and fished other places?

Thanks again!
 
IMH observation, when GHB becomes muddy is usually more like Mid-April to mid-May to start. Last year we fished in Red Canyon in mid to late April, and it was barely fishable. On our last day most everything above the bathroom at the bottom end of GHB was unfishably muddy. It stayed muddy all summer. The lake was so low that the mudline moved quickly downstream. But that was unusual. Often it starts getting muddy by mid-April, but never gets so dirty or clogged with logs or debris that it is not worth going to fish. The side bays also tend to stay more clear, so you have options.

So, I would just keep an eye here and decide where to fish as your trip gets closer....
 
Based upon what we experienced this last year - I think all bets are off for fishing this upcoming year. I am looking forward to it. I have never had a bad year at Powell. Just have to adjust tactics based upon conditions. I have to think there is going to be tons of fat fish to catch anytime of year this year from all the healthy bait fish that were out there last year.
 
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