Lake Powell Fishing Report – Waynes Words 5-12-10

• Category: Fishing Reports

Photo Caption: Shane Spravzoff, Flagstaff, AZ, caught some nice walleye at Lake Powell.  May is the best time to find these tasty food fish.  Fish under mud lines in the main channel for best results.

Cold windy weather stalled much of the expected spawning activity this past week. Runoff slowed allowing the lake to rise only one foot in a week. Surface water temperature has been in the mid 50s most mornings. But that is now history and a new warming trend is developing.

The modest rise in lake elevation means that clear water still exists in the main and southern lake. Backs of canyons and coves still offer the opportunity to sight fish for spawning bass and crappie. At the inflow areas the mudline extends from Hite to Good Hope Bay. In the San Juan and Escalante cloudy muddy water is only a moderate threat in the last few miles nearest running water.
 

New warming will increase water temperature back into the 60s and make it unlikely that a return to the 50s will happen. That will allow bass and crappie to move back on nests for one final spawning event. Nests will be found at depths of 5 to 8 feet making them visible in many locations. Lures and techniques that have been working for the past month will still be very effective. Smallmouth bass like plastic grubs and tubes fished on rocky points. Largemouth and crappie will be in the tree line and susceptible to slow sinking, weedless rigged plastic double tail grubs and senkos. Spinner baits work well for both species. Bass like the big flashy blades while crappie are suckers for little spinners like Roadrunners. The old standard chartreuse marabou crappie jig is still a winner. Enjoy bass and crappie fishing for one more week before the runoff heats up and the nests get lost in rising water.

Walleye fishing is nearing its peak. Don’t expect to catch daily limits of the tasty food fish but a few can now be caught while fishing for bass. It is possible to troll crank baits or drag worm harnesses along the bottom for walleye. Use afternoon wind induced mudlines as one key to find productive spots. Main channel points, plunging into deep water, are a good place to start.

Striped bass are forming large schools in almost every canyon as they prepare to spawn. The spawning trigger is a rapid rise in lake temperature. Unfortunately, the prespawn period is about the only time that stripers are off feed and difficult to catch. Big schools have been seen cruising the shallows but attempts to catch them have been ignored. There are isolated events like windy feeding opportunities or fleeing shad schools that will ignite the large schools into a feeding frenzy. Be aware of the possibility that a striper school could show up at any moment. React to that event when it occurs because it will be a memorable experience.

Threadfin shad will spawn this week as morning water temperature reaches 65-70. They spawn at dawn so get up early to throw shad imitating rattletraps or crankbaits in the back of canyons and coves. All game fish enjoy the shad spawn as a line of tasty forage fish swims along the surface readily visible to anglers and game fish alike. Find spawning shad and catch bass and stripers. It is that easy.

Lake Powell Fishing Report 05-05-10

• Category: Fishing Reports

Lake Powell Fish Report

 
By: Wayne Gustaveson                         May 5, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3620                           Water Temperature 56-66 F
 
Fishing in May is always a unique experience.  Expectations for targeting a certain fish species often go unfilled only to be replaced by an even better success. The lake begins to fill in a respectable manner and then the river gushes forth with reckless abandon. It seems bass and crappie go deeper but, in actuality, they stay where the original nest was placed. The rising lake level covers the nest with more water. The net result is that successful fishing requires angling in deeper water and using different cues to find a successful pattern.
 
Every year in early May striped bass get lost. Contributing factors are warming that triggers spawning, but then cooling messes that up leaving fish confused. Stripers aren’t sure if they should go to the channel to spawn or to the back of the canyon to feed. So they do both.  Finding striped bass now requires moving from deep to shallow water constantly watching the graph. When a school is found the rewards are great.
 
Additionally, spawning mode makes stripers become more active at night and dormant during the day. May will be the only month when bait fishing may be good. Reports last week of good catches of stripers on Moki wall near Bullfrog indicate a stop in the main channel at the normal locations (Dam, Power plant intake, Navajo Canyon, Padre Bay, Rock Creek, Moki wall, etc.) should be a part of the fishing plan. Do not spend the whole trip waiting for a school to bite.  Actively seek them out by using a graph to mark schools and then fish where schools are seen.  Troll and cast in shallow water. Fish bait in deep water.
 
Bass fishing will remain excellent for another week.  Cold weather moved bass off nests. Current warming will put them right back on. Fishing in the brush for largemouth bass and crappie will remain good. Weightless senkos, spinnerbaits and other weedless offerings work well in brush. Smallmouth bass will be on outside rock structure where plastic baits with exposed hooks will work fine. Top water baits are working early and late on bass.
 
Shad have begun to spawn. Gizzard shad have been spawning for the past two weeks.  With new warming threadfin will spawn soon. They spawn at dawn and attract all game fish in the immediate vicinity.  Look for shad spawning on the surface around driftwood and plants in the back of canyons and coves. Fish around active spawning schools by casting shad colored crankbaits and rattletraps to catch a wide variety of game fish.
 
This is the time of year when all fish are vulnerable. Line up on a rocky shoreline with a favorite crankbait or plastic offering and catch largemouth, smallmouth, crappie, walleye, sunfish and catfish. 
 
Fishing remains as good as it has ever been on the big lake.  Fish on a fair weather day to make some remarkable family fishing memories.

• Category: Gallery

Photo Caption: Ryan Mosley, Dutch John UT, makes an annual trip to Lake Powell each spring to catch spawning crappie and bass. The exciting spawning action will last for two more weeks. 

Lake Powell Fish Report

 
By: Wayne Gustaveson                         May 5, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3620                           Water Temperature 56-66 F
 
Fishing in May is always a unique experience.  Expectations for targeting a certain fish species often go unfilled only to be replaced by an even better success. The lake begins to fill in a respectable manner and then the river gushes forth with reckless abandon. It seems bass and crappie go deeper but, in actuality, they stay where the original nest was placed. The rising lake level covers the nest with more water. The net result is that successful fishing requires angling in deeper water and using different cues to find a successful pattern.
 
Every year in early May striped bass get lost. Contributing factors are warming that triggers spawning, but then cooling messes that up leaving fish confused. Stripers aren’t sure if they should go to the channel to spawn or to the back of the canyon to feed. So they do both.  Finding striped bass now requires moving from deep to shallow water constantly watching the graph. When a school is found the rewards are great.
 
Additionally, spawning mode makes stripers become more active at night and dormant during the day. May will be the only month when bait fishing may be good. Reports last week of good catches of stripers on Moki wall near Bullfrog indicate a stop in the main channel at the normal locations (Dam, Power plant intake, Navajo Canyon, Padre Bay, Rock Creek, Moki wall, etc.) should be a part of the fishing plan. Do not spend the whole trip waiting for a school to bite.  Actively seek them out by using a graph to mark schools and then fish where schools are seen.  Troll and cast in shallow water. Fish bait in deep water.
 
Bass fishing will remain excellent for another week.  Cold weather moved bass off nests. Current warming will put them right back on. Fishing in the brush for largemouth bass and crappie will remain good. Weightless senkos, spinnerbaits and other weedless offerings work well in brush. Smallmouth bass will be on outside rock structure where plastic baits with exposed hooks will work fine. Top water baits are working early and late on bass.
 
Shad have begun to spawn. Gizzard shad have been spawning for the past two weeks.  With new warming threadfin will spawn soon. They spawn at dawn and attract all game fish in the immediate vicinity.  Look for shad spawning on the surface around driftwood and plants in the back of canyons and coves. Fish around active spawning schools by casting shad colored crankbaits and rattletraps to catch a wide variety of game fish.
 
This is the time of year when all fish are vulnerable. Line up on a rocky shoreline with a favorite crankbait or plastic offering and catch largemouth, smallmouth, crappie, walleye, sunfish and catfish. 
 
Fishing remains as good as it has ever been on the big lake.  Fish on a fair weather day to make some remarkable family fishing memories.