Lake Powell Fishing 6-28-10

• Category: Fishing Reports

Fishing with family from Michigan via our Trax & Trails 6-26-10  Nice 2.5 lb. largemouth caught by son Allan.  Smallmouth remains active and good with stripers on top but down quickly.  Best bite with moon phases.  Fly fishing good early in a.m. small stripers but will increase in size as weeks go on.  Out today with my friend Bill today and fish were caught on the fly rod.  I recommend 1/2 day trips with “heat” as fish go down quickly as afteroon approaches.  Got questions?  Call me.  Capt. Bill

Lake Powell Fishing 6-23-2010

• Category: Fishing Reports

Fly fishing with customers from Lufkin, TX.  We did some fly fishing with clausers and some smallmouth and young stripers were caught.  Also conventional caught some Walleye.  Within 2 weeks we should be seeing some really great top water action for both conventional and fly fishing.  Weather is heating up so early morning starts or late afternoon start till dusk.  Capt. Bill

Here is the latest from our Chief Biologist “Wayne’s Words”

Lake Powell Fish Report

 
By: Wayne Gustaveson                         June 23, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3638                           Water Temperature 69-75 F
 
Slurps and Boils!
 
We will be talking about surface feeding by striped bass for the rest of the summer. Here are some terms that will make it easier for you to understand my reports. “Slurps” are defined as surface feeding by stripers of all sizes on very small larval shad. Tiny shad are poor swimmers. There is not much chance of them eluding stripers that line up with open mouths and skim the surface sucking in shad as they go. The scrimmage line moves along at high speed (3-5 mph). Slurpers go down when the boat gets in range but then resurface in random directions. If they come up near the boat stripers are easier to catch. If they surface well out of range the boat must be quickly repositioned to get in casting range again.
 
“Boils” happen when all size stripers trap fast swimming juvenile and adult shad at the surface and feed voraciously while shad are trapped within the circular stationary striper school. Boiling stripers consume large surface lures that can be cast for long distances.
 
Slurping stripers can be fussy eaters because their prey is so small. The feeding school can move in just about any direction as larval shad are commonly found in most open water areas. Fishing success in slurps requires precision casting. A lure tossed into the scrimmage line will spook the whole school or be ignored by fish looking straight ahead. But a lure cast well in front of the first fish and worked back into the scrimmage line will be seen and sometimes eaten. This morning slurpers would take full size surface lures and crankbaits until 8 AM. Then we used finesse streamer flies behind a casting bubble to deliver a small bait a very long way. This method proved just as effective for stripers as it is for trout.
 
Stripers are now slurping intermittently throughout the day. This morning slurps were seen from Wahweap Bay to Navajo Canyon to Padre Bay and beyond. My guess is that stripers are slurping from Wahweap to Bullfrog and perhaps as far uplake as Good Hope Bay. The upper lake beyond Good Hope is too muddy for slurps. Slurps will last through the rest of June with boils beginning in July. Stripers caught from slurps this morning weighed between 3 and 4 pounds.
 
Excellent fishing for big largemouth bass exists in the tree line that is now mostly under water. Use heavy line with weedless plastic baits worked right in the thickest brush for best results.
 
Smallmouth bass are found on rocky structure in the main canyons and main channel. Smaller bass are shallow while larger bass are at depths of 15-30 feet. Tube jigs, Carolina rigs and drop shot baits fished along the breaking edge of fast falling sloping rock are very effective.
 
Walleye continue to be caught in the largest numbers seen since the 1980s. Trolling along brushy treetops, crawling worm harnesses along the bottom and casting to muddy coves morning and evening are all effective techniques.
 
Fishing success continues to be awesome. The only drawback/benefit now is that the technique determines which species will be caught. It is possible to pick which fish to catch by choosing a location and a technique to match the target species.

Lake Powell 6-20-10

• Category: Fishing Reports

Great day with guests from Cheyenne, WY.  Smallmouth hitting great off rocky points still.  Stripers showing up gradually. Enjoy the photos.

Lake Powell 6-18-2010

• Category: Fishing Reports

Water Temp:  75

Lake Elevation:  3636.03

Surface activity beginning to appear with Stripers lakewide.  Smallmouth are being caught on rock piles off the points  You may get an occasional Walleye still.  I have been catching them each time I am out. 

Capt. Bill

Lake Powell Report by Wayne’s Words June 9, 2010

• Category: Fishing Reports

Nice Walleye caught 6-06-10 with Ambassador Guides

Lake Powell rose 4 feet since the last report one week ago. Daily inflow is currently near 74,000 acre feet per day. Water temperature went right through the upper 60s on its way to 80F.
The water temperature spike was exactly what striped bass were waiting for. They spawned last week from June 2-5 in Padre Bay. Spawning in most lake locations probably occurred at about the same time but local differences in wind, and water temperature may have allowed spawning to happen a week sooner or later at individual locations. Spawning by stripers ascending the Colorado River will occur next week as water warms and fish swim to Cataract Canyon to lay eggs. These eggs roll and tumble in violent current for two days. Hatching occurs as eggs reach the calm lake inflow. Here they survive on small plankton until large enough to eat fish.
 

There have been no reports of anglers finding a school of spawning stripers and catching trophy fish. It looks like the spawning discovery was more of an academic exercise. But is was fun and rewarding to track the school and determine spawning duration.

Another sampling event has much more interest to anglers. Larval shad tows indicate good numbers of young shad are being hatched in the backs of most canyons. It will be only a matter of days until these young shad are discovered by stripers just set free from “spawning prison”. Mature stripers have not eaten hardly anything for over a month while waiting to spawn. They are now free to go find food. Expect stripers to move toward the surface where larval shad reside.

Expect young stripers to be the first to start “slurping” planktonic larval shad. It will take the adult stripers another week or two to find small shad. Shad grow an inch a month. When shad get more girth to go with their 2 inch length, boils will being. Might as well tie on a surface lure now. You will need it for the next 5 months.

Smallmouth bass fishing is still excellent. Small bass are on most rock structure in the main channel and canyon. Use single tail grubs and senkos for steady action.

Largemouth bass are in the row of brush just recently covered by rising water. Use weightless senkos, double tail grubs and spinnerbaits to work the brush line.

Walleye are in murky cuts where bottom depth is 15-25 feet. Use live worms or plastic baits slowly crawled along the bottom to entice an attack from these ambush feeders.

Sunfish/Bluegill are building nests in shallow water and are susceptible to surface lures and popping bugs.  Unfortunately, rapidly rising water makes them hard to find.

Catfish spawning is just beginning. These bottom dwellers will be seen in shallow water for the next two weeks as they seek out nest sites and partners. Carp have begun to spawn as well. That splashing on the surface this week will likely be carp. Next week it might be stripers!
 

Lake Powell Fishing Report June 2, 2010

• Category: Fishing Reports

By: Wayne Gustaveson                         June 2, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3626                           Water Temperature 67-72 F
 
Warm weather is here. Lake level is rising rapidly. That means transition time and tougher fishing
 
Bass fishing has been super all spring. Rising lake levels cover bass habitat and disguise fish holding spots that have been so obvious at lower lake levels. Bass fishing is still good but it will be necessary to fish deeper and more intuitively when bass nests or actual fish can no longer be seen. Structure fishing is a must. Identify where fish would likely be holding by looking at the landscape. Pick out rock points, rockslides on steep cliff walls and submerged brush for a starting point. 
 
Try to identify a pattern. Bass tend to do the same thing at the same time in many lake locations.  Sometimes they will inhabit structure at the intersection of the main channel and a canyon mouth.  At other times they are in the very back of a cove. Fish both areas to determine present location. When one fish is caught try to duplicate that in a similar habitat location.   It may be that fish are more readily caught at the intersection than in back of the cove during the first week of June. Smallmouth and largemouth will differ in habitat choice and location.  Smallmouth are much easier to catch now, particularly the smaller fish. A single tail plastic grub cast to a submerged island in open water is sure to be eaten by a hungry little bass.
 
Walleye fishing is good in the early morning and afternoon.  Afternoon winds are common.  Find muddy coves and pockets where wind blows soil into the lake on a regular basis.  Crawl a plastic grub or night crawler on a worm harness slowly along the bottom in 15-25 feet of water to target light sensitive walleye.
 
Striped bass will likely spawn this week. In recent years the spawn has not been so important as many fish were not mature or too thin to develop eggs. This year virtually all of the 3-5 pound stripers are in spawning condition.  This intense focus on spawning means little feeding is occurring. Striper schools are more likely to move away from boat noise or high traffic areas. This uncharacteristic shyness makes them hard to find and catch.  Cut bait is the best technique now and will remain so until the spawning event concludes.
 
Stripers have been caught on bait at Glen Canyon Dam, Navajo Canyon (second point beyond double islands), Padre Bay (east wall), and Moki wall near Bullfrog.  Fishing is inconsistent at all of these locations. Fish will be there one day and gone the next. Try a spot and then return later for another try until fish are located.  
 
The best part is that there are so many opportunities to catch one species or another that most trips will be successful.  It is wise to be a generalist under these conditions and fish for any target of opportunity.   One strategy would be to try for walleye and stripers at dawn and dusk. Then switch to bass in morning and afternoon. Little smallmouth will be catchable all day long on small sized main channel rock slides which would be a good chance to teach children how to catch fish.
 
June 5^th is free fishing day at Lake Powell.