|
ANGLERS CORNER |
|
Have you made a recent fishing
trip to Lake Powell?
If you have, please let us know how you did. Send your fishing report to
Wayne Gustaveson (wayne@wayneswords.com)
via E-mail. Please include who you are and where you're from, dates fished,
location, tackle used, species and number of fish caught and any other
information you would like to pass on to other anglers. |
|
|
|
If you have a general question try
posting on WAYNESWORDS
FORUMS.
 |
July 1, 2008 - Kip Bennett - Navajo Canyon -
WTemp 78 F |
 |
We had a good day in Navajo Canyon. There was already a guide taking the
second point past the first Island so we skipped that and fought the drift
wood on up past the big beach and headed towards the back. I headed to a
spot that produced for me last year. My family came down from Wyoming and
had never had the chance to experience Lake Powell Striper fishing.
|
 |
We had 6 people in the boat and mainly used Jig heads with
anchovies and Carolina rigged anchovies. We caught 52 stripers by noon and
ran out of anchovies. One key that I believe helped us out is I have always
taken some chartreuse Yamamoto skirts and put them on the hook first
followed by the anchovies. This proved to get strikes even after loosing an
anchovy off your hook. I also credit the skirts for catching 9 small mouth
on this set up.
|
 |
The water temp was about 78 and we fished a point that was
out about 30-50 ft deep. At first the bite started deep at 35 ft and then
came up a little and hung around 25-30ft.
In the Pictures are my brother-in-law Brad Carlson and two sons
Gabe and
Evan of Casper Wyoming and
Kip Bennett.
|
June 30, 2008 - Mike McNabb - Buoy 3 |
Mitch Blankard, 8 years old,
Bothell, Washington caught this 4.8 pound striper near buoy number 3, on
6-25-08 in the morning on anchovies. The average we were catching was 1 to 3
pounders but then this one swam by.
|
June 29, 2008 - Paul Padrnos, Prescott AZ -
Friendship Cove - WTemp 73-75 |
 |
We spent a week at Powell week of June 18th on a houseboat.
We stayed in Friendship Cove. Weather was great not too hot and no major
wind problems. I was there with my family, my 2 sons Johnny and Mike both
from Prescott and my daughter Cindy from Canada my other daughter Sam didn't
make it this year and their familes. We go every year at this time, a little
early for the good striper bite but usually do pretty good and get everyone
catching fish.
Paul Padrnos |
 |
This year was a little tougher I think the rising water and
cooler water temp. was hurting us. Saw a lot of stripers on the surface all
small fish working the points at Friendship Cove just before the floating
restroom and around the small islands heading towards Dangling Rope across
from friendship Cove. We also
saw a lot of fish in Rock Creek working but small also.
Cindy - Canada |
 |
Caught a few fish out of the boils, had to use small cast
masters in the 1/4 oz. size to get them to bite. Had most of our luck
metering fish and using anchovies to get them going. Once you caught a few
we would jig with the Cabelas Mirage Jigs. Caught a lot of small mouth off
the rocky points across from Friendship Cove using shad color rattle traps
and crank baits.
Ciara |
 |
With the high water the shore lines can be deceiving with a
lot of brush under water now. Water temp. was in low 70's. |
 |
We really had the most luck off back of houseboat using anchovies, catching
catfish ,stripers and small and large mouth bass.
Paul with Channel Catfish |
June 25, 2008 - Dr. Cole Snyder, Tooele UT -
Bullfrog Bay |
I was fishing all of the way up Bull Frog Bay from June
17th - 21st. When I was actually fishing at the right times of the day it
was on fire. We were anchored on a little island all of the way back against
the tamarisk fields in the far northwest portion of the bay. I was receiving
success with a black and white spoon mouth floating lure. All of the fish
really liked the jigging action. I was catching 8-12 inch small mouth bass
in the mesquite field and on the east side of the island that was much
deeper and full of pebble sand. I was catching stripers and walleye using
the same lure. These stripers and walleye were between 14-20 inches. My
nephew caught two channel cats that were 12 and 14 inches. He was using
cheese and left over ham from breakfast...it's amazing at what catfish eat.
Funniest part about the whole trip...two of my biggest fish were caught off
of the back of the house boat. I never left the house boat or the 1/2 acre
island while fishing nor fished more than 30 minutes per day and I was more
than satisfied with the amount of fish I ate for breakfast and brought home
to smoke.
The walleye, cat and most of the stripers were caught in 10-25 foot of water
at a depth of 6-12 feet. The small mouth were in 6-10 foot water. I did
notice 3 smaller boils of stripers on Friday the 20th. That was the first
time I had ever fished into a boil...what a ride. Nothing like trying to get
a fish off the hook fast enough, not lose the fish and then cast toward the
boil while it's still in reach of the island. What fun that was. I can't
wait for my next trip down there. I think I had more fun fishing there than
I have ever had on the wave runners or water skis.
I also tried a little fly fishing while I was there. I didn't have any
success. I'm guessing that the water just wasn't clear enough yet since it
was still rising 6-8 inches per day.
All in all I think I caught 4 walleye, 9 small mouth and 8 stripers. Like I
said before, I didn't spend much time fishing since I only needed them for
breakfast and just a few to smoke since we were so short on space and
available ice.
Thanks for all of your hard work on your website. I learned a lot about
fishing at Lake Powell before I left for vacation due to this site. |
June 23, 2008 - Mason Williams - Escalante River
Arm |
 |
My family and I just returned from a very successful week of fishing
at Lake Powell. |
 |
We fished the mouth of the Escalante River Arm at
dawn and dusk every day and found that the bite for both small mouth and
striper peaked at those times. |
 |
Keep one eye on the shore and the other on the open water
looking for boils like this giant one. |
 |
Trolling the rocky shores with a Rapalla Rat 'L' Trap
produced steady striper action. |
June 22, 2008 - Leo Heugle - Bullfrog
|
Weather was great all week which surprised me. Fishing
early in the morning did not help--smb fishing was poor compared with
previous years--striper fishing was fair at times--only one area provided
fish--Lake Canyon right at the mouth on the north side--we tried
Moki area but did not catch a striper so returned to Lake Canyon--learned
the secret of catching stripers this year which I have not been
told by anyone that I read--brightly colored jig heads instead of the plain
type--luckily I had a few of them and used them my last day which was
Friday--I still only caught ten stripers that three or four hours but that
was the best fishing of the week and I was glad to get those--cat fish drove
me nuts for I caught that many of those critters. Leo from Price. |
June 11, 2008 - Marty and Ivy Peterson -
Lake Canyon |
 Fished
Monday evening June 9th and Tuesday morning the 10th. Fished the corner of
Lake Canyon and the Main channel. Joined other anglers already there having
great success for small Stripers up to 24". They explained to us that the
fish were very particular to line and presentation. They managed a fish
nearly every cast. We boated four Stripers then each had Catfish take our
baits at the same time. Then not another hit. Thinking back, perhaps the
"slime" that the Catfish left on our lines, which I did not think to clean
off, defeated the purpose of flurocarbon. And spelled doom to catching more
fish out of that school, that night.Ivy
Peterson
Because Tuesday morning we arrived around 9:00 and again joined catching in
progress again. I retied on a jig head tossed us "because this is what is
working this morning". And Ivy promptly started catching Stripers. My pole
was kind of just empty. But she kept me busy putting her fish in her cooler
and grabbing another anchovy bait for her out of my cooler. The wind
prompted us to leave around noon. She had 36 Stripers, the largest 2.8
pounds. The fish were mostly being caught between 10 and 20 feet deep. After
I learned that I started to catch a few. On a circle hook. Not too deep.
Picture is of Ivy at the Bullfrog cleaning station with her cooler worth of
fish ready to fillet.
|
June 11, 2008 - Ed Gerdemann |
Dale Marenda and I happened upon the perfect striper
presentation this past Sunday! After sitting for several hours off our
favorite striper point in Navajo Canyon getting a bite here and there, we
stumbled on something so wonderful that I had to share it here. It was
around 11 a.m. and, having eaten breakfast at around 3:30 a.m., we were
getting pretty hungry. We both set our rods down on the deck and got a
sandwich and a bottle of water out of my boat's cooler. Just as we took our
first bites from our sandwiches, our rods both bent over. We grabbed them
and wrestled in two very lively stripers. Laughing about our "luck" and
joking that we had found the perfect technique, we rebaited, dropped our
lines over the side and laid down our rods once more. No sooner than we did,
both rods bent over again, and two more stripers found their way into the
fish cooler. Dale proceeded to do it two more times, each time is rod tip
started dipping as soon as he laid it down and put his foot over the handle.
Unfortunately the pattern dried up after Dale's fourth striper, but it was
really fun while it lasted!
Of course fun is what we always have at Lake Powell. This trip was both a
work and fun affair as Dale graciously agreed to help me repair a soft spot
in the kitchen floor of my Greenehaven mobile. We arrive Thursday the 5th
and proceeded to tear up the floor, take some measurements and lay out a
carefully drawn blueprint on a paper napkin. The next morning we drove in to
Page Lumber, bought the supplies we needed and proceeded to make the
repairs. We then spent Friday afternoon getting our gear ready for some
serious fishing Saturday morning.
Saturday's plan was to chase bass - preferably smallmouths, but we wouldn't
refuse a green bass if it found one of our lures to its liking. We motored
up to the area between Dominguez and Padre Butte which I thought might be
good with the rising water. To say the bass fishing Saturday was tough is an
understatement. We simply could not put together a consistent pattern.
Although we caught over 30 fish, only about a half dozen were decent size.
We tried our favorite drop shot techniques, and I tried the shaky head worm
pattern that was so successful for me last trip. I even threw a spinnerbait
some into the flooded tamarisk and around the mudlines. After reading
Mondo's post about catching both smallmouths and largemouths on
spinnerbaits, I wish I had done this a bit more. Nevertheless we did catch
some fish. If we'd have been fishing about anywhere but Lake Powell, we
would have thought we'd had an exceptional day. Our best pattern, as Wayne
pointed out in his report last week, was fishing the small rockslides along
the steep slick rock walls in Padre Bay. The bass generally ranged anywhere
from 14 to 18 feet deep except for one largemouth I caught under a mudline
at around 10 feet. We tried a number of different soft plastics on our drop
shot setups, but probably the best lure was the old reliable three-inch Slim
Senko in 194J (Classic Watermelon with Black). I believe that our problems
were related to the fast rising lake which may have disoriented the bass and
caused them to scatter. Whatever the reason, we simply could not find that
sweet location/presentation that is normally easy for us on this lake.
On our way back to Greenehaven Saturday afternoon we stopped and bought some
anchovies. Convinced that bass fishing was not where it was happening, we
decided to devote our efforts Sunday to stripers. We first motored from the
Antelope Point ramp to the Buoy 3 area in the main channel which has
produced a lot of stripers lately. It was too windy there to hold the boat,
so we went to the power plant intake where the water was much calmer. Dale
quickly nailed a striper, however we went for the next 30 minutes without
another bite. Convinced it wasn't happening at the intake, we then ran up to
the double island area in Navajo Canyon. We graphed the first point above
the islands and didn't see anything. We then noticed a boat off the second
point and motored there to check it out. The couple in that boat had just
taken a couple of fish and invited us to join. Over the next several hours
the action was not fast, except for when the "lay down the rod" pattern was
working, but it was fairly steady. Dale managed to take over two fish to my
one which he attributes to the red bead he had between his sinker and
swivel. Actually, I think it was the way he held his nose; but we'll never
know for sure! At any rate, over a six-hour span we managed to put over 30
stripers in the cooler - again not a great day by Lake Powell standards but
pretty darn good just about anywhere else.
Hopefully when the lake begins to stabilize the bass fishing will improve.
But if I have to resort to striper fishing with anchovies on my next trip, I
will make sure to lay my rod down after dropping the bait over the side.
I'll also try different "nose-holding" patterns and maybe a red bead. Having
that "perfect" presentation is so important! |
June 10, 2008 - Bill Davenport San Juan -
WTemp 67-72 |
We got back tonight from four days in the San Juan Arm. Our group was three
boats from the valley. We camped in Piute Bay near Neskahi and fished from
Deep Canyon to the start of the Great Bend. We mostly fished for SM & LM but
also caught A few Walleye (up to 3 lbs.), Sunfish, Crappie (up to 1 lb.), a
9 lb. Channel Cat, one Flannelmouth Sucker (about 2 lbs.) and hundreds of
Stripers.
We caught a lot of SM on 5 inch Yamamoto single tail grubs (color did not
matter much) on steep rocky shorelines. The LM and Walleye were caught on
crankbaits (along steep shorelines also). There were small Striper boils all
over Piute Bay all day long. There seemed to be only 20 to 30 fish in each
boil and they were caught quite easily on swim baits, Rattle Traps, and
crankbaits but you could only get 1-2 fish per boil. We did not see boils
anywhere else on the lake when we were traveling. We found a large school of
Stripers along the wall across from Deep Canyon and caught more than 100 in
a couple hours yesterday using anchovies. The fish were only 10-20 ft. below
the surface in 70 feet of water.
The stained water line was in the middle of
Piute Bay. We tried to go to Zahn Bay on Saturday but there was a
lot of wood and a huge log jam near the end of the Great Bend. Overall, it
was a pretty good trip. I appreciate all of the info on your web site. I
hope this will be of help to you.
|
June 8, 2008 - Mike McNabb - Navajo
Canyon |
 |
I took some friends from the UK into Navajo in the afternoon to look for
stripers. I haven't been out in the afternoon - evening yet this year and
wasn't sure if we would catch any but the fish were there and hungry.
Matt Simons |
 |
We caught 26 healthy stripers, 1 to 3 1/2 pounds and 2 LM
and 5 SM. Good afternoon! We all had a great time!
|
June 5, 2008 - Bryan Beckstead - Wahweap Bay |
 |
we have fished 3 times this year on Powell, It seems like
each time we learn something different.
Saturday 3 of us went to see if we could catch some stripers... We went in
Wahweap Bay... only 1 other boat even came clost to us that was fishing.
Bryan Beckstead |
 |
We caught 100 fish total... We caught 1 LMB, had on a couple
of SMB , we landed 4 catfish and the rest were stripers...
We had a great time.
Dennis and Bryan Beckstead |
 |
We are the Beckstead Family
My DAD Dennis was at the controls all day
My Brother Wayne was at the helm
Me Bryan sat in between and reeled them in ... hope you enjoy the pics.
Wayne Beckstead |
June 5, 2008 - Perry Berry and Jim Walker |
May 29, 2008 - Mike McNabb - Warm Creek |
 |
Sunday May 25th, 2008
We went into Warm Creek early morning and hooked up with a few nice ones.
Larry's striper was 3.11 pounds. |
 |
Gorden, from New Zealand, caught his
first large mouth and striper.
The morning was slow but caught some nice ones. About 8
stripers and 8 or 9 LM and SM. A good day considering the lake is coming up
so fast.
|
 |
Larry's
LM weighted 2.8 pounds an |
 |
I lucked out with the 4.3 # LM. All caught in the back of
coves in about 3-10 feet of water on dark colored jigs.
Mike McNabb |
May 29, 2008 - David Dunder |
This is a 17" Big Mouth Bass
estimated at about 3-4 lbs
It was caught off of mile marker 80 on Rock Wall
Green Grub with white tail and red tip
Caught by David Dunder
Grand Junction, CO |
May 29, 2008 - Steve Doepke -
Cookie Jar - Stripers |
 |
We concentrated our fishing at the Cookie Jar area based on
the success of the South Shad Rally. We found the fish and at times had some
very fast action. The harder the wind blew, the better the bite in that
location. At one point I think you could have thrown your shoe down there
and got bit.
Dad Doepke |
 |
On Memorial Day were we ran into Wayne at the Cookie Jar. He
gave us some tips and made us promise that we wouldn’t leave until we caught
fifty fish. In total from that spot we caught close to 200 fish over the
duration of our stay. The best bite was on Memorial Day at 5:00pm, 15 feet
deep and the wind was blowing hard directly into the bank that held the
school.
We had a great time and caught many species of fish…what a lake!!!
The Doepke boy’s will be back over the July 4th Holiday.
Steve's son and father |
May 29, 2008 - Brian W - Mesa AZ
Navajo Canyon WTemp 64 |
May 28, 2008 - Steve Harris - "Off the Hook" |
May 26, 2008 - Scot S - Slick Rock - Iceberg |
NEW: Fish Report May 16-23
Just a quick report from our houseboating trip down to Iceberg canyon. Noted
numerous boats fishing the South point coming out of Halls Bay and pulling
out yearling Stripers.
We fished heavily in the areas just outside of Slickrock then moved to
Iceberg Canyon. Fished exclusively for Smallies and an occasional nice
Walleye. Found the best color jig to be a green with black flakes and a 1/4
oz. head. We tried a heavier jig weight like Wayne suggested but the fish
seemed to prefer a softer presentation. Often found a shelf or shady spot
and would pull out fish with almost every cast (at least for a short while).
The surprise was how large the Walleye are getting!! Must of had at least
two 5 pounders fall off on the way to the boat (never saw the heavier one).
My BIL often caught his smallmouth just by letting his jig sit on the bottom
for a few seconds. Dropping the jig off of any shelf proved the most
successful. Caught one really nice Smallie with a large white decayed tube
jig still in his mouth (caught him on the same color).
Thanks to all of you for encouraging me to stick with the jigs...I tried
numerous other lures but none produced half as well as the jig. My BIL
depleted my tackle box of our favorite color skirt so a trip to BPS is in
need.
|
May 26, 2008 Rich, Michelle, and Laura Gonzalez |
 |
Well we just returned home from another great spring
vacation at Lake Powell. Yielding a total of 505 fish caught and a new
Gonzalez record!
The first few days were blustery, cold days. After three days of searching
for surface fish and always watching my meter, I noticed a large school of
fish tightly bunched together in and around 40 foot of water. They were
lying in a trough directly across from state line launch ramp in Wahweap
Bay. I assumed they were carp or something other than stripers because I
dropped spoons and other deep water baits and still nothing.
|
 |
That afternoon I was proudly flying my U.S. and U.S Marine
flags. My son is in boot camp and on his way to becoming a U.S. Marine. A
Marine approached and asked if I could help him out with fishing. He and his
wife were struggling and couldn't seem to locate the fish, so I gave a few
suggestions. That night it rained and they got wet as they were in a tent
and decided to leave. In the morning I found an ice box with five bags of
chovies and a thank you note signed "from a U.S. Marine". We put it in the
boat and went to the school I had seen in the previous days, needless to say
they turned to gold {44 stripers that day in only 2 hours!}.
|
 |
The next few days warmed up nicely and the wind diminished.
We tried the Gonzalez tradition of jerk baits each morning very early, no
luck; caught just a few on jerk baits here and there. However, spotted big
schools in deep water off points in Padre Bay and mid morning continued to
yield a nice chovie catch. Laura (our daughter, 15) ended the trip with
catching upwards of 200 fish herself. I believe this trip she out fished her
dad! She proudly reminds him of that often. The fishing was unbelievable and
consistent. "like fishing in a barrel"
Had a great time fishing with the team of folks visiting for the Shad
Rally. But nothing could compare to fishing with Wayne and his wife and son.
It was a great honor to help with providing Wayne fish for the samples he
needed.
We are looking forward to our fall trip coming up shortly!
|
May 21, 2008 - Kurt Douglas -Lake Canyon
|
| I was able to bring my BIL from Longmont down for a few
days for his first visit to Lake Powell. We camped at Stanton Creek and hit
the water about 1 pm and headed for Lake Canyon. We spent the next few hours
reeling them in on anchovies. We decided to try for some bass and tried the
back of Lake only catching a single smb and lmb for the rest of the evening.
Tuesday morning we tried the entrance to Halls Creek with no luck. We
headed back down to Lake and struck out again. We headed back to camp to
prepare for the trip home. Before departing we tried Moki and had about 20
stripers in just over an hour of fishing. We did catch a few larger fish but
most were smaller and healthy. Jeff really enjoyed the trip down. We managed
to beat the wind storm off the lake. |
May 21, 2008 - Dana Andrus - Page AZ Fishing
in Chesapeake Bay |
 |
We (my daughter Tracine, her boy friend Juan and wife
Colleen) caught a few stripers May 9th. They were 37”, 36”, and 29”. I
didn’t have a scale, so not sure about the weight, but we fed 20 people with
the 37 incher and had lots left over. They were all “fat and sassy” We
caught them in the north central part of CP. bay
Tracine Andrus
|
 |
Cp Bay is the Chesapeake Bay, just out of Annapolis, Md.
They call them “rock fish” there. Minimum length is 29” and the limit is
one.
Dana Andrus
|
May 14, 2008 - Ken Trujillo - Bullfrog - WTemp
61-64 |
| Dates Fished: May 10 – 13
Two of us caught stripers, smallies, walleye, and catfish, but no crappies
this year. Smallies were in fairly deep water (15-30 feet) on points and
along canyon walls near rockslides. Typically we cast a grub tail
(watermelon or pumpkin seed), crankbait, or jerkbait a foot or two from
shore and retrieve toward the boat. After we caught a few in a row right
next to the boat, we realized that we were fishing too close to shore and
canyon walls and positioned the boat farther away. In fact, we were far
enough away that we were unable to cast all the way to shore. Once we did
this, fishing was much better but still spotty. We didn’t find smallies in
the normal places like flats in Halls Bay. Fishing was better after 10 am
than in the early morning. If I had only one bait to use for smallies, it
would be a green or dark brown grub tail on a 3/16 ounce jig. Lizards and
finesse worms also worked well. When the wind picked up, crankbaits were the
way to go. Crawdad (red/brown) and ghost shad (brown) colors worked best. We
caught 20-30 smallies per day, but some were very small at 10 inches or
less.
The stripers were active, but again not until about 9:00 or 10:00 AM. We
caught them about 50 yards before the entrance to Moki canyon and within 100
yards of the entrance. Small anchovie chunks on a hook with a small split
shot about 1.5 feet above the hook worked best. We fished deep water, but
only about 20-30 feet down. We had very little luck fishing with bait on a
jig head, a jigging spoon, or trolling. We only counted stripers on one day.
The count was 55 stripers for about 3 hours of fishing. Most of those fish
were caught in about an hour long feeding frenzy. Catch rates were similar
on other days.
|
May 14, 2008 - Roger Kaufman |
 |
Nine of us went to Wahweap 2-9 May. Fishing was excellent!
We caught over a 150 Stripers on Anchovies (1/3) drifting, no weight, up to
40' deep, caught some on Rapalas and bottom bouncers. Lot's of Smallies on
almost any plastics and crank baits, as you can see those Smallies are
"ferocious" and try to take a Lure as big as they are! Crappie (6) on
Rattle-trap, Rapalas, and Mister Twisters. Walleye (5) on Rapala or Bottom
Bouncer with worm harness. Catfish as well. Couldn't find the Largemouth. We
hiked, went sight seeing, and tried swimming in 60 degree water...wow! Water
Temps were from 60 to 70 depending how far up the Canyon you went. The
stream coming into Navajo was warm and lots of fish there as well. We hiked
up Canyon to the Ruins.
|
 |
Rented a Houseboat from Aramark and got the early bird
special with a free 19' Power boat. Wasn't cheap by any means, Gas at the
Marina $4.48, Ice $4.00, etc. All in all it was still Great fun!
ARAMARK Staff at Wahweap, Russ and his Gang were very Professional and
extremely helpful. The only
draw back is that you have to Pre-pay 60 days in advance of your trip, a
Damage deposit of $600.00 per Houseboat and $400.00 per Power boat. Sounds
more like a Reservation Deposit to me! Full pre-payment 60 days prior on all
Houseboats and if cancelled within 30 days of trip ZERO REFUNDS.
It is a serious commitment financially.
We still had a great time and plan on doing it again next year!
|
May 15, 2008 - Brian Walters - Mesa, AZ |
Fished last weekend.. Smallmouth bite hit or miss, but there is always
stripers to catch! We caught about 150 every evening from about 5-7 pm on
anchovies.
|
May 17, 2008 - Wayne Gustaveson - Shad Rally Fish Report |
 |
Bob Howard and grandsons
struggled at their favorite spot in Friendship Cove on Thursday due to windy
weather. The trip to Padre Bay on Saturday made up for it. They caught
up quickly with fast fishing. They were the last boat to leave the
spot with more than 80 fish in the cooler. 2 hours of filleting made
them late for the weigh in. I suspect they had the winning weight at 3.7
pounds. The prize was awarded to a 3.6 pound fish.
But there is no prize better than a successful day fishing with the
grandsons - right Bob? |
 |
Hotwheels was on a roll. That
man is incredible! He caught fish on bait and lures. I will bet his arms
were dead tired after hoisting in numerous fish. He has the swing perfected.
The net is only used on select occasions when the fish is big enough to
deserve special treatment. |
 |
Tim Kelley, Guido and Susie were right there with the rest
on both days. |
 |
The triple posted here is indicative of the success of the
day and the Shad Rally in general. It was a special event with a deluxe
setting and some very special people.
Thanks to all. And to the fish who cooperated in grand fashion.
|
May 17, 2008 - Marty Peterson - Lake Canyon
|
 |
Fished mouth of Lake Canyon Wednesday evening May 15th. Wanted to night fish
there but too windy. Caught a few Stripers.
Tried to fish there Thursday in the wind. Caught only a couple even though
we fished for hours. Water temp dropped 6 degrees down to 58 Thursday.
Picture of fishing with a jig pole and circle hook pole at the mouth of
Lake.
Picture of how we can wait for the fishing to start in
a cot placed across the bow of the boat.
|
 |
Arrived Friday morning around 8. Conditions calm and beautiful. Fishing was
great for mostly smaller stripers, the heaviest being 3 lbs. 3 oz. and 23
inches long. Boated 61 fish by 11 am when we had to leave to get to work.
The most effective set up for us was a circle hook on fluoro line. With
small pieces of anchovy.
|
May 14, 2008 - Ed Gerdemann |
 |
Having been in the grips of cabin fever all winter, finally
getting that first fishing trip of the year last week was a welcome tonic.
It wasn't just about the fish caught. It was about getting out of the
insanity of Phoenix and the pressure of work for a few days and doing
something that I find totally relaxing. My guest once again was longtime
angling partner John Conrad of Prescott. I first met John 30 years ago when
we both lived in Flagstaff, and over the years we have shared some
incredible fishing experiences.
Last week's trip was no exception, although the fishing we experienced is
almost common place on Powell these days. In our two days on the water we
took five of the seven major sports species in the lake while enjoying
absolutely wonderful weather as well as great fellowship - not to mention a
couple great fish dinners. I also used a new technique with good success
that should help me catch even more fish this year.
On this trip we decided to forego striper angling and concentrate on bass.
We were primarily targeting smallmouths, however it was also my intention to
try and find a few largemouths as well - and hopefully even some walleyes.
To accomplish this we decided to fish the Gunsight area, which is where I
had found good success last fall. Things looked great from the very
beginning when on my first cast a decent smallmouth sucked in my Yamamoto
shad shaped worm. Two years ago, an incredible fishing year for me, I also
took a nice smallie on my first cast; so this was a good omen. I missed a
bass on my next cast and then didn't get a strike for nearly an hour. |
Ed Gerdemann |
We finally hit the jackpot when we moved into a large cove
about halfway up Gunsight on the right side. This cove has two shallow
shelves on each side and a deep V cut down the middle. John scored
immediately on a nice walleye which snatched a small crappie tube he was
fishing on his ultralight. The fish was working towards the end of the V cut
in about 17 feet of water. John soon put two more walleyes in the boat out
of the same spot.
Seeing that my dropshot rigged shad shaped worm wasn't producing at the
time, I switched over to a five-inch Yamamoto Kut Tail worm fished on a
shaky head jig. For those not familiar with shaky head fishing, the best way
to describe it is Texas rigging but using a jig head instead of an offset
worm hook and bullet sinker. A number of companies sell special shaky head
jigs for this technique. As the name implies, the way to fish this setup is
to drag it and shake it along the bottom. The method certainly worked for my
Friday as I almost immediately took a nice smallmouth. I followed it up with
several more decent smallmouths as well as a largemouth and a walleye of my
own. The fish seemed to range from eight down to 18 feet. There did not
appear to be one depth better than the other except for the walleyes all of
which came from the same small area at the end of the V cut. John took two
more walleyes on his crappie tube as well as a couple bass before the action
died down. |
 |
We then moved to a long point on the north side of the cove.
I took a couple more smallmouth on the shaky head, but John then nailed the
best fish of the trip, a 20-inch smallmouth that weighed 3 lbs. 5 oz. - once
again on the little chartreuse tube. That fish cleared water three times
during the fight. I put my rod down to watch and man the net. The fish may
have been a spawned out female as it did not seem as heavy for its length as
it should have been. Nevertheless, it was still a fine fish. After a few
quick photos John released that fish and we continued up the point catching
several more smallmouths including a couple in the 2-pound plus class. It
was out towards the end of the point that John caught the only striper of
the trip - a healthy 2-pounder. At this point it did not seem the shaky head
was nearly as effective as it was earlier. As we worked along the edge of a
large flat I switched back to the drop shot and the shad shaped worm. I took
several more smallmouths and a couple largemouths all along this area. The
fish again ranged between eight and 18 feet with the largemouths coming from
on top of the flat and the smallmouths being a bit deeper and much closer to
the break line. |
 John
Conrad |
We fished several more areas in Gunsight taking good numbers
of smallmouths along with some largemouths thrown in. Most of the smallies
ranged from 3/4 to two pounds, and the biggest largemouth was also around
two pounds. In addition to these fish, we also caught a couple green
sunfish; and John caught another walleye. Our Friday total was 33
smallmouths, seven walleyes, six largemouths, two green sunfish and a
striper - quite a variety. I stayed with the shad shaped worm the rest of
the day, but John got the last laugh by catching a number of bass on a strip
of chamois he cut and fished on a drop shot rig - a far less expensive
alternative to my Yamamoto baits.
Saturday was one of those strange days in which the fishing didn't seem
nearly as good as it had been on Friday; however when all was said and done
we actually caught more fish. The big difference on Saturday was we didn't
catch as many of the nicer bass as we did on Friday, and we only caught two
walleyes and didn't catch any stripers. We decided to head back to Gunsight
on Saturday planning to fish only the most productive spots from the day
before while trying some places we didn't fish on Friday. We started back at
the cove with the V cut. Right off the bat I nailed a 22-inch three-pound
walleye on a shaky head worm. I also caught several nice smallmouth and lost
two very good fish. John had a tough start to the day only catching a couple
little bass, but things would turn his way later on. We fished up the long
flats catching a few smallmouths and a couple largemouths, and then we went
across the bay to the west side and fished a long point that produced some
good fish for me last fall. We took several decent smallmouths there, and
John got another walleye and 10 little bass that inhaled his crappie tube
every time he pitched it under a shallow overhanging ledge. |
 |
Having worked this area completely, we went up the bay
fishing some large coves on the west side that we had not fished the day
before. The fishing wasn't fast - one fish here, two there - but it was
steady. Most the fish were smallmouths in the "eating size" class - 11 to 13
inches. We finished the day fishing reefs and flats at the mouth of Gunsight
on the west side. This area produced the biggest smallmouth of the day, a
15-incher for John, as well as a number of smaller ones and a couple of
largemouths for good measure. Saturday's tally was 62 smallmouths, four
largemouths and two walleyes. After some early success, the shaky head worm
gave way again to the drop shot shad shaped worm. John took most his fish on
the small tubes he had used with such success the day before. The colors I
used both days were 297 (Green Pumpkin and Black) in the Kut Tail worm and
194 (Watermelon and Black) in the shad shaped worm. John's tubes were all
chartreuse. His chamois strip was a natural tan color.
One thing that was clear to us was that the spawn was not quite in full
swing. There a lot of fish staging out near the break lines, and many of the
bass we took were still full of eggs. Some fish were on top of the flats and
reefs, while others were still hanging along the drop-offs in a bit deeper
water. No fish were caught really deep, but not all that many were caught in
the really shallow water, either. While the fishing was very good, there
wasn't a bass behind every rock. We had to work for what we caught. All in
all it was a great way to break in the new season. I returned to work Monday
relaxed and refreshed, but I'm ready to come back up and do it all again!
|
May 13, 2008 - Jim Macaluso |
 Nancy
Macaluso
Sandy, Utah
Smallmouth Bass 20'' Long 18'' Girth 5 lbs 6 oz. weighed on Rapala digital
scale
April 29,2008 Ice Berg Canyon Released to grow |
May 13, 2008 - Mike Milburn WTemp 64-67 |
 |
I just returned from an extended stay in the Bullfrog area.
Last Wednesday and Thursday, May 7 and 8, we fished in the Cedar Canyon area
and did very good on Crappie and some really nice Bluegill. We were using
small jigs such as 2 1/2 pearl curly tails on 1/8 oz. heads. We also picked
up some smaller SMB and a few LMB. We fished for stripers at the mouth of
Hall's Creek and did well using 3/8 oz. jig heads and a small piece of
anchovy. The best spot was on the outside near the first vertical wall
downlake from the Hall's Creek buoy. We found the stripers in 50-90 feet of
water and most were suspended at about 25-35 feet. We chummed initially to
get the feeding started. Most of the stripers were in the 15-18 inch range
and most were in fairly good condition. Some of the guys in the party also
fished in Moki Canyon and found stripers on the left side wall about 300
yards from the mouth of the canyon. On the way back to Bullfrog we stopped
just downlake from the Rincon and fished the main channel.
Alan and Jessica |
 |
Fishing on Sunday was excellent for smallmouth in this area. Each cast
would have several strikes and most well placed jigs would yield a fish.
Most of the SMB we caught on Sunday were 10-15 inches and would be perfect
for someone looking to take some fillets home. We were using 3 inch tube
jigs in the crawfish colors
such as greenish brown and motor oil. When the wind wasn't blowing we used
1/8 oz. heads in the tubes. We had to go up to 1/4 oz. when the wind picked
up. I also caught a few SMB on topwater lures when the
conditions were calm.On Monday morning, May 12, we fished for stripers at
the mouth of Lake Canyon. The best spot was right at the mouth on the left
side of the wall as you enter the canyon. We used pieces of anchovy on plain
jig heads. The three of us caught about 30 stripers in two hours of fishing.
I have attached a photo of my son, Alan and his friend Jessica with a nice
stringer of stripers. We saw water temps in the 62-70 degree range with most
of the water being around 64-67. Fishing is great and it's time to visit
Lake Powell.Later in the weekend my family came down to join me and we
took a trip down to Rainbow Bridge. Due to the lower water level there is a
hike of about 1 1/4 miles to Rainbow Bridge. There is a well maintained
trail
and only a slight climb to reach this wonder of the world. |
May 12, 2008 - Jared Mayfield - Iceberg |
 I
caught this fish on May 3 in Iceberg Canyon. The fishing was great that
weekend. We caught many stripers, small mouth, crappy and walleye. I caught
3 small mouth that were 17 inches long, and one big largemouth.
I think we caught a total of 200 or more fish that weekend... It was
great!!
Jared Mayfield
Copperton, Utah |
May 10, 2008 - Matt Monson - Navajo and West
Canyon - WTemp 59-66 |
 |
Matt Monson friends and crew from Monson Millworks in
SLC, came down to catch stripers and bass. The early morning striper
fishing was great along the main channel walls between the dam and Antelope
Point. Before sunup, we chummed a relatively shallow shelf along the deep
canyon wall. In a few minutes the stripers lit up. When the chum
cleared there were 55 stripers in the cooler in about 90 minutes on nonstop
catching.
The technique was small jig heads with a small chunk of anchovy. Cast
toward the shelf and let the bait slowly settle. |
 |
In Navajo Canyon we got a striper school to turn on mid day
along a main channel point using the same light jig head and anchovy
technique. We caught 45 in about 2 hours of fishing.
|
 |
Then we went fishing further up Navajo Canyon looking for
bass. We used chartreuse grubs on 1/4 ounce jigheads. Casting to
boulders and broken rock worked well in the afternoon after the water
temperature had risen to 65. It was slow fishing for bass in the morning.
Matt Monson |
 |
The best spot in Navajo was a short creek channel that
joined Navajo Canyon. Smallmouth and largemouth bass were holding on
the steep drop near the channel junction. |
 |
Bass fishing was great in West Canyon in the afternoon while
morning fishing was only so-so.
Blaine Baxter |
 |
Chartreuse grubs caught many different species including
bluegill, stripers, large and smallmouth bass and crappie. A walleye even
fell for a smoke sparkle grub.
Reed Baxter |
 |
Smallmouth were caught most often with 2 to 5 bass in each
spot we fished.
Mark Hunter |
 |
The reefs in clear water were good but the best luck was
found in the broken rock or mats of floating debris that was piled up in
short little slick rock coves along the channel edge. |
 |
Report for 5/1 thru 5/3, 2008
Tim Kelley and number one son.
Arrived at Wahweap Thursday 10:30 a.m. and set up camp while the w- -d was
howling! Did some maintenance on trailer, and boat while being spiteful of
the w- -d! Guido and Susie showed up later. All of us
decided to hang around for awhile! Guido got antsy and headed for the dam
with Susie. I told him to call me if he started catching! He called me, so
my son and I hopped in the boat and headed for the dam. Guido was tied to
float #3 on the west side, so I tied up to #2. My son caught a couple of
stripers right off, and then the stripers decided my bait looked pretty good
also. After an hour and a half we decided to quit and not clean a hundred
stripers that night, we had 32, and Guido and Susie had about the same. The
big "W" blew most of the night!
|
 |
Friday morning was chilly, and we went to Rock Creek. Water
temp. was 53 degrees when we got there. Fishing was tough for stripers, we
caught a few on black and chrome wally divers, but most of all they had lock
jaw.
My son and I headed down lake for Gregory Butte in the afternoon. When
We got there the water temp. was 61 degrees, and I remembered what worked
there a couple of years ago, and pulled out the chartreuse and white shad
raps. We started catching stripers and smb immediately. That was the 1st
real good smb fishing I had this year. Here is a pic of one smally on the
deck. They were all about this size. We went from there to Face canyon to do
some graphing, and then went back in.
|
 |
Saturday we headed up to the back of Last Chance to see if
the school of stripers from a few weeks ago were still there. They were!!
Water temp was 58 degrees
back there, and we kept the chartreuse shad raps going and we started
picking up stripers right away. Quite a few times we had double hook ups,
and it was very
consistent catching. We tired of stripers, and decided to go hunt out some
crappie and smb, maybe some lmb also. We went to the back of a long cove
where Guido and Susie had been for about an hour, and started working a
trolling pattern with some Norman Little N's.
|
 |
Guido and Susie hadn't any luck back there and were going to
head for Gregory where we did good the day before for smb. I told them that
we were going to stay where we were at for awhile to try some different
techniques. Glad we did. When the water temp hit 63 degrees all heck broke
loose, with topwater slappin', and splashin', and crappie jig action also
so! We worked the short cliffs for smallies and my son and I got doubles a
couple of times workin' the little crappie jigs. We got into smb, lmb,
crappie, walleye, and stripers workin the little ultra light rigs with
crappie jigs. This can be some of the funnest ways to fish with some great
action, and pole bendin' fish fighten'. What a way to end the trip, and my
son and I had a blast. Next stop the South Rally, and I am ready for it
again! |
May 6, 2008 - Joe Leko - Navajo Canyon |
| Went down the lake on Friday and we caught 53 stripers in
Navajo Cyn was done by 4:30 we only fished for a couple of hours. Sat we
went to Last Chance, water was still cold. We caught 8 small mouth bass, 1
crappie, and 1 walleye. Came back to Navajo in the afternoon and caught
another 40+ stripers. Fished Navajo on Sunday morning for a couple of hours
and picked up 38 stripers. Had to put the poles away to get my crew to stop
fishing, we were pretty much catching them every cast. My 90 year old
father-in-law had a great time. Appreciate your help. |
May 3, 2008 - Brent Gunderson - Wahweap Bay |
 I
fished with my cousin Wayne to learn about catching stripers. We trolled and
spooned up 36 in the morning and then went back in the afternoon to catch
another 36 on bait. He just parked over the school, chummed and the
fish went crazy. This is really fun! |
May 2, 2008 - Dr Chad Lunt - Wahweap Bay |
 |
My son Jason caught his first fish while fishing in Lake
Powell. We were trolling for stripers and then jigging with spoons while a
troll-caught striper was being reeled in. The school tended to follow
the hooked fish. When the school is seen on the graph then drop spoons to
catch more fish.
Tim was holding the spoon rod while I was taking a fish off the hook when
this striper hit the spoon. That was fun.
Chad Lunt with 5-year old Jason |
 |
Timothy Lunt thought trolling with Bevy shad was just great.
He caught his first striper and then many more. We brought in 36 fish
in 3 hours.
Timothy Lunt, 14 years old.
|
 |
Chad Lunt |
May 4, 2008 - Dan Jenkins - White Canyon - Wtemp
55-62 |
May 1, 2008 - Chet Garling - San Juan |
 |
Here is our report from the San Juan arm on
April 27,28 and 29th. We fished for three days and boated over 210 fish,
about 25 Stripers, some trolled up in the mudline and a few on jigs while
fishing for bass.
Chet |
 |
We only caught two walleye, around 10 Large
mouth bass, about a dozen crappie none of which were small, and the rest
were Small mouth bass, most with some size to them. |
 |
We used tube jigs, small crankbaits(crawdad),
pointer for trolling and casting.
Ken |
 |
The pictures of the otters came from about a
half hour of them frolicking around. We also saw a falcon that had just
killed a grebe, and we got the pictures of the Eared Grebe.
Best Picture of the Year |
 |
A great trip. No wind to speak of. We saw one
bass bed with some bass around but no takers. At one point we were catching
green bass out of one side of the boat and stripers out of the other. |
May 1, 2008 - Rebecca Twiss - Last Chance
-Houseboat fishing |
 |
Hi Wayne!
Rebecca and Scotty from Scotty's Sportfishing on Catalina Island, California
here.
We just wanted to report that we had an AMAZING time houseboating on Lake
Powell.
We got to Wahweap on April 24, and it was blowing pretty good at 30-35 mph.
The HB people took great care of us...and because of the wind, they
suggested we may stay on the boat in the marina until it died down probably
the next day.
|
 |
Thanks but no thanks! We are used to getting tossed around
on the ocean in the winter, and that never stops us from fishing...well,
almost never.
We had already decided to head out to Last Chance Bay...it took us about
four hours to get there but what is that after driving all the way from
Southern California?
Finding a place to beach the boat was the most challenging part being first
timers...we looked for a spot that would be protected from the wind that we
would be able to get in and out of.
|
 |
But the fish showed us the way! As we looked into the
fingers of the bay, a fish just popped up and said "this way please!" We
turned toward it, and another jumped, and we followed that one to what had
to be the perfect fishing spot.
We did exactly as you said - parked the boat with the end out over deep
water - great advice! This finger of the bay had 10 little inlets, shallow
on the edge and deep in the middle. Captain Scotty caught his first fish
from shore within five minutes of setting his feet on the beach.
In three days we caught 87 fish - 66 stripers, 11 catfish, 9 largemouth, and
one carp. We'd fish a few hours in the early morning, then spend the day
hiking and playing, and drop the lines back in around 4:30 for the evening
bite. |
 |
We had hand-made rod holders we duct-taped to the back rail
of the boat and soaked cut anchovies on half-ounce slide weights. We had
scooped up the anchovies in Avalon Harbor after a charter and vacuum-sealed
them - the lake fish loved them. We caught most of the stripers, the
catfish, and the carp off the back of the boat on anchovies. The largemouth
would follow the bait to the surface, but wouldn't bite.
Luckily, we had decided to bring a kayak...and after taking our
3-yr-old for a cruise around the coves, Scotty went out and caught a striper
and the 9 large mouth with an SX shad (silver and blue), a Bomber Fat A
(red/crawdad) and a knocker shad.
We released all the fish (we brought way too much food!) so we don't have
pics of the largemouth...didn't want to lose the camera off the kayak ya
know.
|
 |
The inlets were full of carp - you could see them swimming
around in the reeds like they were in a fish tank - but they wouldn't bite.
On the last night we were there, April 26, Scotty had planned to go back out
and try for the largemouth and smallmouth again, but he was just too darn
tired from so much fun.
So that is our fish report! Sorry it took so long to get it to you...we had
to hit the ground running when we got back to the island. We loved the Lake,
the fishing was great, the houseboat was awesome...and we can't wait another
year to come back...so we'll see you in October!
Rebecca Twiss
Scott Costa
Scotty's Sportfishing
Catalina Island, California |
April 30, 2008 - Kevin - San Juan
|
| My two brothers' and I started out Wednesday the 23rd, from
Bullfrog, and headed South to the San Juan. We camped just back, from the
mud line, and got after some fishing in the wind. Jeff and Randy Phillips,
from Nortonville Kentucky. They had never been to Powell, and were already
amazed at its beauty, before wetting a line. But even after three out of
four day's, of fishing in the wind, they still had nothing but great thing's
to say about lake Powell, and how neat the scenery, and great the fishing
was. We started out in the muddy water, and caught a Walleye first, and then
we went to the clearer water around the corner, and started catching fish.
Lot's of Crappie, and several Large and Smallmouth Bass. With another
Walleye mixed in. We fished Wednesday and Thursday, and caught a lot of nice
Crappie, the largest one weighing two and a quarter lbs. 15 1/2". and
limit's of 1 3/4 lb Crappie's, 14" to 15". It blew hard, so we used the
Anchor, and it worked well.
We caught them on 1/16th oz Stinger's in pearl White, and 3" Gulp alive, in
white also, with an1/8th oz Chartreuse Gamakatsu led head, which worked
excellent for Jeff and Randy, but the bigger Crappie's were caught on the
Stinger's. We also used some Crawler's, when it got tough, and they will
always catch something.
We left Friday mourning, with great weather to get to Moqui. We saw "
HotWheels" on the way back, at the mouth of the Escalante, and talked with
him for a while, and gave him our report. It was hard leaving the San Juan,
but I wanted my brother's to see Moqui canyon and that wasn't a regret at
the least bit. We caught them there Friday and Saturday also. Crappies and
Bass. Not as large of Crappie, but some nice Large and Smallmouth Bass. We
also had the pleasure of being around Hot Wheel's, and his friend's, also
from KY, on Saturday.
We had two fish fry's, while we were there, and had a great trip, and
time, both Randy and Jeff, were hooked, and promised they would be back in
the future. It was a great start to another great year on Powell.
We Striper fished some, but never really found them, catching only five for
the trip, but never being patient enough, knowing those Crappie were there
to be caught, those tree's draw you in, after you start fishing them.
You all have a good one. |
April 29, 2008 - Wayne Gustaveson - Trolling
technique |
April 29, 2008 - Megabite - San Juan,
Wtemp mid 50's |
 |
Camped and fished with Bass Man on the upper San Juan April 18-26.
|
 |
Arrived after midnight on April 18. Brought both boats
because mine needed a decent sea trial. Launched both boats, stopped by the
houseboat, not a creature was stirring, changed to warm clothes, then headed
south. Motored 2 hours under the full moon from Bullfrog to the mouth of the
San Juan to our camp site near Neskahi. Set up the tent, slept for an hour,
then went fishing for a day – we play much harder than we work…
|
 |
Water temp was mid to high 50’s. Bass were reluctant.
Spinnerbaits and topwater caught a few. Crankbaits worked a bit better.
Eventually we were both fishing plastic in 15-20’ of water. And that was the
story of almost every day of our trip. Wind played havoc with fishing and
water temp on a regular basis. Water temp struggled to get much over 60 each
day. Days when the wind had blown or was blowing the temp never got to 60.
Only one day saw water temp in the mid-60’s. Generally spinnerbait was best
for morning, topwater for the last hour of the evening. Catching was good
compared to other lakes, poor compared to spring fishing at Powell.
|
 |
The April trip is mainly for bass. Caught a few crappie here
and there. Could not find any schools. We could only catch one crappie at
any one location despite numerous attempts to find more fish. (we did see
one boat working on a school) Bass Man caught two crappie on topwater with
another making a hit. I caught a couple on spinnerbait. We caught others on
crankbaits. A few on plastic. I caught one walleye, Bass Man caught a
couple. All near the shore. Stripers caught near shore were next to death.
Most dies as a result of being caught. Saw a lot of stripers in Leroy Cove,
a school near the start of the Great Bend, and a number of stripers in the
big bay just before the canyon to the Great Bend.
MegaBite |
 |
The upper San Juan is also a great place for wildlife. The
burros were out and about as usual. Ravens quickly picked up our fishing
schedule then explored camp each morning as we motored away. Found out
ravens are picky about what they eat. On two different occasions one got
into Bass Man’s trial mix. But it ate only the peanuts, avoiding the raisins
and M&Ms. An osprey was there though we saw very little of it.
Chet & Ken saw a falcon that killed a
grebe. And we saw one of the otters living there.
|
 |
And it’s good to have friends. Bass Man’s BIL was already there and stayed
for a few days. Tony & Robert came down Saturday and camped across the water
from us. Chet came down a week after us. And
Hotwheels came down for a day. Through Wayne’s Words we always see
someone we know out on the lake. Thanks Wayne!
|
 |
Bass and Bassman |
April 28, 2008 - Brett Mierendorf Wetherill -
WTemp 54-57 |
 The
members of our party were Bill Wagner, Rick Parker,
Clayton Dillahunty, Dan Romero and Bob
Hiser. We camped and fished in Wetherill Canyon
4/19 - 4/22. We caught striper, smallmouth (including a 2lb 4oz in picture
with myself), crappie, largemouth, catfish and walleye. we used jigs with
plastic tails. Best colors were pumpkin and green with red flecks. Natural
colors worked much better than bright colors. Fishing was good all day with
a big bite in the early evening - 4:30 - 7pm. trolling the shore off shelves
and rock outcroppings was best. Crappies in the back of the canyon.
Brett Mierendorf |
April 28, 2008 - Ryan Mosley -Stanton to
Smith Fork- WTemp 56 |
 |
Here’s the day-by-day report for Roger and Ryan. The
wind was absolutely annoying, but it's always fun hanging out in your
backyard. To get to sleep last night I had to turn on the ceiling fan!
Wednesday- we arrived at Stanton Creek and quickly set-up camp. The wind was
already an issue that afternoon, and we shot up to Moki Canyon to look for
fish. We trolled the mouth for stripers without any success. There was less
wind in the back of the canyon, so we pitched grubs for a few bass and
crappie. Water temp was 56F.
Roger Schneidervin
From Wayne to Roger - Famous quote "Even a fish
could stay out of trouble if it kept its mouth shut!" |
 |
Thursday- In the morning, we headed down lake looking for
stripers near Lake and Slick Rock Canyon. We graphed some targets on the
points along the western shore, just above Lake Canyon. We trolled about an
hour, catching a couple of stripers using silver Wally Divers and
Thunderstick Jrs. We also marked fish in the back of Hall’s Creek, but
trolling only produced a few hits. In the afternoon the wind picked up (here
we go). We switched back to fishing for bass and found a few cooperative
smallmouths and largemouths in the mouth of Bullfrog Bay and the back of
Stanton Creek. Water temps were 52F in the morning and only 55F in the
afternoon (wind again).
|
 |
Friday- Once again, we searched for stripers willing to hit
crankbaits. The cold front passed overnight and we took a chilly boat ride
up to Knowles Canyon, graphing main channel points along the way. We graphed
several fish at the mouth of Knowles between 30-60ft. Trolling only produced
one striper, and we tried several different crankbaits. That afternoon, we
moved into the canyons fishing for bass and crappie. The wind was light
(surprise, surprise!), the sun was high, and the fishing responded. We
caught around 30 crappies in Smith’s Fork Canyon, along with a few blue
gills, stripers, and bass. We were using Berkely Power Grubs in motor
oil/chartreuse on a ¼ oz jig head, 4-6ft under a bobber. Water temps were
50F in the morning, warming to 59F by afternoon. |
 |
Saturday- After a bumpy ride uplake, we tried to mimic the
previous day’s crappie event with little success. After a few hours and only
a handful of crappie, we switched to bass. The wind howled (go figure!), the
water remained cool, but the bass were active in both Smith’s Fork and
Forgotten Canyon. We did best by fishing the sunny shores, and caught
several smallies and one largemouth, using Hula Grubs in black/silver flake
and single tailed grubs in brown/green flake. We also hooked a few more
crappie fishing the trees in Forgotten Canyon. Water temps remained around
54F. |
 |
Overall the fishing was pretty good, when the wind let you fish. The
mornings were definitely slower and a little sun and/or reprieve from the
wind warmed up the water in the afternoons. As the water temps slowly crept
up, we saw an increase in fish activity. If winter will ever let go, the
fishing is going to go berserk down there.
Hope it helps, Ryno |
April 27, 2008 - Joel and Lili Belmont, Glenwood Springs, CO |
 |
We were on the lake from 4/15 to 4/26, and spent most of the
time south of bullfrog. This Crappie was caught in Lake Canyon, along with a
few others and some small green bass.
Went down to Dangling Rope, and found a lot of SMB in Mountain Sheep Canyon,
both in the narrow back part in crevices and cuts, and the open front end,
along shelfs. 4" single tail grubs (yamamoto, pumpkin w/green and black,
#196, on a plain lead jig head seem to be my perpetual bait of choice for
SMB anywhere on Powell) were effective.
Joel Belmont
|
 |
Fished near the Rincon middle of last week... fishing was
tougher. Caught a good sized channel cat on the same 4" grub... pretty
feisty fish. Lili Belmont decided that
reading in the shade was better than slow fishing... she was probably right.
Friday night (4/25) I was finally able to full on fish as we were leaving
the next day, and were with friends earlier, making it more challenging to
stay in a spot long enough to fill a cooler. Headed to Moki around sunset,
and was blessed with the wind dying down so that I could anchor by the rock
pile at the mouth (I've fished here a lot, and keeping a 26' TriToon in one
spot over a chum cloud only works on calm evenings using two anchors) as
others were leaving. |
 |
Put the 4' Hydro Glow light in the water (luckily the moon
was in a phase so that it didn't come up until maybe 12 or 1), chummed, and
had an evening reminiscent of the same time last year, catching a fish on
almost every cast. Lili got cold and retired after a while, but I kept
fishing until around 1 or 2 am, and then motored across the way to a cove I
had scoped out earlier. Ended up with around 80 stripers, using about a bag
and a half of 'chovies. I found it worked better to cut about three
anchovies up at a time, save the head, tail and close to tail segments for
the hooks, and dice the rest to chum. This way I ran out frequently, and
chummed consistently, which kept the fish coming. I like to use a chartreuse
grub/jighead on the bottom, a bait hook about a foot above that, and another
bait hook about a foot above that, so it reaches about a 3' section of depth
at the same time. I tie these rigs at home, and use a snap to attach them so
I am not tying knots in prime time fishing, or when it is dark (no fun). |
 |
I don't know where the seemingly inexhaustible source of
stripers comes from that live in Moki, but they rarely fail to show up. The
fish were generally a nice small but thick size, offering great fillets.
There were a few small skinnies, which was an odd encounter from the larger
skinnies last year, but 90% of the fish were prime. Also picked up two
walleyes... pretty scary looking at night!
Fished Oak Canyon bay, close to where Oak Canyon meets the bay, and there
were plenty of LMB and some smallies. They kept you awake at night with
consistent splashing on the surface.
Photo is of the mouth of Mountain Sheep at around 11pm, with a long
enough exposure to make the full moon light look like daylight. |
April 26, 2008 - Tony Anast - San Juan
- WTemp 55-67 |
 |
San Juan (Neskahi) water temp 55-67
Robert Gilson and I met Bassman and Megaite down at Neskahi for the week
Saturday night. We fished Sunday winds were non stop, water temp around 58
that day. Caught 10 lmb, 10 smb, 2 crappie mainly using firetiger cranks,
purple tubes (YUM).
Monday, More wind same temp water. Caught 20 smb, 7 lmb mainly in Neskahi in
shallow water using same type lures.
|
 |
Tuesday was very nice day. water temp up to 67 in some
places. Fish were scared of everything. caught some nice LMB but very hard
to catch.
Wed more wind. Worked hard for our catch caught around 10 lmb, 10 smb and 5
crappie and couple striper.
Tony Anast |
 |
Thursday nice in the morning and very windy in the
afternoon. Found the stripers and trolled them up at mudline. Caught around
15 stripers, 8 LMB, 2 smb, and 10 crappie.
This was the total for just Robert Gilson and I from Price Utah. |
April 22, 2008 - John Lassandro - Last Chance,
Wtemp 54 F |
Thursday April 17th
Arrived @ Wahweap about 9am and the houseboat was waiting on the dock for us
(thanks Chad!). So we loaded her up and dunked the boats. I decided I would
motor up lake and stop in striper areas and dunk a few choves while waiting
for the HB to catch up. Could not spend a lot of time as I had to go scout
out a place to call home for the next few days. Stopped at buoy 1, nada,
then the intakes, nada, and lastly the warm creek point, also nada. So I
zoomed up to friendship as we really wanted that nice beach we had last fall
(remember that one Tim?) and as it happened it was available (Papa Jacks
favorite cove…now it is mine too!). So we beached and anchored in and all
went out in the cove to see what we could find…me I found a willing walleye
for my blue and chrome hammered side Rat L Trap (PS- I am donating a half
dozen of these for the South Rally – who should I give them to?). We trolled
everywhere around the cove until dinner was ready and managed a few willing
stripers. After dinner I decided to go over to Dry Rock to see if I could
graph some fish, as we caught a bunch there last fall, screen was a ghost
town. So I called it a night as I had a 2:30am start.
Friday April 18th
I tried to get everybody going early as I knew this was going to be the best
day weather wise and wanted to get in as much fishing as possible. So I took
them up to the end of Last Chance where Suzie, Tim and I had caught them 11
days earlier. They were still in there, but not as many as before. And we
trolled them up until we were tired of that (blue and chrome Rat L Trap) and
went to the secret crappie hole and beetle spin and crappie nibbled our way
to a nice bunch there and decided to head back for lunch and cleaning fish.
After lunch we decided to try Rock Creek with chovies and we really
struggled to pick up a few and called it a day.
Saturday April 19th
Had talked to Suzie this morning to get an up to date weather report and she
informed me the nice weather we were having was going to end around 1. So I
took the gang back to LC and repeated what was successful the previous day
(If it ain’t broke don’t fix it I always say) and we did have some success
but not as good as the previous day. Packed it in for lunch about 12:30, and
a good thing we did because the w@*d came at us with a vengeance…And being
on a sandy beach is not good when it is like that I can tell ya…..so that is
how the day ended
Sunday April 20th
We only have a few hours on the last day and usually only fish in close
proximity to the HB. So we tried smallie fishing and only managed a couple.
And then packed up and headed home, but what a great time….
Like Arnold said “I’ll be back” |
April 21, 2008 - Jens Clegg - White/Farley |
Thanks for the great website!
My Dad, Brothers and I fished White and Farley Canyons April 14th through
the 18th. Fishing on Monday night was fantastic! We caught several big
largemouth and too many crappie to count. The crappie were all in excellent
condition and larger than in years past. The storm and front that moved
through on Tuesday kept us off the lake for most of the day and slowed the
fishing down.
On Wednesday it was still too cold and the fishing was slow so we spent
the day trolling for striper. The striper were very active and hit our glass
shad raps (thanks for the suggestion) constantly with double hookups almost
every time. All of the striper we caught were 14-16" and between 1 and 2
Lbs. The fishing got better again by Thursday night but was nowhere near as
good as Monday. Overall we had a great trip and all went home with very sore
wrists. |
April 21, 2008 - CoachK - Moki Canyon
|
| We did great in Moki for stripers. We fished the mouth on
Thursday and caught nearly 100. Then on Saturday we went back. It was combat
fishing so we moved up the canyon and found a wall that had some fish. We
wind drifted along the wall - down then back up. What a hoot. Caught over
100. Just threw an anchovy on a jig head out about 40 ft then drifted. The
kids had a ball. Couldn't hardly catch a green bass. Finally went back to
bank fishing and caught a few bass
|
April 21 - Mike Milburn - Good Hope Bay - WTEMP
51+ |
|
My partner Will and I arrived at Bullfrog on
Wednesday, April 16 to find stiff north winds. We
headed uplake and decided to camp on the main channel
about a 1/2 mile below the floating outhouse at the
south end of GHB. The camp spot was very
good and
will be for another 12-15 feet of lake rise.
We didn't fish Wednesday due to the winds.
On Thursday the weather was better although we did
have breezy conditions. We waited until 10:00 am to
start fishing in hopes the water would warm from it's
51 degree start. We caught a few SMB and LMB on 3
inch tube jigs in pumpkinseed color. We also caught a
few small stripers that seemed to be cruising the
shoreline looking for crawfish.
|
 |
Friday was the best day on the lake as far as the
weather goes. It was nice and the winds finally shut
down. We found a few pockets of water that was 57-60
degrees and we immediately started getting some nice
bass of both species. We fished the area in and
around Cedar Canyon and the main channel rockslides
just downlake from Cedar Canyon.
On Saturday we went further up the lake and fished
around Red Canyon and Scorup Canyon. We found a
pattern with suspended crappie in 12-15 feet of water
and worked that for all it was worth. We targeted the
crappie and did well since the bite was slow for the
bass. We didn't really try fishing for stripers because I don't like to
troll and I won't allow anchovies in my boat without a stiff bribe LOL.
Mike Milburn |
 |
We caught a few crappie that were around 17 inches and
about 2 pounds (photos). We kept some for a dinner on
the lake and a few to take home for the family. We
saw quite a few other fishermen and most seemed to be
headed further uplake and probably fished White and
Farley. I spoke to one man and his kids who said they
did very well on the stripers and crappie in Farley
Canyon on Saturday. He also mentioned they caught
some good SMB.
Things are getting better as the water warms. The
Bullfrog Open tourney is this next weekend and the
bass guys should do OK with the good weather that is
predicted during the week.'
Will |
April 17, 2008 - Bill Bjork - Wahweap Bay,
Wtemp 55F |
 Fishing
Wahweap was incredible today. The fish are hungry. We fished for 4 hours
this afternoon and caught some very nice smallmouth and largemouth. This one
was 5.02 on the scale. All of our fish were caught cranking fast!
Thanks for having such a great site Wayne! bill bjork
|
April 17, 2008 - Wayne Gustaveson Wahweap Bay, WTemp 53F |
 |
Northern UT DWR biologists Paul Thompson and Aaron Webber
went out with me this morning in Wahweap. The planned trip uplake was
blow away by the wind and cold. Water temperature dropped to 52 with
the 3 day wind storm. So we stayed in Wahweap bay and went trolling
for stripers.
Aaron joked when leaving the dock that he would like to take home about
30 stripers. I told him to be careful what you wish for. They thought the
weather balmy and I shivered under 4 layers of clothes. |
 |
We put out the trolling lines and went about 50 yards when
Aaron caught his first striper ever. As Paul was reeling in his lure
another hit and the first stop was a double hookup. In fact, the next
3 stops were double hookups.
Aaron and Paul Thompson |
 |
We trolled at 1200 rpms (3.5 mph) and ran a zig-zag course
following the bottom contour
Aaron Webber with his first striper. |
 |
The best lure today was the black and silver wally diver.
It runs 9-12 feet deep and we were targeting reef edges that broke from 12
to 25 feet. |
 |
The bevy shad (blue gill color) was steady. I retired it
early because the wally diver was working so well and I didn't want it to
get chewed up. The wally diver hooks will need replacement before the
next trip. |
 |
We had Paul use the custom rattletrap made by Chip which was
also very effective. Action was best early but steady all day. We ran
the same pattern on reefs from Wahweap to the Dam and caught fish on all of
them.
At the fillet station we counted 32 stripers. Looks like Aaron got his
wi | |
