Utah...Lake Powell Fishing report

Aussie

BBM Personel Director
Joined
May 11, 2009
Location
Australia
#1
LAKE POWELL...

Bluegill, Brown Trout, Channel Catfish, Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, Striped Bass, Rainbow Trout, Walleye

STOP QUAGGAG MUSCLE (Oct 20) Lake elevation: 3,634 feet Water temperatures: 69–72°F

Lots of rain this week will create some absolutely beautiful waterfalls tumbling off the cliffs walls surrounding Lake Powell. Cooler days will finally cool the water into the 60s. Cooler water will bring the best fishing period of the Fall for all species.

Adult stripers will continue to actively hit frozen cut bait but they will be able to move into shallower water. The holding depth now is 50 to 70 feet. Finding striper schools is as simple as driving to the back of almost every canyon while watching the bottom depth on a fish finder. Schools of fish seen between 50 and 70 feet are usually stripers. Mark the school, toss chum all around the boat, and drop a baited hook to the bottom.

Catch the first fish and watch the rest of the school rise off the bottom as the hooked fish is reeled to the surface. A Carolina or drop shot rig may be a better choice when fish are biting slowly near the bottom. But when the school rises up in the water column a quick falling short shank jig head may be the best presentation for fast catching. Stop the bait momentarily every five feet as it goes down until the school holding depth is found. Then return the bait to that exact depth after each fish is caught.
The best place to fish for stripers this week is at Hite where striper catching has been off the charts. Troll or jig while waiting for sporadic boils to hit the surface. It is non stop catching from North Wash to Trachyte. The only caution is that a major rain event will muddy the water and may impact fishing success. If that happens just move downstream to where the lake clears up and start fishing again.

Night fishing at Bullfrog and Halls is superb under green lights. But bait fishing for stripers in most of the canyons where bottom deep at 50-70 feet is also very good during the day.

Bass fishing is exploding with active bass feeding on the surface early in the morning and again late in the evening. Fishing with surface lures is great. Larger bass up to two pounds are now commonly caught in shallow water. Look for structure where bass congregate. I often fish a series of rocky points and find that most of the fish are caught on only a few of the points. Quickly search structure along the main channel and then slow down when the hot spot is found. Plastic grubs fished on the bottom will be the best catching technique this week but medium running crankbaits provide a quicker search pattern when looking for the fish congregation.
Expect walleye and crappie fishing to peak in the upper lake next week when water temperature drops into the low 60s