This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Lake Powell Fish Report – April 1, 2015 Lake Elevation: 3591 Water Temperature 60 - 65 F By: Wayne Gustaveson of Wayne's Words April is here but bass and stripers took little notice as they have been swimming in warming water for the past two weeks. We usually have to wait until mid April for the magic 60 degree water temperatures that kicks-off bass and crappie spawning but those temperatures are already here. It is no joke! Fishing success makes it seem like the end of April and early May. Here is the summary of current conditions. Largemouth and smallmouth bass have been active in the murky water in the backs of canyons for a while but now are found on points and in coves in water color transition zones and even clear water. The best habitat is rocky structure with piles of submerged tumbleweeds in close proximity. Bass are very active and quick to bite plastic jigs and tubes, worked methodically along the bottom. Afternoon fishing in warming water is very productive but the morning bite is improving dramatically. Recent bass tournaments have had winning weights exceeding 20 pounds for 5 bass. Both largemouth and smallmouth bass are rotund coming out of winter in great shape. Bass fishing is great over the length of the lake. Crappie are found in the backs of canyons near brush and weeds where water is stained. Crappie fishing is better in the northern lake than the south with the San Juan and Escalante canyons being the best spots right now. Walleye fishing has taken off in the northern lake with Good Hope Bay being the prime location. These great tasting fish were caught most often on open water reefs at a depth of 20-25 feet. Slow trolling with bottom bouncers and worm harnesses is a sure thing but casting night crawlers and plastic grubs to the same reefs works well also. Walleye are being caught lakewide but the numbers are smaller in the southern lake compared to the north. Striped bass are active but well hidden. Adult stripers are searching for shad. Shad are hiding in very shallow water hoping that stripers will not cross long shallow flats in the back of a canyon or cove. Stripers hold in the 25 foot zone and periodically make the trek into 2 feet of water to get a shad snack. A good sign of fish activity is looking for grebe congregations. Grebes often rest in large groups in the middle of the bay over deep water. Finding a cluster of grebes in the back of the canyon where water depth is less than 3 feet is very unusual. But if a flock of grebes is found out of place there is often a school of hungry stripers targeting that same shad school. Right now it is more likely to find a striper school on a shallow flat in the back of the canyon than it is to find stripers in the deep water of the main channel. Do not expect to catch stripers at the dam or Moki Wall using anchovy bait. It would be very helpful if concerned anglers went the extra half mile across the mud flat in the extreme back of the canyon to rescue shad from ravenous BIG stripers. During the daily cycle stripers will hold in deeper water where they can be trolled up with down riggers. Then stripers will move toward the shallows looking for shad. Stripers in search mode are vulnerable to rattletraps and LVs trolled or cast to moving schools. Finally striper schools will go shallow for a short time where they can be caught on shallow running lures, spinner baits and surface lures. One striper boil was reported in shallow water over the weekend. Stripers then retreat from the shallows and head back out to deep water where they stay for a time before repeating the foraging process. It is necessary to look in all these depths and places to find the moving school. Smaller stripers are consistently feeding on plankton in open water and they can be caught by trolling shallow running crankbaits and casting LVs or Kastmasters spoons. There is a lot of fishing opportunity at Lake Powell now and it should continue throughout the month of April.
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Mike Larsen, Salt Lake City UT, had a great trip to the northern portion of Lake Powell catching both large and smallmouth bass in good numbers. Fishing was fun but catching fish with his son on a Father and Son trip was the best part. Lake Powell is a great place to make memories that will last forever.