Decided to go to Powell instead of Mead, launching in Wahweep. Read some reports that the stripers should be down by the dam and in the Wahweep area, can anyone confirm this and give me some hints on tactics? Thanks
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Not at all what "Waynes Words" had to say about the stripers. According to Wayne, the bouy line has not been producing this year and the stripers are in the backs of canyons still. They are back there feeding on shad.
His advice is to troll until you find some hen fish or them.
Good news is that it will only take another foot or so of water to make the new cut navigable. That cuts off 12 miles if you want to run uplake.
For the latest information on Powell, visit "Wayneswords.com" check out the water levels, fishing reports, anglers corner and the discussion forum. You should get all the information you need.
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Just got back from 3 days at Wahweap.
Stripers zippo - smallmouth (and some LM) excellent.
I almost couldn't believe that there wouldn't be at least some action at the dam - last year if you got there early in the day it was non stop. But we were there at first light (6:00am) and fished for a couple of hours with only one very light bump. That was it. Others we spoke with had same experience so I would say your time is better spent elsewhere.
We also tried trolling in 15-30 feet both early and later in the day (per reports) and zip for stripers. I saw others doing the same and in talking with others - nothing for stripers.
Now the SMB fishing on the other hand was very good. We had one very windy day when fishing was hard, but the other days, grubs fished over drop offs or rock slides was great. A number of 18"-20" fish makes the trip worth it.
If you can slide into brushy areas with polarized glasses, you'll be able to see bass (both SM and LM) cruising. Many of those fish are large and less than 5' deep and actually won't leave even with some disturbance.
My guess is that the deeper fish (on drop offs) are pre-spawn and hit more readily. The shallow fish are agressive in protecting their turf and will hit soft baits presented patiently and with more precision.
Have fun!
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