Lake Powell 05/28/16 - 05/30/16

[Koko21]

Spent a few days in Powell doing some cleaning on the boat and some fishing. We hit multiple spots for stripers - trolled and bait fished. Ended up catching A LOT! Kept several for dinner and released the rest. My wife put me to shame and caught the largest of the trip.

Also had some good smallmouth fishing along the rocky shorelines, especially in the warm sun.

Even spent some time trolling around lone rock area and ended up hooking up with a couple of Walleye, which I have been wanting to catch at Powell for a long time.
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[MasterDaad]

Hey Koho,

Thanks for the report! I'm headed down all next week (to the Bullfrog area) and hope to find some Striper action as well.

In the future, please DO NOT release Stripers back into the lake. DNR made it legal to waste Stripers and strongly encourages anglers to harvest all they catch.... even if they do not plan to eat them.

Those are some excellent pics! I hope we do as well as you did.

Quick question about the SMB's... were they hitting any topwaters? My daughter loves SMB topwater fishing. I'm hoping to get her into some next week.
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[Koko21]

Nice good luck and hopefully you will find some! I was fishing out of Wahweap but I know the fishing has been hot everywhere.

While I do appreciate your advice, I am fully aware of the STRONG ENCOURAGEMENT, there is no law against what I have done and I will keep releasing stripers....I have no where to keep 50+ stripers. I always keep as much as my live well will hold. I fish Lake Powell at least 1 a month and have released stripers while DNR was inspecting my boat - they didn't seem to mind.

If you want to catch and kill all of them, go for it! I would love to help the fishery, but just don't have the time or space to dispose of that many fish.
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[Koko21]

I forgot to answer the SMB question -

I didn't catch any on topwater, but didn't give it too much of a shot. Most of them were caught in about 15-25 feet of water, in the rocky areas.

Good luck!
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[MasterDaad]

I certainly understand not having space for that many Stripers. And sometimes it can be so fast you just want to chuck them back in the water and keep on fishing!

I should have written my initial reply differently because I don't mean to criticize... particularly not a helpful fishing report.

As a matter of information for other fishermen heading to Lake Powell:

It's better for the fishery to kill Stripers and throw the carcass back in the water instead of a live fish. This is perfectly legal and documented in the 2016 Fishing proclamation. No need to store or transport them.

You can also cut them up for bait or even Chum for use on Lake Powell.

I know it runs counter to our sensitivities about killing and wasting wildlife. But this is a necessary exception that benefits the Striper fishing quality.

I was one of the sport anglers on the commission last spring responsible for the Lake Powell fishing plan. With that background in mind, I'll just ask:

Please don't throw live Stripers back.

A heavy harvest of Walleye harvest is also a great thing (no limit on those at LP either) -- but Walleye are not part of the "wasting" rules so they must be treated as sport fish for harvesting purposes.

Thanks again for the report and the awesome pics from down there Koko. I can't wait to go!
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[RockyRaab]

I will also be there again next week. Reports are that the lake is rising FAST - as much as eight feet in the last two weeks.

Can you tell me if the water around Bullfrog looks stained, or is it still clean? How about in the side canyons?
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[fsh4fun05]

I'll be headed down mid June and have been watching the water levels. Crazy how fast it has been coming up
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[Therapist]

I was at Bullfrog all week last week. Great weather, little wind, moderate fishing. We did not catch any SMB on top water. Our most consistent bait was a Maniac Lures Avacado Pepper Reaper, 3inch, dropshotted on the shoreline. We also had some luck with other browns and greens, grubs, etc. Cranks in shad colors also worked.

It seemed to me that the fish were a bit discombobulated due to the rising water. It was coming up 6-8 inches a day, so the fish were a bit deeper than you would expect. We also found that some of the SMB were still spawning.

We also caught walleye on both steep rock and gravel. We talked to a couple of guys that caught a bunch of walleye in the old cutthrough between bullfrog and halls bay. The cuts behind the Housboat bouy field were very productive.

Some of the group fished anchovies along the Mokie wall and did fairly well with the stripers.

So, overall it was a great trip, great weather, great friends, and a great venue. Fishing could have been better, but was adequate.

[TheWeekender]

Was down at Powell for 4 days last week. Think we caught 76 fish total..only fishing morning and evening. Fished mostly in halls and a little in Moki canyon. Water temps were 70-72.5 degrees. Caught mostly striper on bait. Hit a few walleyes on bottom bouncers and flicker shads. Caught a handful of smb trolling for walleye. Even caught 2 cats. No largies! Hit a couple striper and walleye on jerkbait in bluegill patterns. Fun trip! Key to finding striper schools was my down imaging finder. Caught most striper in 25-35 ft of water. Water is raising pretty quick. Think it rose 3-4 feet from the time we got there to the time we left. With that being said..the lake is still about 100ft low.
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[MasterDaad]

Thanks for the details Therapist!

We have several kids that come with our family group and I'm expected to entertain the early risers with great fishing expeditions before breakfast.

I thought the cut-through was still out of the water?

Again thanks for the tips and I'll add my report when I return.
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[fsh4fun05]

I'm interested to know about the water clarity as well. I'd like to go North out of Bullfrog and camp with the family. Find a small beach to camp on and go have fun. I can't stop thinking about it.
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