Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
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The hottest low. The hottest high. The warmest summer. The long, hot summer. Needless to say, it's too hot. Period. Records have been broken and, unfortunately, both humans and animals without shelter have suffered tremendously. And, although we are usually celebrating outdoor activity in this publication, we instead are urging caution now when recreating outside. Arizona is one of the hottest places on earth from May to September. Heat-related illnesses are common during the summer, and some... Full story
The legend is that an angler eating lunch on the lake accidently dropped a spoon overboard. As he watched the silver spoon drift downward, sun glinting off the handle and bowl, he saw a fish dart out and try to eat it.A typical angler, this guy was inventive and always looking for a new bait, so he went home, sawed some spoons up, and put hooks and a place to tie the line on them. Voila! A new killer lure is born! Large Variety Today's spoons are usually store-bought. Some of the spoons are just... Full story
Jerry Tate of JT's Arizona Hunting and Fishing specializes in fishing Lake Pleasant.He's on the water several days a week, and has a handful of good friends who also spend tons of time on Pleasant. Between them, they always seem to know exactly where and how to fish for any species in the lake. Action Is Fast And Furious "The great thing about fishing for white bass and stripers is that once you find them, the action is fast and furious," Tate says. This kind of fishing is perfect for kids, beca... Full story
Then the weather heats up and the fish quit chasing reaction baits, John Murray starts using a spoon, especially at Lake Pleasant. "Spoons will catch everything in the lake," says Murray, "including not just bass but stripers, whites, crappie, and even catfish." The beauty of spoons is that you can fish them on almost any structure. Murray likes white spoons, and he likes to have feathers on the hooks. For deep summer fishing, he usually chooses a jigging spoon like a Crippled Herring and... 
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Lake Powell Report (6/23/21) Lake Powell is dropping. Inflowing water today is 10,000 Acre Feet less than outflow. The parched Southwest really needs Monsoon rain to fall this summer. Be careful when traveling on the lake. Stay in the middle of the main channel to ensure a safe trip. Stripers Still Hitting Bait Stripers are still hitting bait in the normal spots like Buoy 25 Cove and Wall, Rincon, and Moki Canyon. On my weekly fishing trip, we saw fewer slurping stripers in the channel between... Full story
[At press time] the falling lake level is slowing down slightly, but there is still more water going out than coming in. The daily water temperature now varies between 62-68 F. This is the spawning trigger for bass in Lake Powell. Expect to find male bass building and guarding nests over the length of the lake. Check The Ledges In Side Canyons Bass fishing for both largemouth and smallmouth bass is at the springtime peak. With the crazy low water levels, expect to find bass on or under ledges in...
Even if you have to brave the desert heat to fish, it pays to get out on your nearest lake this time of year. Warmer water means active fish, and active fish eat more. Even on the desert lakes, don't make the mistake of thinking that you have to use finesse baits in deep water to be successful – there are always some shallow fish to be had, especially early in the morning and just before dark. Fly Rods Ben Koller of www.thehookupoutfitters.com likes to go after all kinds of fish with a fly r... Website
The weather is still acting like a lion instead of a lamb. At press time, winds are still blowing this week. Check the weather report while planning a trip. There is usually a calm day or two each week. Fishing on a calm day instead of a windy day often produces more fish and more happy anglers. (Check the weather at the bottom of the home page on Wayneswords.net). Lake level is still going down. The Castle Rock Cut is closed. Bullfrog Main ramp is closed. Launching is still possible at the... Full story
The legend is that an angler eating lunch on the lake accidently dropped a spoon overboard. As he watched the silver spoon drift downward, sun glinting off the handle and bowl, he saw a fish dart out and try to eat it. A typical angler, this guy was inventive and always looking for a new bait, so he went home, sawed up some spoons, and put hooks and a place to tie the line on them. Voila! A new killer lure is born! All Designed To Do Same Thing Today's spoons are usually store-bought, and they... Full story
AZGFD’s Canyon Creek Hatchery will provide some trout for the department's Community Fishing Program waters this winter. The current drought conditions have caused reduced spring water flows at the hatchery, making it difficult to maintain the quality water flow needed to support the large number of fish in its raceways. Utilizing some of the fish for winter stockings in community waters will reduce numbers of trout at the hatchery and help ensure the fish there have adequate water to grow a... Full story
Winter is the perfect time of year to visit the lower Colorado River lakes because the weather is fantastic. Martinez Lake is typical of the southern Colorado River Lakes: reedy and shallow, it still holds plenty of fish of all different species. You can have fun at Martinez even if you don’t fish, but if you do like to fish you can go after bass, crappie, catfish (channels and flatheads), carp, tilapia, sunfish, stripers, and even bullfrogs. Highly Developed Martinez is highly developed – the... Full story
Water temperature at Wahweap Marina has dropped below 70 F in the early mornings. It has been a long, hot summer, but the intense heat is finally departing. Daytime air temperature is still in the 80's but next week drops into the 70s. The long-awaited Fall season is late, but very welcome now that it is finally coming. Hopefully, fish will respond positively to the cooling water. This past week they were a bit lethargic. The best time to catch stripers and bass was from 8-10 a.m. Then it... Full story
The warm blanket of water was ripped off the surface by an unprecedented cold blast from the north. At press time, daily air temperature has been in the 100s, with low air temperature in the 80s. The water temperature has been holding in the 80s but is now 76 and may be lower tomorrow. How will fish respond to the quick cold front? Stripers In the past week, stripers have been feeding on the surface at dawn and dusk. They were not dependable each day but when it was about time to give up, they... Full story
We began the weekly fish-sampling trip with a quick run to Warm Creek before the sun cleared the horizon. Last week we found quick boils and caught stripers on surface lures and spoons. This week was a bust with no fish on top and no fish showing up on the graph. That was what I expected so we headed uplake. We scanned the surface as we ran directly into the rising sun. Leaping stripers are often backlit while heading east in early morning light, making them easier to see. Still no fish showed... Full story
Lake Powell water temperature in the morning remains at 72F. It will get warmer but now the wind is still mixing the warm surface layers with cool deep layers of water. The lake remains very busy with lots of boats over the length of the lake. Get to the launch ramp early to head out for a morning fishing trip. Run Uplake I followed that advice recently and headed out to Warm Creek to test fishing success. We trolled for stripers but did not catch any. Then we switched to bass lures. We caught... Full story
Lake Powell is now back to normal and open for fishing, recreating and camping 24 hours per day. Smallmouth Bass fishing has been incredible with a consistent catch of 40 fish or better each day. Most anglers are pounding the shoreline from 5-30 feet deep with plastic baits including Ned rigs, plastic grubs, Maniac Cutter bugs, and various crankbaits. Many have enjoyed topwater fishing in the early morning and evening in coves and the backs of canyons. Lake Powell bass seem happy to have anglers... Full story
OCEANSIDE, Calif. (May 4, 2020) - Whether you're talking the expansive rivers of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, or the reservoirs and rivers of Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma, primetime walleye fishing is happening right now. In all these places, walleyes are moving to the headwaters, narrows and dams, making them quite uncomplicated to find and catch. A kayak is a great alternative to fishing walleyes by motorized boat or from the bank. Specific models like... Full story
I was lucky enough to get out on the lake when it opened to locals last month. Lake Powell bass were spunky, bold and ready to chase or eat anything in the tackle box. I started with a simple single-tail green grub and dropped that straight down 8-15 feet in front of isolated rockslides. Smallmouth from 1-2 pounds were all over the bait. Catching was quick and easy and a whole lot of fun. Every rockslide had a bunch of agreeable bass. The success came because bass were in spawning mode and they... Full story
This will be the last regular fish report from Lake Powell this year. We have been fall sampling, and when we finish sampling, there will be reports to update everyone about what the fish are up to in this most unusual year. Weather was cold in the springtime and continued into the summer, moisture was above normal, and runoff was strong bringing the lake up 53 feet. Something happened during this strange weather period that the fish really liked. Shad reproduction was unprecedented. Bass and... Full story
Lake Powell weather is delightful with a warm, calm autumn weather. Air temperature is holding in the mid 70s during the day and in the 50s at night. Water temperature is holding in the mid 60s, which is the ideal fishing temperature for the springtime spawning period. Sport fish are still in vacation mode as they quietly attack one of the thousands of shad balls still swimming on the surface. Not much has changed during this unusual fishing year. Adult Stripers Adult stripers are still swimming... Full story
Quality of life is measured by amount of time spent fishing. As I returned from vacation, we had an assignment to catch 60 striped bass for the annual disease re-certification, to ensure that Lake Powell fish do not have any viruses that might destabilize the fishery. We must collect the fish on the same day that they are certified. Hot weather had really slowed down fishing in August, but I checked recent fish reports and found that small stripers (8-12 inches) recently boiled in Warm Creek.... Full story
We went to Bullfrog recently to complete a work assignment, which was to collect 200 surface-feeding striped bass. These captured fish are destined to be brood fish used to create hybrid stripers. We chose the date months ago, based on previous fish reports, which indicated slurping stripers would begin feeding on the surface during the first week of June. The report strategy worked great as we caught 100 surface-feeding (slurping) stripers from dawn until 10 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday.... Full story
Quality of life is measured by amount of time spent fishing. The snow and rain continue providing the moisture, and eventually the runoff, needed to allow the lake to rise back to the levels that enable safe passage and enjoyable fishing trips over the length of the lake. The Lake Powell water level is slowly declining due to the continued stormy and cool weather that we all have experienced lately. Hope For A Large Rise The lake has been holding near 3571 feet (mean sea level) during March. In... Full story
Most Versatile Rattlebait Ever? LIVETARGET®'s Golden Shiner Rattlebaits Are A Multi-Species Phenom Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON (April 24, 2019) - Veteran freshwater anglers know how important it is to keep quiet on the approach. Bang a tackle box against the gunwale, drag a cooler across the deck or wade a little too forcefully and predator species instantly scatter. Get the right sounds working below the surface, however, and you can really light up the bite, which is why lipless rattlebaits... Full story
We have finished fishing with gill nets at Good Hope Bay and Rincon. Therefore, this will be the last regular weekly report for 2018. Each year we do gill net studies to document changes in fish populations, health indexes, and to help us understand how the fishery is doing compared to previous years. The gill netting sites included Wahweap, San Juan (Piute), Rincon and Good Hope Bay (Red Canyon). Gill-netting data dates back to 1973 so there is a long history of netting data for comparison.... Full story
