Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
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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...
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
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
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
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
At press time, Lake Powell was continuing to drop about one foot per week. The Castle Rock Cut should be passable for another two months. It was recently announced that a High Flow Experiment (HFE) will occur during the first week of November. At that time, the outflow from the dam will increase dramatically to move sediment from the river bottom to the river banks further downstream. This event improves habitat for native fish in the river and in backwaters. It is likely that the Castle Rock Cu... Full story
Quality of life is measured by amount of time spent fishing. Welcome back to the weekly fish reports from Lake Powell - 2017 was a banner year with high water levels that covered shoreline vegetation and provided extensive habitat for both predators and prey fish. Young fish survived in big numbers and these fat healthy fish will awake and become active as soon as Lake Powell water temperature rises above the 54-57 range. "Warm water" fish residing in Lake Powell really do like warmer water... Full story
'Quality of life is measured by amount of time spent fishing.' In the last fish report we reported stripers and shad holding in the 15-30 foot depth range but suspected that colder weather would force both species to seek deeper water where temperature was more stable. With that in mind, we headed for Warm Creek to look for striper schools. We passed the floating restroom and slowed down and started graphing. This fall, the graph has printed a mostly blank screen in deep water with an occasional... Full story
waynegustaveson@utah.govContact me at waynegustaveson@utah.gov; my other old email addresses are no longer working. You may also visit www.wayneswords.net. Welcome to Lake Powell. My purpose is to provide needed information that will make it easier for you to plan a trip to the lake. Many come for the beauty and solitude of the area, others for fishing or water recreation. Whatever your reason, I hope this site helps make your visit more enjoyable. I manage Lake Powell Fisheries. I have... Full story
Wayne's Words - http://www.wayneswords.com Surface water temperature today and for most of the week was 64 degrees. End of report! For those who need a bit more information, here are the details: Striped bass adults prefer a temperature of 64 degrees. At this comfort level, trophy size fish, adults, and juveniles have free reign and can travel in any direction, any depth and feed anywhere. Trophy fish cannot handle warmer water and must stay in the 64 degree range. Adult fish are found close to...
Water temperatures are now up into the spawning zone. Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and crappie are on beds now. This is the first spawn and we can expect the nest guardians to spawn perhaps two to three more times before mid-May. Inflow continues to increase the lake level, which is now officially above 3600 MSL. Expect 40 more feet of elevation increase. Make sure to check the boat tie lines each morning if camping on the lake. Weather has been clear but there has been some wind in the even... Full story
The quality of life is measured by amount of time spent fishing. Lake Powell is rising. Spring runoff has begun a bit early due to warm days in March. That may change as another storm front is now on the way. Early runoff is a double-edged sword for fishing success from Trachyte to Good Hope Bay. This week, reports indicated good steady fishing success for smallmouth bass, walleye, stripers and largemouth. Catching was steady for those using bass jigs along the shoreline and trolling with wally... Full story
February was an excellent month for great fishing results in the southern lake. We found great spooning results in early February with a fish count of 75 stripers. Then, later in the month, we caught 38 stripers while trolling and casting. Spoons did not work on that trip. When we headed uplake to see how conditions had changed, we were prepared to give the stripers any presentation they wanted. The fish did not disappoint us; in fact, we were amazed at what happened. Following reports from the... Full story
Wayne Gustaveson Takes A Break, Thanks Readers 'Quality of life is measured by amount of time spent fishing.' Lake Powell fish at the end of fall were in prime time. Water temperature is in the mid 60s which means that all fish can basically go anywhere they want to. During summer there is a separation of large and small stripers because big fish need cooler temperatures. Those barriers are now removed. http://www.wayneswords.com Consider fishing patterns now to be just like fishing in late... Full story
Lake Powell fish are in transition mode with day length getting shorter while air temperature is cooling. Water temperature and lake elevation have stayed stable during the past three weeks. Elevation is 3610 and temperature holding at 70 degrees. The main change is fish location. Keep An Open Mind Bass are moving up on shore, stripers are on the move and shad are split between hiding in the backs of canyons while some are going deep in open water. My best advice is to keep an open mind and an... Full story
