Fishing Conditions at Lake Powell

Red Rock Ridge at Lake Powell

Last May in Navajo Canyon we were catching stripers off one of my favorite points when we hooked into one that probably went 30 to 35 pounds. We got a look at it just before it straightened the hook and got off!! Bummer!! In January of 2015 my son caught a 14.2 pound striper trolling in Lone Rock Canyon. If you find the shad you usually find the stripers, large mouth and small mouth. Striper fillets are firm and clear. The smaller stripers are the best eating. The average weight of the stripers has been approximately 3 to 4 pounds but catching one 5 to 8 pounds is a possible. In May of 2010, while fishing in shallow water, we saw 2 stripers that would probably weigh in at 55 to 65 pounds, maybe more.

Hooking into stripers using top water bait is a blast, the same goes for the large mouth and small mouth bass. Catching fat small mouth and large mouth during the spawn, March, April, and May and even into June, is lots of fun. One practice I have with the large mouth is to take a picture of what we catch and let them go. It seems as though the large mouth population is declining, at least that has been my observation.

I love top water fishing, it usually takes place sometime in August or September. The fish seem to fight harder when caught on top water. Yamamoto grubs work great on Lake Powell. Knowing which grub to use and how to work it will produce lots of fish.

Weather conditions and water temperature and full moon also have a big influence one how well the fish bite.

Lately July, August, September and October are good too. This year the stripers and small mouth were hitting top water.

Lake Powell produces 2 to 4 pound largemouth and 2 to 3 pound smallmouth bass. A 4 to 6 pound bass on Powell is considered big for Powell.

We caught a 5.0 pound smallmouth in April of 2010. As it got close to the boat we got really excited thinking it might be a lake record! But it fell a little short. That is the exciting thing about fishing, you never know when the big one is going to take your bait! We have caught several small mouth in the 4 to 5 # range.

Check out our photo gallery to see more than 30 pictures from fishing trips – Lake Powell Pictures

See Also:

Lake Powell on Utah.com
Lake Powell on Wikipedia