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Lake Powell Fishing Report: With full moon, poor fishing at Lake Powell

Rylee Andrus and Amber Romm with a striper.(Submitted photo)

Rylee Andrus and Amber Romm with a striper.(Submitted photo)

Lake Elevation: 3,567

Water temperature: 50-55 F

March is going out like a lion with windy days and cool nights.

Add a full moon into the mixture, and the result is poor fishing success, particularly for those that go out early in the morning. Afternoon is the better time to fish under a full moon. However, the Lake Powell fishery is resilient. Despite the negative factors mentioned, there have been some good days and places to report.

Be careful traveling to the north end of the lake. With the current low water level, the Colorado River now empties into Lake Powell at Trachyte Canyon. Many rocky banks and sandy areas are under shallow murky water. Go slow and look for hazards everywhere, but be doubly diligent as soon as you leave the main channel. There are many unmarked rock hazards just barely under water that are hard to see. This low water caution is in effect until the lake begins to rise in late April or May.

Large and smallmouth bass fishing was fair to good in the backs of rocky coves and on shallow rocky points found all over the lake. The key to finding bass was to watch the temperature gauge and fish in the warmest water available in rocky habitat that was 5-15 feet deep. A warm cove with direct sunlight and large boulders to absorb the heat, often have temperatures as warm as 60 degrees while the main channel temperature is in the low 50s. The best bass lures were plastic grubs, including double and single tail grubs, Senkos, Ned rigs, and small grubs with a spinner attached, Bass will hit small crankbaits cast into shallow water and trolled in open water near rocky structure.

Walleye are still spawning at night. Very few walleye bite your lures now. As the water warms in April and gets even warmer in May, walleye will be much more cooperative.

Stripers are wandering. They have left the deep water (100 feet) where they spent the winter. They will eventually end up in the main channel, but for now, they are seeking warmer water and looking for food. Some have moved to the backs of canyons and, like bass, seek the warmest water available. That warm water is where the afternoon sun shines directly into a shallow cove. One technique working very well now, is to troll toward the back of a sunny canyon. Find water warmer than 54 degrees. Use a 10-foot diving crankbait and target a large submerged rock or a rocky point. Troll at 2.7 to 3.5 MPH. One very effective trolling lure is the Lucky Craft Pointer 100 in BE Gill color. Use this lure while trolling over rocky humps 10-25 feet deep. When a striper is hooked, turn around and retrace your course to find more schoolmates.

Bait fishing is spotty. There were no stripers caught by anglers I checked yesterday morning on the buoy line near the dam. Water was very clear in the main channel. The boat wakes are getting uncomfortable. All boats leaving Wahweap have to go through the channel with the Castle Rock Cut closed. The dam is protected from wakes, but Buoy 3 and the Power plant intake will be pummeled with wakes. Better choices are Navajo Canyon, Buoy 25 cove, and many other options uplake.


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