Lake Powell report

ATTENTION: Quagga and zebra mussels are a major threat to Utah waterways. Read how you can help keep them out of Utah.

By Wayne Gustaveson, www.wayneswords.com

Updated August 27

Lake elevation: 3,631 ft., water temperature: 79–83° F.

Stripers have slipped into their lazy mode over much of the lake. That means they are feeding easily with little need to join in large schools to trap shad. Apparently shad are abundant, scattered and easy to eat over most of the lake. Surface feeding is equally easy to see, but hard to approach in time to cast before the fish go down. The chase is fun and punctuated with enough large, sustained boils to make the number of fish caught at the end of the day respectable.

Damien Dibble from Perry, UT shares the back deck with two frisky stripers he landed during a striper boil in Padre Bay.

The extreme north and south ends of the lake are experiencing these lackadaisical, scattered feeding events. Perhaps the best place to be is midlake where boils of longer duration are found. On a cruise uplake yesterday, from Wahweap to Bullfrog, decent boils were seen midday at Buoy 27, Dangling Rope (main channel), Buoy 55, the mouth of San Juan, Halls Crossing Marina breakwater and the Bullfrog docks.

The best school in the lower lake was found in Padre Bay around the island separating Gunsight from Padre Bay. Some days the stripers are scattered across Padre, but this morning the big school stayed up from first light to 7:30 a.m. Then they fragmented into small groups and fed in all directions throughout Padre Bay. They were easy to catch in the early morning but hard to hook after 8 a.m. The school seemed to regroup at about 8 a.m. and boiled once more at 8:30 a.m. before finishing the morning feeding event.

Stripers boil again in the same locations in the afternoon beginning as early as 3 p.m. but feeding may be delayed to as late as 6 p.m. Most serious anglers end up with 30 fish after a good morning or evening trip.

Smallmouth bass are being caught with ease along the shoreline but most are small. Bigger bass are feeding deep along the shoreline or with the striper schools in open water. Some really big largemouth have recently been taken on surface lures in the backs of brushy coves.

Catfishing with bait is excellent in the evening near camp.