Lake elevation: 3,650 feet

Water temperatures: 65–69°F

Fall fishing is in full swing. The whole lake, from Wahweap to Hite, is now producing an amazing array of fish. The key ingredients to the change in fishing fortune are cooling temperatures and dark skies at night. The key players are largemouth and smallmouth bass, but we're also seeing stripers, walleye and crappie. The better news is that this surge in fishing success will now continue through the month of November.

Dylan, a young angler from Utah, had a great day of fishing in Wahweap Bay. He caught a large striper and many smallmouth bass similar to the one he's holding in the picture. Fall fishing has now taken off. Anglers are catching bass and the occasional striper. It looks like we'll have great fishing this winter.

Photo courtesy of Wayne Gustaveson

Bass are the main players right now. Each spring, the best bass fishing activity occurs at water temperatures near 65 degrees. The same thing happens again in the fall. It looks like the water temperature will be in that range for the next two weeks. You can find bass in and along the brush line in the main lake and in the coves and canyons. While it may be challenging to fish the brush, there are many ways to catch fish instead of limbs.

The best method this past week was to use a dropshot rig with a Yamamoto shad-shaped worm. The worm was hooked about 8–10 inches above the weight. Use a wide gap 3/0 hook and rig it so the hook is mostly in the plastic. There should be only a slight hook point on the outside of the bait (Tex-posed). Try to fish almost vertically by lowering the rig below the boat, placing it between any bushes you can see just under the surface. Fish in 15–25 feet of water. Let the bait tremble in one location for a while and wait for hungry bass to move beyond inspection to tasting. To set the hook with a dropshot rig, you'll want to use a long sweep instead of a quick jerk. (Or you can just start reeling when it feels like you've hooked a fish.) The wait for a bite shouldn't take too long. There are many bass up to two pounds that are waiting to get fed.

Always keep a top-water bait and a rattletrap close at hand. Throw these baits near any surface disturbance to entice bass or stripers that may be feeding on shad near the surface. You'll see these little blowups often, and you can catch many fish on top throughout the day. Striped bass are still fussy, but trolling and casting rattletraps and top-water baits to the brush line has been more effective since the cold front blew in. Stripers are strong, healthy and fearless. They will provide shocking hook sets as they grab your bait and head out for the nearest tree. It's a good idea to use heavier line in the brush when you're fishing for these super-strong stripers.

Crappie are now biting in the very thickest brush thickets. Your ability to catch them will improve as the water temperature drops to near 60 degrees. Use tiny hair and plastic jigs and fish them vertically in the thick brush to prevent snagging as long as possible. Bring along a good supply of crappie jigs because terminal tackle will invariably be lost.

You may occasionally catch walleye, bluegill and catfish while fishing for other species. It is probably best to fish for bass and stripers and be grateful for a bonus walleye if one happens to drop by. It feels great to be able to report good fishing again. That makes it easier for me to conclude my regular reports as we begin our fall sampling. There will be sporadic reports posted on wayneswords.com throughout the coming months, but regular fishing reports will not happen again until next March. Enjoy the great fall and winter fishing. I will see you again in the spring.