Fly fishing with customers from Lufkin, TX. We did some fly fishing with clausers and some smallmouth and young stripers were caught. Also conventional caught some Walleye. Within 2 weeks we should be seeing some really great top water action for both conventional and fly fishing. Weather is heating up so early morning starts or late afternoon start till dusk. Capt. Bill
Here is the latest from our Chief Biologist “Wayne’s Words”
Lake Powell Fish Report
By: Wayne Gustaveson June 23, 2010
Lake Elevation: 3638 Water Temperature 69-75 F
Slurps and Boils!
We will be talking about surface feeding by striped bass for the rest of the summer. Here are some terms that will make it easier for you to understand my reports. “Slurps” are defined as surface feeding by stripers of all sizes on very small larval shad. Tiny shad are poor swimmers. There is not much chance of them eluding stripers that line up with open mouths and skim the surface sucking in shad as they go. The scrimmage line moves along at high speed (3-5 mph). Slurpers go down when the boat gets in range but then resurface in random directions. If they come up near the boat stripers are easier to catch. If they surface well out of range the boat must be quickly repositioned to get in casting range again.
“Boils” happen when all size stripers trap fast swimming juvenile and adult shad at the surface and feed voraciously while shad are trapped within the circular stationary striper school. Boiling stripers consume large surface lures that can be cast for long distances.
Slurping stripers can be fussy eaters because their prey is so small. The feeding school can move in just about any direction as larval shad are commonly found in most open water areas. Fishing success in slurps requires precision casting. A lure tossed into the scrimmage line will spook the whole school or be ignored by fish looking straight ahead. But a lure cast well in front of the first fish and worked back into the scrimmage line will be seen and sometimes eaten. This morning slurpers would take full size surface lures and crankbaits until 8 AM. Then we used finesse streamer flies behind a casting bubble to deliver a small bait a very long way. This method proved just as effective for stripers as it is for trout.
Stripers are now slurping intermittently throughout the day. This morning slurps were seen from Wahweap Bay to Navajo Canyon to Padre Bay and beyond. My guess is that stripers are slurping from Wahweap to Bullfrog and perhaps as far uplake as Good Hope Bay. The upper lake beyond Good Hope is too muddy for slurps. Slurps will last through the rest of June with boils beginning in July. Stripers caught from slurps this morning weighed between 3 and 4 pounds.
Excellent fishing for big largemouth bass exists in the tree line that is now mostly under water. Use heavy line with weedless plastic baits worked right in the thickest brush for best results.
Smallmouth bass are found on rocky structure in the main canyons and main channel. Smaller bass are shallow while larger bass are at depths of 15-30 feet. Tube jigs, Carolina rigs and drop shot baits fished along the breaking edge of fast falling sloping rock are very effective.
Walleye continue to be caught in the largest numbers seen since the 1980s. Trolling along brushy treetops, crawling worm harnesses along the bottom and casting to muddy coves morning and evening are all effective techniques.
Fishing success continues to be awesome. The only drawback/benefit now is that the technique determines which species will be caught. It is possible to pick which fish to catch by choosing a location and a technique to match the target species.
