A nice catch and great fishing day Sept. 26, 2015 fishing with Capt. Bill and Ambassador Guides & Outfitters, Inc.
Fishing Report by Capt. Bill – early starts are best and full day if possible and get out to the cooler waters. Water temps should start to cool down and we should be in for some awesome fishing. Today we fished early and had a great catch – lots of fish and good sizes.
Photo caption: Matt Redfield found great striper fishing after the blood moon drove stripers into deep water by trolling deep divers in the Padre Bay area. Striper surface action is still missing but striper catching will improve as water cools and night skies darken.
Fishing Report by Wayne’s Words
Lake Powell Fish Report – September 29, 2015
Lake Elevation: 3606
Water Temperature 74-76 F
Super Blood Moon
There was no better place to be than Lake Powell to watch the bright full moon this week and the eclipse. The timing was perfect as the moon came up at dusk with a huge presence over the high sandstone cliffs. I hope you got to see it.
However, striped bass were not impressed. I cannot explain why some full moons coincide with really difficult fishing success while others happen to make fishing success better. The result of this buildup to blood moon was to chase striped bass from the surface to the bottom. That was not all bad as anglers in the Bullfrog area, that knew where to look, were able to spoon up stripers from 80 feet deep. The hotspots were at the Mouth of Moki Canyon and along the east cliff wall between Lost Eden and Lake Canyon. Anchovy bait and chum were best at Moki Canyon while jigging spoons were the ticket along the downstream wall.
Stripers in the Wahweap area also went deep but finding them was more difficult in the southern lake. If a school of stripers was seen on the graph it was possible to drop a spoon right in the middle of the group and catch a few fish before they moved on. These schools did not hold in one spot or return to a specific location making finding them doubly difficult. The few stripers caught in the southern lake had no shad in their stomachs. It appears that full moon brought feeding and surface boils to a screeching halt.
Surface activity in the northern lake was absent. We found that out in a long round trip from Red Canyon to Trachyte and back during evening prime time. It was beautiful trip with the calm water unmarked by any stripers splashing on the surface. Trolling and spooning was good but boils were missing in action.
For now, it is all about smallmouth bass. Moon effect may have slowed the bass action on the day of the blood moon, but catching is still wide open. Surface lures cast to brushy shorelines were hammered. Drop shot rigs were readily consumed. Plastic grubs were chased and inhaled with regularity. Trolled crankbaits were chased down. Bass fishing was really good in September and will continue to excite young and old anglers alike. In fact this would be a great time for a grandson to go bass fishing with his grandfather. They could both catch fish.
My prediction is that darker nights and cooler temperatures over the next two weeks will rejuvenate the surface action and make striper fishing as good as it was two weeks ago. Shad were found in large schools in the backs of the canyons and in open water of the channel. The next major movement will be for stripers to regain their appetites and move into the canyons and coves where shad have found safe refuge for the last few weeks.
A large striper weighing 19 pounds 4 ounces was caught trolling on leaded line at an undisclosed lake location by a young man named Ben (No last name given).
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Quality of life is measured by amount of time spent fishing. Wayne Gustaveson
