Lake Powell Fish Report August 7, 2013 Lake Elevation: 3593 Water Temperature 77-81 F
By: Wayne Gustaveson
Lake surface temperature and lake level are declining. Cool monsoon weather patterns are adding much needed rain water to the lake but not enough to keep the lake from declining one foot per week. Fishing success for stripers on anchovy bait and smallmouth on plastic bait is still exceptional.
Adult stripers are holding at about 30 feet where cooler temperatures make life more pleasant for these hungry fish. Add some anchovy chum to the water and stripers come running. Best fishing spots are still the same with old favorites like the Dam, Power Plant intake, and steep walls in Padre Bay and Navajo Canyon. Hungry striper schools can be found in just about any canyon lakewide by graphing along the canyon walls while looking for schools and/or just by chumming a few spots and waiting for fish to show up.
Some fine points that make finding striper schools easier include fishing along the shade line created by a steep cliff wall. Another key point is to target a fractured cliff wall or small isolated rock slide along that shaded steep wall to find a fish holding spot. Stripers really like to hold near a smooth slick rock hump at 30 feet with deep water all around.
Striper surface action has been confined to a few very quick boils very early in the morning or near sunset. Lack of abundant shad schools limits the amount of feeding that can be done in the warm surface layers by adult stripers. Any surface action is now performed by juvenile stripers that are able to withstand prolonged exposure to warm water. There will be more surface action in the northern lake but boils are not common anywhere on the lake this week.
