This Will Be a Year to Remember at Lake Powell

Arizona Outdoorsman / AZOD

Information from AG&FD site
Repeated for "news reporting purposes"

Arizona and Utah fisheries biologists say this will be a year to remember at Lake Powell for stripers, smallmouth bass and walleye.

A second successive year of good shad forage in 2003 has left both striped bass and smallmouth bass big, fat and sassy. This should be a good year for walleye as well.

Arizona anglers: remember to get a Lake Powell stamp. They are available at any of the seven Arizona Game and Fish Department offices. Some of the tackle stores in the Page area also carry the stamps. You might want to get yours now rather than waiting.

" I’m pumped—my fishing license already has a Powell stamp on it for this year. It’s tough to beat big stripers, hard-fighting smallies and great tasting walleye all packaged in 2,200 miles of breath-taking shoreline,” says Rory Aikens, who compiles the weekly fishing report for the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

According to Wayne Gustaveson with the Utah Division of Wildlife, the fishing experience this year will be exciting. “This will be a year to remember. Plan on fishing in 2004. Ramps are being extended and launching conditions will be great as soon as the lake starts to rise in May.”

Gustaveson, who compiles the weekly Powell fishing report, explains that last year striped bass boiled vigorously from July through October until cooling water forced shad deep. Stripers grew to an average of 4 pounds with 7-pound fish common. Stripers have continued to feed on shad during winter and have not lost weight. “Expect husky 4-pound stripers in the spring with some bigger ones possible in the creel,” says Gustaveson.

The outlook is also superb for big smallmouth bass this year. Smallmouth bass took advantage of the abundance of forage. “Last year, smallies waited along shorelines for stripers to drive shad to rocky ambush points, then the bronze backs made quick work of fleeing shad. The daily food express worked wonders. The little bass that had been so abundant at Powell for years grew up,” he says.

Before 2003 it was hard to catch a one-pound smallmouth. Gustaveson predicts that in 2004 the majority of bass caught will weigh more than a pound and 2-pound bass will be common.

Here is the expected fishing timetable:

February: Walleye move shallower as they prepare for spawning. Bass can be caught but only on perfect plastic presentations fished close to the bottom of submerged rocky creek channels. Stripers are dormant.

March: Water warms slightly causing largemouth to move shallow in search of nest sites. Warm afternoons in March may be the very best time to catch largemouth in Powell. Smallmouth fishing still slow. Stripers are dormant. Walleye are spawning, so males don’t eat and females are not especially interested in food.

April: Bass spawning begins and peaks in the third week, weather permitting. Best smallmouth fishing will be during the peak of the spawn April 15–May 15. The fishing pinnacle will be reached just before the runoff starts while the lake is still stable. The pattern is dictated by weather. On warm calm days bass will be on spawning flats near the deep-water edge. On cold days bass will drop over the edge to the rocky creek bottom. Walleye and striped bass begin to feed as water warms. Stripers do not leave the backs of the canyons where shad forage persists. Anglers waiting at the dam are disappointed. Trolling catches stripers on long minnow-shaped lures in the backs of canyons and bays.

May: Bass fishing is still great. Walleye fishing peaks. Striped bass fishing is good for trollers but poor for bait fishermen.

June: Bass fishing success declines. Catfish and bluegill are very active and provide fast fishing. A few stripers begin to hit anchovies as warming water forces them to go deep. Trolling for stripers is till good.

July–September: The stripers begin to boil and interest in all other fishing dies. Stripers are chased on the surface from dawn to 8 a.m. and then again in the evening.

"With this line up anglers have some great choices. There will be some incredible fishing days in 2004. The actual results are dependent on the shad spawn,” Gustaveson says.

A third year of high shad numbers will cause a repeat of 2003 with quality fish being caught at a slower pace. “A shad spawning failure will mean all fish will get hungry. Hungry fish will be very easy to catch. Their frame will not lose weight until late summer so even hungry fish will be larger than normal,” he says.

Note: The Arizona Game and Fish Department prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, disability in its programs and activities. If anyone believes they have been discriminated against in any Game and Fish program or activity, including its employment practices, the individual may file a complaint alleging discrimination directly with the Game and Fish Deputy Director, 2221 W. Greenway Rd., Phx., AZ 85023, (602) 942-3000 or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4040 N. Fairfax Dr., Ste. 130, Arlington, VA 22203. If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact the Game and Fish Deputy Director as listed above or by calling TTY at 1-800 367-8939 azgfd.com