LAKE POWELL FISHING REPORT
**please scroll down for past guide reports and fish photos
Captain Keisling,
I wanted to write in and thank you for taking me out a couple weeks ago and sharing
some of your local knowledge of Lake Powell. That sure was fun catching all those
bass and walleye. I'm new to fishing, but it is hard for me to imagine another lake
with so much diversity in fish.
I used what you taught me about tube jig technique and reading lake structure. Last
weekend my buddy Chris and I launched from Antelope Point and camped one night on the
south end of the lake. We ended up landing many Smallmouth bass, a Largemouth, a Walleye,
numerous Stripers and a handful of Black Crappie. Most all of the fish were caught in a boulder strewn
little cove fifteen feet wide in water from 6" to 12 feet (our "honey hole").
We were feeling pretty good about ourselves, being two rookies to the lake and having so much success.
I launched solo on Mothers Day afternoon and went back to that same area on the south
end of the lake. I was hoping to have the luck that Chris and I had found and ended
up being happily surprised. After a quick stop by the "State Police" (I think it was
Game and Fish) to check my licenses and boat gear, it was fish on. I first found a rocky
outcrop and caught a handful of Green Sunfish. They were in the 5-7" range. Not very large,
but certainly aggressive and a blast to hook! I moved down the ways to the honey hole where
my luck exploded. Soon it was almost a-fish-a-cast which has made the lake renowned.
One great thing about Powell is sometimes you just don't know what you might be reeling in.
I landed a nice 3.5 lb largemouth (my largest yet), a 1.5 lb Walleye, numerous 6-10"
Smallmouth bass, and several large Striped bass. There were several boats Striper fishing in
the area and two clowns in one boat had their stereo cranked complete with the off-key singing
of "Baby Hold on to Me" by Eddie Money. Anyway, the daylight was waning by the time
I hooked a 9" Gizzard Shad. Feeling proud of the day, I trolled across lake to a quiet beach
for the evening.
Up well before first light, I cruised back to the honey hole where my efforts produced
numerous Black crappie. All told my efforts landed me around forty fish for the trip,
with all but a few released. I used the same tube jig for all species, a white 3" Yamomoto.
It was a heck of a little trip, with seven different species caught, perhaps a once in
a lifetime event.
Thanks again for all the fishing tips. Keep those fish on.
Albert Newman
Striped Bass: Still going absolutely nuts. We're averaging 50 fish on half days and 100 on full days.
Large and Smallmouth Bass: Getting better by the day. Fish are in pre-spawn to spawning mode. I haven't noticed any fish defending beds yet but I have seen the beginnings of beds being created wich means it's only a few degrees of water temp away from being sight fishing heaven (MY FAVORITE!).
My last trip for these species produced around 30 fish in 4 hours; 3 Largemouth @2.5lbs each, 2 Walleye one @ 2lbs and the rest Smallmouth Bass the biggest being 2.5lbs. We caught all of our fish on root beer (light tan) colored tube jigs but I'm sure you could catch them using just about any plastic jig that looks like a crawdad. All in all a really good morning and it's only going to get better.Crappie: I haven't had anyone request to fish for these critters yet but I do know my friends are catching them in the backs of canyons in the murky water. The water has dropped below the brushline so these fish are struggling to find cover. They are kind of naked without the brush and are in a random pattern. If you are into catching a few of these slabs I'm sure that we can put you on some.
Walleye: We have been catching a few every trip while fishing for Bass. We have been catchi
ng them on tubes in water from 5 to 20 feet. I'm sure if we were to go out before the sun hits the water or at night we could catch a ton more it's just hard to pass up the excelent small and largemouth fishing to target them. Right now would be the PERFECT time to get the Lake Powell Grand Slam of fish, which is one of each species listed above in one day. The Grand Slam is very unique to Powell and is a proud accomplishment. I would absolutely love to guide someone who wants to try and achieve this goal.
Lake Powell Fishing Guides Report: 5/3/13
This entry isn't a fishing report, it is the story of how our boat was crunched while parked out front of my house. Just scrole down if you want to skip this and read the latest report.
Joan J and the Bad Toupee by Kyran Keisling
I was dreaming about a one legged rodeo clown named Toots when a large crashing noise jolted me awake. In my sleep induced intoxication and desperately wanting to find out how the mono ped clown was going to handle the raging bull Bodacious , I disregarded the thunderous clatter and went back to sleep. Minutes later Kristin ran into the room and frantically pulled me from Toots and the Taurus.
“There’s been a crash outside; I think they hit your boat!”
“Ahhhh shucks” I replied.
Oh wait, actually on second thought I think I said “You’ve got to be F#@king kidding me!”
Clad in nothing more than sleepin shorts, I sprinted outside, not one bit worried about my pup tent leading the way. On my lawn sat a bleeding old man with a really bad toupee, in the street a crumpled maroon Buick that wafted the odor of cat pee and scattered all over the road, the port side of my boat.
I named my boat “Joan J” after she got me through 35 miles of seven foot wave chop and 80 mph winds without taking on so much as a gallon of water. You don’t name your boat after a dude. Boat names need to be female. I thought long and hard about it. My boat was beautiful, sleek and had nice curves but she was also a bad ass b*%ch who could slap you upside the head if need be. Joan Jet and the Blackhearts – Bad to the bone and HOT as hell, in a tattoo/leather sort of way……. Done!
A doublewide trailer mortgage and a boat payment is way, way, way to high class for a teacher salary. I practically starved to death paying off Joan J. We have been through thick and thin together. She is my baby and there she was, shattered. I wanted to cry. I wanted to run over and kiss her gel coat and tell her that all would be ok but bad toupee man was hemorrhaging blood on my grass. I went into first aid mode and tried push my busted beauty into the back of my mind but no matter how hard I tried, it kept popping back front and center.
My mouth said, “Are you OK? Do you have any pain?” My mind screamed, “Oh Jesus my precious!!!!”
My mouth, “What happened?” My mind, “Is that my taillight lying on the center line?”
My mouth, “Is the ambulance coming, has 911 been called?” My mind, “Holy crap that’s a really bad toupee! How did it stay buttoned to your scalp?” “Why was it not violently thrown into the windshield upon impact?”
Turns out the toupee and the old man under it were fine. He had a bad nose and lip bleed and I’m sure his bell had been rung pretty good but all was well when the paramedics carted him away on a backboard out of precaution.
And there I was standing on the starboard side of the port side train wreck, thinking of all the bass I had stroked upon her bow and how I would never again feel her rocking under my feet. It must have been a very busy day for the EMS crew in Page because the only people around were the 37 Page police officers, 15 paramedics and 7 fire trucks (there may have been a few social workers as well but I didn’t pay attention). I hesitated to walk around, fearing the worst. We had a fully booked week of guiding trips scheduled worth thousands of dollars. We would have to cancel all the trips. Was the boat totaled? How long would it take to get a new boat? How much would the insurance say the boat was worth? Does he have insurance? Did I remember to pay for my insurance? Why would anybody think that that toupee was better than being bald?
I slowly walked to the port side. From the pix you can see that he hit about a foot and a half of the hull,
he curled the previously flat trim tab into a trim pipe. He glanced left and careened down the step side of the trailer. It was like someone took a giant can opener and cut the wheel wells away from the bunks of the trailer. You couldn’t have done a better job with a cutting torch. Miraculously not a scratch was put into the port side of the boat. The tires and wheels were fine. The only damage other than the trailer was a silver dollar sized chunk of gel coat chipped off of the corner of the hull. I couldn’t believe it. We hooked up to the trailer and drove Joan J to the lake and dropped her in and took the trailer to Brian’s paint and body. No trips were canceled. The biggest problem I have now is that I will never be able to see a one legged rodeo clown without thinking of really bad toupees. Horrible!
Lake Powell Fishing Guides Report: 4/15/2013
We are still catching boat loads of 2-5lb striped bass. It's more like catching and not fishing. We have been doing very well at the "Intake/Pump Station" a mile west of Antelope Marina, finding them in the mouth of Antelope Canyon and at the second corner after the big island in Navajo Canyon.
We have been using cut anchovie baits but after catching 20 or 30 on bait a few of our clients have been adding a little challenge to the mix by throwing on a silver tube jig and stroking some on a lure. We have been sending home every client happy and with a sack full of fillets. The smallmouth bass have started to turn on a bit. I think another 5 degrees of water temp will really get them going but for now I would say the the fishing is a 6 out of 10 as far as action. Largemouth have also been doing fairly well. It's nice to go out and try to fool some crafty Smallies/Largies and always know that you have the Stripers you can fall back on if the bite isn't happening. Lake Powell Fishing Guides Report: 3/27/2013
The spring has started off as well as it possibly can. We have been blessed with amazing weather and the fish have been hungry and dumb. We have been catching Stripers by the ice chest full at the dam and in Navajo Canyon. We have been fishing with cut anchovie bait at a depth of 15 to 30 feet. The fish are so agressive that many times you can see them strike. This type of fishing is perfect for children, beginners or experienced anglers that just want to catch a load of fish. The Smallmouth and Largemouth fishing is pretty good as well. We have been catching them on jigs in the shallow structure in the backs of canyons.
Lake Powell Fishing Report - San Juan River Arm - May 1st - 7th
We just got done doing a guided week long Lake Powell fishing trip on the San Juan River Arm of Lake Powell. Fred Hopper and his crew came up and camped out 60 miles uplake with TST and were treated by some of the best weather/fishing/camping that Mother Nature can provide. They preferred to fish for Crappie and the San Juan didn’t disappoint. They all were nailing limits that were in the 1.5lb range with a few that were pushing 2lb and if you know your Crappie then you know that, ‘dos are goot slabs! Danny and Brian’s dad, Jim, was the camp chef and provided them with five star meals that left nobody wanting. Man… If you want to treat yourself to an amazing experience…. BOOK ONE OF OUR MULTI- DAY TRIPS!!! All you have to bring is your tooth brush. We have everything else covered….. Top notch guides, equipment, food and attitude.
The following is what was reported by Cptn. Brian Woods
What a great trip, fishing was awesome! Caught fish all day on all types of lures. Water temps went from high 50's to lower 60's with outside temp cooler and windy at the beginning of the week to mid 80's and calm by end of week.
Water & Air Temps.
May 1 - Windy mostly cloudy, Water Temp. 59-60
May 2 - Calmer, sunny, Water temp 59-61
May 3 - Sunny and warmer, water temp. up to 63 back of coves in afternoon
May 4 - Sunny, warmer, beautiful, water temp. up to 64
May 5 - Sunny, still warmer (mid 80s), calm, no wind, water temp. 62-64
May 6 - Moved to Dungeon Canyon across from Rock Creek Bay; windy and cooler
May 7 - Calm in morning, found LM and SM on beds in Dungeon
Throughout the spring the prevailing structure has been brush mixed with broken rock for all species. Brush in sand has been a bust. Likewise, broken rock with no brush has been unproductive. After this trip we have an official confirmation that Large & Smallmouth are officially starting to defend beds……yeee hawwww! Crappie were associated with brushy coves (of course), some were hovering on the mouth in deep water and others were holding tight to the shrubbery in the shallows.
Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass:
Texas rigged brush hog - Watermelon w/ black flake; Green Pumpkin w/ red flake
Texas rigged Kreature - cinnamon w/ black & purple flake; green pumpkin w/ purple & copper flake
Tubes - smoke, green, all colors
Topwater - poppers, zara puppies in shallows
Crappie:
2" curly tail w/ 1/16 oz head, colors - acid rain, chartreuse, white
3" Ika, smoke w/ 1/32 oz chartreuse head
1/16 oz Marabou Jigs
Striped Bass:
Striped bass were actually swarming the back of the boat when we were cleaning the fish. Fred and crew didn't fish for them because they were so easy to catch that they didn't provide a challenge.
May 1 - 2, pre-fished, caught sm, lm, crappie on all
May 3 - 5, mostly crappie fished with clients, 15-20' of water casting towards shore moving jig out
May 5
Early morning bass fishing, topwater and brush hogs in shallows
Crappie moved up to submerged brush/trees in afternoon
Bill caught 5 species of fish in about 15 minutes - sm, lm, crappie, bluegill, and walleye all on 2" acid rain crappie jig
Fred caught his personal first topwater bass on a popper in the shallows
I haven't been on the water as of late because I have been getting our new store ready to go for this season. We are very excited about our new home base and I will be sharing the info about it as it happens. Danny and Brian are both on a week long TST guided houseboat fishing trip up on the San Juan and I am sure the clients are putting tons of fish in the boat as we speak. Those lucky bastards!!
I did just complete my latest video. If you want to see a typical spring afternoon of Lake Powell fishing then click this link. Enjoy and we will post a report after Danny and Brian get off the trip.
Lake Powell Fishing - Spring Pre-Spawn Action
Lake Powell Fishing Report - 4/25/11
Howdy everyone,
Before I give the report I would like to share a few stories:
Danny caught a 7+ lb bass on Roosevelt Lake using a Senco. He was fishing a local charity tourney with his son. Reluctantly I have to say that he now has the biggest Largemouth either of us has ever caught.
My fiance Kristin and I got the chance to spend the weekend fishing together and we put together a Lake Powell Grand Slam. What is a Lake Powell Grand Slam might you ask???
Well it is a Striped, Largemouth, Smallmouth Bass, a Walleye and a Crappie, all in a day. Kristin put the walleye in the boat early in the day and the Large/Small and Striped bass were soon to follow and all we had left was the Crappie. We made a run into a driving rainstorm as the sun was sinking into a favorite crappie spot of mine and completed the second grand slam of my life. As a bonus, the largemouth that we caught was 5+ lbs.
Lake Powell fishing has been on fire! This Side of That Guide Service has been out on the water a lot and we have put together a pretty good pattern.
Striped Bass: Nothing has changed since the last report. We can guarantee that you will catch Striped Bass in any fashion that you desire. To illustrate my point, I went out the other day and caught a bunch in shallow water on a fly rod. It was a ball! 
The following picture was sent from a great bunch of guys from Twin falls that I took out last week. I lipped so many fish that day my thumb became a bloody stump from all the striped bass teeth. That's what I call a GOOD battle wound.
Largemouth/Smallmouth Bass: They are starting to fan beds but are not actively protecting them. We found 60 degree water on Sat. but a storm rolled in on Sun and put the temp back down to 57. I think a good warm spell and 3 degrees of water temp and they'll lay their eggs and start defending the nests (which equates to the best fishing lake Powell can afford). As of now we are catching pre-spawn bass on the same structure that we have been catching them all spring, which is long, brushy, rocky points and in the backs of shallow coves. We also have been picking up some smaller Smallmouth on rockslides and shelves (this pattern will get even better in the post spawn).
Walleye: We have not been catching as many as we did last year. They have been sporadic at best and the few that we have been catching have been by using the same technique as for Lrg/Sml Bass.
Crappie: The water receded so much that the bushes they were spawning in became high and dry. We have not had much luck for crappie lately and I am not expecting that it will pick back up until next March.
Ahhh man the season has started! There isn't a better time to be fishing Lake Powell. We have been out fishing with clients for the past several days and have been putting LARGE numbers of fish in the boat. The only question now is..... What do you want to fish for?
The great thing is, it's only going to get better as it warms up. The spawn is just around the corner and I am once again restating that, this is going to be the best spring fishing that we have seen for some time. 70 degree spring days and no (and I do mean NO!!) traffic on the lake. You cannot get any better than that!
Striped Bass: We are catching rediculous numbers of fish on anchovies. If you are looking to take your kids out or just do some easy fishing that putts hundreds of stripers in the boat then this is the style for you. If you want to add some technique and skill into the mix then we can cast tubes into shallow/weedy/sandy structure and stroke fish all day. Casting the shallows is a ton of fun because it can be a visual bite and you can see them inhale your lure in 2 to 4 foot of crystal clear water.
Largemouth Bass and Smallmouth Bass: We just had a cold storm blow through and we thought for sure that they would be "off" for a little while but we were wrong. This Side of That Guide Service has put many in the boat in the last few days. Danny and I went out in the wind and cold and boated a number of chunky bronze/green fish. The key bait was Yamamoto Creature baits in a brown with purple flake color and the key structure was shallow rocky/brushy points. We didn't catch many fish on any other structure than points mixed with bushes/rock.
Crappie: Crappie are spawning and if you are into hooking a few slabs then now is most definitely the time get out there. In a few weeks the water will rise and they will be gone for the summer. We have been catching them on small jigs in the backs of "secret" coves.
Merry Spring to you all,
One of my favorite things about being a local and a guide, is watching Lake Powell live and breath. By trying to hook fish I get to experience this body of water change by the month, week, day and hour. I love it!
Let's talk about the changes that have occured since my report last July:
Ample shad populations were keeping the Striped Bass population healthy and in the deep water. They were doing exactly what Stripers should do, which was schooling around balls of baitfish and reeking havock. For the last two years the only way we could catch Striped Bass was to troll or cast at them on the boil because they were actively chasing bait. This spring the shad have declined and the thousands of Striped Bass that thrived because of them have gotten desperate. That equates to......... VERY DUMB FISH!!!!
Honestly... We have been catching 50 to 100 striped bass per trip. For the last two years my policy when talking to clients has been to never promise fish but this spring I am going to put my reputation on the line and personally guarantee that you will catch a fish if you book with This Side of That Guide Service.
We have been catching Striped Bass in two ways:
First, we have been bait fishing with cut anchovies along rock walls and points. This technique is perfect for beginner fishermen because there is very little skill needed and it produces insane numbers of bites.
Second, we have been casting ANY (and I do mean ANY) lure into shallow brushy coves and getting nailed on almost every cast. Danny and I went out yesterday and I had one run where I caught 10 fish in 10 casts.
Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass have also turned on as of late. We have been fishing brush that is mixed with rock, using tubes/jigs and doing well. The one problem has been keeping the Stripers off of your line. I have talked to some fishermen that have been having some good success with crank baits but I haven't had time to experiment with them. The spawn should start in the next couple of weeks. It very well could be the best spring Lake Powell has ever seen for these two species of fish. Now is the time to book your Lake Powell fishing trip.
