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Old Fishing Reports

Lake Powell Fishing Guide Report 7/10/2010:

Striped Bass are boiling like crazy!!!!!! We are casting Zara Spooks and small spoons and nocking them dead. Long accurate casts are a must. The action has been hot and heavy. If you would like to see what fishing Striper boils is like then you should watch our video "Lake Powell Top Water Explosion".

We have also been doing really well catching Walleye and Smallmouth bass trolling medium diving crank baits.

The bottom line is that with the current conditions we are as confident as ever that we can put any caliber of fisherman on the fish.

We are not anticipating any changes in fishing techniques for the next month so there wont be another post until conditions change.

Here is a few pictures to prove that we're not B.Sing:

Lake Powell Fishing Guide Report 06/25/10:

In our last report we had indicated that we had not had much success with the Largemouth Bass......well that pissed us off..... so we went out for the late afternoon and caught this nice green fish. I was pitching a drop shot rig and Danny was using a split shot chartreuse tube. We fished in the thickest brush that we could find. We didn't get many bites but the bites that we did get were good.

TST Fishing Guide Danny Woods with a mid-summer Largemouth Bass. Lake Powell

Lake Powell Fishing Guide Report June 23rd 2010:

The dog days of Summer have arrived and with it has come a complete change in technique:

Largemouth Bass -

We have had very limited success because of rising lake levels and to tell the truth, we haven't been spending our time targeting them because we have been busy catching other species.

Smallmouth Bass -

They have moved off of their typical structure and have started chasing larva. We noticed several Smallies popping the surface off of rocky points today and that told us that we needed to put on the crank baits for the rest of the season. We trolled deep diving crank baits today over brushy flats in 21' of water with brush that was topping out at 15 feet. We had our best success when our baits were ticking the tops of the bushes (Can produce

snags and false bites but if you want to catch fish you'll deal).

Walleye -

We have been catching an unprecedented amount of Walleye this year. Walleye are the best tasting fish that god has invented and it has been a blessing to have them on our plates regularly. We have been nailing them with the same trolling techniques that I gave for Smallmouth Bass.

Striped Bass -

They have begun to slurp (aka.. Boil) the larval shad but they are running in small pods and eating very small bait. We casted on 10 slurps today and only caught two fish. We have been downsizing and casting small crappie jigs on 4lb line at them but our jigs are much bigger than what they are eating and they pass. If you are familiar with flyfishing then you'll understand "match the hatch". The slurps are very fickle and disappear quickly but in a week or two, when the shad grow a little bigger, things should pick up and the top water bite should dial in.

6/20/2010 LAKE POWELL FISHING GUIDE REPORT:

THE STRIPED BASS HAVE BEGUN BOILING!!!!!!!!!! GAME ON

Threadfin shad have recently spawned and the lake is full of their larva. Stripers have started pushing these larva to the surface in a phenomina called slurping. Danny and I got into our first slurps this morning and caught a few very healthy fish using small jigs fished on 4lb line. Long accurate casts are a must when chasing the slurps. There not a more exciting way to catch fish. The slurps are subtle and very spooky this time of year but as the temperture goes up so does the intensity of the fish. As the shad get bigger we will switch to top water baits such as Spooks and poppers and that adds even more excitement. There has never been a better time to book a fishing trip with This Side of That Guide Service.

6/08/2010 Lake Powell Fishing Guide Report:

Lake levels have started to rise dramatically. For the last month we have been catching many Large and smallmouth bass in the shallow brush and cuts but recently the water has stared to rise and the bite has been much deeper. We have been having some really good days catching chunk fish in 20 to 30 feet of water throwing chartreuse swim baits and clear tubes. We've been keeping our eyes out for striper boils which should be starting any day. Walleye have been more abundant than ever and have graced our live well on a regular basis.

Here is a photo of my godson and nephew holding a whopper Lake Powell bronze fish that he caught all by himself from cast, hookset to net.

4/26/2010 LAKE POWELL FISHING GUIDE REPORT:

THE SPAWN IS ON!!!!!!!!!!!

Lake Powell Fishing conditions could not be any better. There is no reason to write a lengthy diatribe because the fish are engulfing anything that gets near them. Sight fishing on beds, trolling for Striped Bass, the Walleye are starting to get active, and Smallmouth are moving into the rockslides...... all I can say is FISH ON!!!!! A Picture is worth a thousand words.

Enjoy

3/13/2010 LAKE POWELL FISHING GUIDE REPORT:

Lake Powell Fishing right now is a good news bad news type of situation. The good news is that Danny and I watched many good bags of Largemouth and Smallmouth bass get weighed in at the local Lake Powell tournament. Many fishermen had 5 fish with weights in the mid teens and few had a green fish that was over four pounds! Obviously fishing is turning on. The bad news is that the fish that are few and far between. Water temps are in the low fifties and fish have not yet become active. We have been experiencing a uncomonly cold winter and the spring spawn has yet to begin. In the near future Spring (aka Warm temps) is going to arrive and with it will be some of the best fishing Lake Powell has had to offer in many years. Here's to the Spring!!!!

Captain Ky

Lake Powell Fishing Guide Report: 4/5/2010 By Ky
I Spent Friday afternoon and all day Saturday trolling for striped bass in Warm Creek bay. A while back I saw a fishing show that highlighted umbrella rigs for sailfish and thought that it would be a great technique for the stripers on Lake Powell. I bought three, four armed rigs from Bass Pro Shops and they spent the next year and a half gathering dust in my closet. I finally got off my lazy butt this weekend and gave them a whirl. After some Googling and connoitering I came up with two set ups. My first set up, which turned out to be the best, involved two hookless spoons on the inside loops for their flash effect (I'm going to put another two spoons on next time), four single tailed silver Yamamoto grubs on worm hoo My first attempt at the umbrella rig set up for striped bass on Lake Powell ks as teasers, and a Lucky Crafts shallow diving crank bait as a trailer. On the other rig I used all 1/8th ounce Kastmasters for maximum flash effect. On both rigs I used about three inches of 14 lb test to attach the center hookless spoons to the inner loops. I kept them short to prevent tangling. The four outer “teasers” I used about 14 inches of twenty pound test. I used 20lb because these would be the likeliest lures to get snagged on the bushes and I would have more strength for pulling them free. The center trailing lure I used about 24 inches of 14 lb test and ran small shallow diving crank baits. I used 14lb because I thought the lighter line would enhance the action of the bait.

All afternoon Friday and Sat. morning I ran a test and fished the umbrella on my port and ran my standard deep diving crank on starboard. The result was three strik A nice pair of Lake Powell Stiped Bass that were caught by casting behind a hooked fish es to one going to the umbrella and by Sat afternoon the second rig took the place of the traditional crank bait on the starboard. To my surprise about 80% of the fish I caught were on the outside teasers and not the trailer crank. I graphed schools on 14 to 18 foot humps that rise out of 30 to 40 feet of water. My rigs run at about thirteen feet and when I would drag them through the school it was money. We even had a double hookup on one umbrella rig which was pretty dang cool!!!  We also added a bang for our buck by casting behind fish that were hooked on the umbrella rig and being reeled in. Stripers will follow a fighting fish and can be caught using a jig or spoon, so always have a rod rigged and ready.

I have to admit that at times the rig can be a pain because of all the hooks and lines but once they were in the water and rolling they were definitely worth the hassle.  After every fish there is the inevitable detangle debauchery but it is a small price to pay for putting fish in the live well. I am very excited about this technique and plan to experiment with it extensively.
On Sat we took a short break from trolling and threw jigs at Large and Smallmouth Bass in the shallows.  The fishing is picking up a little because of the warming water (54 degrees in spots) but is still slow.  As it has been all spring, the fish that we are picking up are solid chunks but very finicky.
‘Till next time,

Captain Kyran Keisling

3/22/10 LAKE POWELL FISHING GUIDE REPORT: By Ky

I am just getting off of a nine day, spring break, outdoor extravaganza. I spent the first six days fishing on Lake Powell and the last three playing on the Verde River in central AZ. I had a great time rafting and bird watching on "The Verd" but that is not what this post is about. This post is about the fishing!! We had a family houseboat parked on an amazing beach on Antelope Island and had the entire lake to ourselves. I would guess that I saw less than 30 boats in six days and we were parked in the main channel. We were blessed with 60+ degree days and ZERO wind so needless to say it was pleasant.
The first few days of fishing required tenacity and wherewithal. We were targeting Large and Smallmouth bass in 50 to 52 degree water and bites were few and far between. The fishing was slow but the bright side was that I was sticking pig green fish. Every fish that we caught on my boat was 2 plus pounds and a few that were 4 plus. We were throwing small tubes into about 2 to 6 feet of water and getting hit before the jig hit the bottom. Every strike was vigorous and obvious.

The third day we decided to target Crappie in the backs of the brushy coves. We found them hiding in the depths of the thickest bushes, getting ready to spawn. We positioned our boat above the bushes and threaded a jig through the branches. Sometimes it took fifteen minutes to weasel the jig through but once we got it in front of thier nose and gave it a little twitch, they would inhale it. The next issue was getting the slab out of the bush before he wrapped our 4lb test around a twig and snapped us off. While we were popping nice pound and a half crappie out of the shrubs we were also able to hook a few Large mouth bass as an added bonus. As a side note.... we also managed to catch a bunch of small Smallmouth bass on rocky, broken slides using pumpkin colored tubes, which was really good news because when the Smallmouth start biting, the 50 fish days are soon to follow.

The last day of Spring Lake Powell fishing brought us up against the striped bass. We had a gaggle of sand monkeys (aka kids) that were itching to catch a fish, so we decided to do some trolling in Warm Creek for stripers. We had three boats, nine kids and a heap load of expectation. We ran medium and deep diving crank baits in stained water, over a long tapering point. After some poking around with the fish finders we were able to pin point the schools in about 10 to 15 foot of water and the fishing poles began to bounce. All told, we boated 22 stripers, and every kid on the trip caught fish. It was honestly one of the best days of fishing that I have ever done, not because of numbers and size but because of joy. Those kids were STOKED and they were so excited that they helped us clean and prepare the fish for dinner. It was truely a memory.