After working at Lake Powell from 1975 to 2021, I was very surprised to see the lake drop down to lower lake levels than I witnessed during my 46 years as fisheries biologist and manager at the lake. Obviously, the reason is a changing climate and lack of moisture that caused the lake to drop to lake levels not seen since the lake began filling in the early 1960s. Now we begin a new year in 2023 when the climate is changing again with floods, cyclones and tornadoes and hurricanes occurring almost every day across the United States. What will the weather be like the rest of this year? That is still to be determined.

How have the fish in Lake Powell responded to the change in weather? Surprisingly, they seem to be doing quite well. Striped bass have been active all winter, and fishing success has been great for these schooling fish. Bass, crappie, catfish, sunfish and walleye have been dormant during the cold winter, so they have not been caught with regularity. That should change as the water begins to warm to 58 F and more in April and into the summer and beyond.

This report will be focused on striped bass since they are the most active fish species right now. During the last two months, schooling stripers have been holding in 25 to 80 feet of water. To find fish, watch the graph and head toward the back of any canyon in the lake. Most of the time, there will be no fish showing on the graph. Then occasionally, the screen will light up and a group of 20 or more fish will appear. If the boat keeps moving, the school will disappear in 2-3 boat lengths as the boat passes over the school of fish holding on the bottom. These winter fish seem to like certain spots, and I have been able to turn around and return to the spot where the fish were seen, only to find them still holding at the same location.

Striper schools holding in deep water will respond to spoons dropped to the bottom. When the spoon stops falling, jig the spoons up and down to excite the school. It is common to catch a fish or two from the school holding at 40-80 feet in the cold winter water. Bait fishing works well when you can stop over the school, chum with cut-up anchovies, and drop the bait on a jig head down to the school. 

If fish are shallower (20-40 feet), they can be caught with a number of different techniques. During the past three weeks, the best techniques have been trolling or bait fishing. Troll deep-diving lures such as a Yozuri, Lucky Craft, Bandit and other lures with a big diving lip that are about 6 to 7 inches long. Use your favorite color and brand of lure. I have caught fish on a number of different deep diving lures. It is most important to get the lure down near the school so the fish holding in deep water can feel the lure vibration and see the color and lure action as it swims by.  

My prediction is that spring fishing at Lake Powell will be amazing when the water temperature increases from the current 47-52 F to 53-60 F degrees. Stripers will continue to respond to trolling and bait fishing, while bass, walleye, sunfish and catfish will become much more active with warming water.

It’s time! Springtime fishing at Lake Powell begins now!