Fishing was great last week, so we decided to duplicate that trip and see what had changed in the past week. Last week, we found early morning actively spawning carp at our first stop, with smallmouth and stripers actively feeding in shallow water just below the carp. This time, we found no spawning carp and only managed to catch one smallmouth bass. So, we headed up lake. Next stop was the secret cove where we caught 20 largemouth bass. We found only one largemouth. Fishing trips are always different. The only way to find success is to try as many spots as possible and change techniques until the fish respond. Last week, the green double tailed hula grub was the favorite lure. This time I did not start catching fish until changing to the eighth ounce crappie jig that performed well two weeks ago.

The next stop was a large cove, shaded by a high wall with a shallow rocky ridge extended out into the bay. This time the fish responded immediately to the crappie jig. Small schools of stripers showed up on the graph and really liked the crappie jig. These stripers were mostly small one and two-year-old schooling fish. If the jig was cast close to the school, the stripers responded immediately. Many small, healthy stripers really liked the chartreuse jig with a white tail.

Smallmouth bass were just as active as stripers, and we hooked almost as many bass as stripers using the same crappie jig along the same rocky ridge. We started on the shallow end of the rocky ridge and slowly followed the ridge bouncing the jig off the bottom until the ridge dropped off into deep water. Then we retraced our course back to the shallow end of the ridge and cast the crappie jig near shore. Catching smallmouth bass and stripers was consistent as we repeated the same course on three consecutive trips from the shallow end to the deep drop-off. The only difference from last week was no crappie and no walleye.

We decided to go back for one more drift and started in shallower water near the cliff wall. I tossed the light crappie jig into 3 feet of water near a submerged rock and got a quick hit. It was obvious that this fish was quite a bit larger than the small bass and stripers. Then the fish flashed near the boat. My heart skipped a beat as I saw a huge largemouth bass with my crappie jig in its mouth. My partner quickly grabbed the landing net and fortunately slid the net perfectly under the big –fish in a single stroke. I quickly removed the hook with pliers, then took a picture of the green fish monster and gently put the big bass back into the water. That was amazing!

We left the rocky ridge and went further into the canyon. We caught another bass and striper and went into a narrow slot canyon with a steep sandy beach under a sandstone ledge. I saw movement at the top of the sand and recognized two otters playing in the sand. We grabbed the camera and took pictures as they worked down the hill and jumped into the water. Lake Powell is amazing with great fishing and more surprises every time we go on the lake.