Lake Powell Is Hot!
by Don Allphin
The primary spawning period for large and smallmouth bass on Lake Powell begins during either the new moon or full moon phase when the morning surface temperature hits 57 degrees. In 2010, the new moon phase was dominant in the Bullfrog, Halls, Wahweep, and the San Juan Arm of the Lake. Largemouth bass moved onto their nests in mid April. The next wave of spawning bass will take to their beds this week, as long as the weather continues to warm. Between the new and full moon phases, a cold front moved through and water temperatures dropped at least 6 degrees in the open bays around Bullfrog. The bass moved back off the beds into their staging areas to await warmer water. Sunday, April 25th marked the first day when morning temperatures again hit 57 degrees, and the bass moved back on their nests in great numbers.
Lake Powell is as healthy right now as I’ve ever seen. All fish species of fish seem to be flourishing — even the forage fish. Gizzard shad cover the bottom of most coves and bays, and thread fin shad are recovering nicely. Stripers are fat and sassy, walleyes, crappies, blue gills, and both species of bass are growing like weeds.
In the Utah TBF (The Bass Federation) spring qualifying tournament held April 17th and 18th, it took 16.62 pounds to win an individual event weighing the five largest large or smallmouth bass in an 8 hour period. I took second place with 16.42 pounds and really could have weighed a couple of more pounds if I had been able to keep one more fish on the hook. In the recent past, 12 pounds of fish would win most individual tournaments on the lake. It is a testament to the health of Lake Powell that tournament weights are increasing rapidly.
The best baits to use to target pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn bass really depend on how you choose to fish. If you plan on sight fishing (actually finding the beds and watching the fish take the bait) tubes, grubs, small swimbaits, Senkos, and soft jerkbaits work very well. Remember that the brighter the colors the better you the angler can see the bait on the nest. I’ll write about the specific ways to entice a strike from spawning bass on a later post. If you choose to target pre-spawn fish, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs, and swimbaits seem to work best Vary your lures, retrieves and timing to settle in on the most effective method.
Suffice it to say that Lake Powell is truly on fire, and will stay that way as long as the water levels continue to rise and the forage continues to be abundant. It’s been a long time coming, but America’s Wonderland is back, and back in a big way!
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