Very good catfish bite on Lake Havasu

Fishing Report

LAKE HAVASU — The lake level is 447.94 feet. The average surface water temperature is 75 degrees.

The catfish bite is very good and is producing quality channel and flathead catfish. The bite is incredibly good during the morning hours of 5-9 a.m. They begin to bite again during the night hours of 6-10 p.m. These fish are hefty and hearty feeders and will rapidly consume large amounts of cut anchovies and mackerel.

To increase the quality of a catch limit be sure to chum the waters with anchovies to bring the fish to the spot and keep them there.

The striper bite is good to excellent as they are in full spawn mode and are feeding on the spawning shad as well. The early morning bite for hard baits can be productive with Sassy Shads or 5-inch jerk baits such as the R2S Trophy Minnow or the Pointer 128 in the colors of chartreuse shad or MS herring.

The afternoon bite is great while using cut anchovies with a bottom presentation at a depth of 45-58 feet of water. The stripers are holding on the drops of the old river creek channel during this time of the day.

The largemouth and smallmouth bass bite is slowing down as the water temperature continues to rise. The best time to get these fish is in the early predawn morning hours. They are taking top-water surface lures such as R2S Bubble Walkers in chartreuse shad and white or the “Rico” in bone or white with the red eye.

Later during the day, these fish can be caught by flipping Yamamoto Senkos or Tube Baits at the base of tules that are in the deeper waters in the river or lake.

This report was provided by Debbie Blanchard of Anglers Pro Shop — Lake Havasu City.

The complete fishing report can be found in Thursday print editions of Today's News-Herald.