LAKE HAVASU

Lake Level 449.7.

Striped bass bite spotty with most limits coming on cut anchovies fished over 35-feet deep around the old river channel drop off. Some early morning action trolling or casting pointer or trophy minnow jerkbaits around the Havasu Landing Casino and Windsor Beach at Lake Havasu State Park.

Smallmouth bass action good in the early morning throwing poppers and spook style baits across reefs and flats in two- to eight-feet of water. Later, switch to No. 221 Cinnamon purple flk Hula Grubs fished on a river2sea brown three-eighths or half

football head fished on rocky banks and points in eight- to 20-feet of water. Hop this bait down the rocks to imitate a crawdad escaping a predator.

Redear sunfish action still good using nightcrawlers rigged under a bobber fished in shallow bays north above the sandbar.

Report courtesy of John Galbraith of Anglers Pro Shop, Lake Havasu City.

LAKE POWELL

Lake elevation: 3,619. Water temperature: 68- to 73-degrees.

Lake Powell tributaries are now depositing 90,000 acre-feet per day in the lake. That volume of water brings mud, cold temperature, and driftwood. Fishing in the muddy water is difficult at best. For this week fish clear water. The mudline is well downstream from Good Hope Bay in the main stem and at Neskahi and Piute bay on the San Juan.

With the backs of canyons changing daily, a better strategy is to fish main channel cliffs, cracks and cuts. The deep water ends of rocky points allow one to find bass by gradually working deeper along the point until fish are caught. Once the active fish depth zone is known, concentrate efforts on that specific depth for best success.

Striped bass are being caught more often but still only in modest numbers. Some anglers are finding stripers in the traditional main channel spots including the dam, power plant intake, Navajo Canyon and Moki Wall. It is necessary to fish much deeper than in past years. Stripers are holding at 50- to 80-feet in the main channel, so let the bait go deep and chum often to attract attention and get fish to rise in the water column.

More consistent action is found trolling in 25-feet of water. That pattern has been in place all spring and continues to produce the majority of the striper harvest. Some good trolling locations include backs of major canyons where bottom depth is 15- to 25-feet. Try Warm Creek, Navajo, Gunsight, Last Chance, Rock Creek, Jacks Arch, Escalante, Lake Canyon, Bullfrog, Halls Creek, and Red Canyon. Troll over the shallow water between the Halls Ferry Ramp and houseboat buoy field.

One very bright spot is the potential walleye catch this week. Rising water causes bank sloughing and muddy coves. Warm temperatures energize walleye to their peak feeding response of the year. Cast night crawlers to coves or troll muddy main channel shoreline with Wally Diver lures to target hungry walleye.

Report courtesy of Wayne Gustaveson.

LEES FERRY

Fly Fishing: Fish were in a good mood and ready to play, loads of fish in the back eddies sipping midges. Just about anywhere you saw foam and a few ducks you could bet there were fish just under the surface. It almost looks like a light rain is falling in that particular spot. The trick is to locate yourself so you can cast to them without spooking them.

The drift is another tricky task; you can see them but sometimes it is hard to get your fly to do what is needed to hook these fish.

The riffles are fishing well too, some better than others, but that will change from day to day.

There is an incredible amount of moss growing on the river bottom, it is a bit of a pain but that will bode well for the trout’s food base. We are using laser midges, zebra midges, San Juan worms, the dry and dropper rig or even a double midge rig.

Walk in: You don’t need be in the water waist deep; knee deep will do fine, out in the water just enough to keep your line out and off the rocks. You will see a kind of line in the water where it turns from light to a darker color, that’s where you want to flick your fly and send it down stream with a good dead drift.

Flies of choice are the San Juan worm, brassies, zebra midges, the laser midge, midge x and the like.

Spin Fishing: Fishing with glo bugs and San Juan worms on the bottom seems to be the trick.

Report courtesy of Ted Welling, Lees Ferry Anglers and Cliff Dwellers Lodge.

LAKE MEAD

Water levels are dropping at about one foot per week. The current level is 1,098 feet above msl.

The striper bite has been great. Both trolling and fishing under lights at night yielded large numbers of fish. The lights are more productive when used around the new moon, on dark nights. The last new moon was on Sunday, so look for the fishing to be really good at night. Two-pound stripers are not uncommon.

Launching conditions at South Cove will continue to deteriorate as the water level continues to drop. The concrete ramp the National Park Service completed last year is one lane with cones marking the edges. Use caution not to go off the sides of the metal extensions at either side. National Park Service is working to keep the ramp open. Temple Bar launch ramp is two lanes. Launching conditions in general are better at Temple Bar than South Cove.

LAKE MOHAVE

The lake level is around 642 feet above msl.

Fishing for stripers seems to be pretty good in the southern portion of the lake. Bass are located on fish habitat in 15- to 20-feet. As the water warms look for the fish to become more active.

Biologists from both Arizona Game and Fish Department and Nevada Division of Wildlife with the help of volunteers, National Park Service and Bureau of Reclamation personnel have continued to install fish habitat in Carp Cove, Box Cove and now Shoshone. Fish habitat consists of PVC structures, wood pallet structures, Tamarisk bundles, and some Christmas trees. The largemouth, bluegill and catfish are really utilizing the new structures. Additional habitat will be added at several locations over the next two years. These structures are fish magnets.

WILLOW BEACH

Trout are stocked every Friday. Fishing has been pretty poor. Only one of 16 anglers sampled was successful on Saturday.

While no striper were caught on Saturday, two were caught on May 20, a 14-pound and a 25-pound striper.

TOPOCK MARSH

The water level is up, but the fishing has been really slow. Some bass are being caught, but fishing in general is slow.

PARKER STRIP

It’s flathead season. Anglers have reported catching flatheads as large as 30-pounds already. Live goldfish work best.

Bass are also becoming more abundant along the strip. Frogs, Senkos, T-1 Terminator spinnerbaits and jigs, these are all great baits for large and smallmouth bass this time of year. Try matching your baits to the color of the bottom where you are fishing.

Below HeadGate Dam, this is the end of the river known for big catfish and a lot of smallmouth. Use live goldfish for bait if you’re fishing for flatheads. Anchovies work well for channel cats as well as nightcrawlers.

Bass can also be caught using a variety of artificial baits. Seven-inch Powerworms, as well as jigs, work very well for catching some of the many smallmouth that inhabit this area.

Report courtesy of Anglers Central and http://www.FishParkerAz.com.