LAKE HAVASU

Lake Level 449.21.

Striper bite fair with a few early morning boils of striper chasing schools of small shad (this years hatch). Use "small" jerkbaits such as a Pointer 78s or 78DD in shad colors. Troll or cast them around the main basin near Windsor Beach and the Havasu Landing Resort and Casino.

Bottom fishing cut bait such as anchovies producing a few quality fish over 3-pounds in deeper channel areas over 35-feet deep, south to Steamboat Cove.

Smallmouth bass bite good on cinnamon or green colored hula grubs rigged on a three-eighths half-ounce football jig fished around rocky banks in 6- to 18-feet of water.

Largemouth bass bite best on tubes and senkos rigged as light as possible and fished around tulle/cattail shade pockets during sunny times of the day. Most importantly is that the bait has a very slow rate of fall to give the bass time to take the bait.

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

LAKE POWELL

Lake elevation: 3,638. Water temperature: 72- to 75-degrees.

The best lures are those that cast great distances with accuracy. We had good success with large rattletraps because many schools were headed down as the boat got in range. 'Traps' dive and could be effectively presented to fleeing fish.

The best lure for me was the full size Jumpin' Minnow. It is heavier and therefore casts further than anything but a heavy spoon. Fish are feeding on top so the surface lure was just right. You should fish with your best "confidence" lure. If a lure has been good for you in the past it will be good now.

Still it is imperative that the lure is cast in front and beyond the lead fish. As the lure hits water quickly work it into the racing striper school. Stripers are looking toward the surface. They swim fast enough to beat their school mate to the next shad. A larger 'fish' (lure) will be eaten if it is in just the right spot. Casting into or behind a moving school is fruitless. Perfect placement results in a hook up with a 20- to 25-inch striper. Anything less is ignored.

Boat handling is key. Fish in boils are vulnerable for 5- to 30-seconds. Move quickly into range trying to parallel direction of fish travel. I shut off the motor when in range and grab the rod while the boat is slowing to a stop. Sometimes the school will stay on top long enough to put one cast into the school. More likely the school will sound and then resurface. The most effective cast is to the resurfacing school. Hopefully, fish come up in range and the first cast goes beyond the lead fish. Spend some time watching the school and make one good cast instead of three errant ones. I only stay with a pod of stripers long enough to see them resurface three times. After that they are wary and I move to find a fresh school.

Boils cover the length of Lake Powell and are continuous from daylight to dark when the water is calm. Wind may put them down for an hour but they come right back up as soon as the lake calms. Boils are strong from Wahweap to San Juan and Escalante. Reports are less from Rincon to Good Hope but I suspect that is lack of reports and not lack of striper boils.

If the craziness of chasing fish does not appeal then look for a striper boil near shore. Go to that spot and cast a surface walking bait or popper into the submerged trees and have fun with bass on topwater lures.

Report courtesy of Wayne Gustaveson.

LEES FERRY

The water flows will increase in volume for July and August. These two months usually provide the best and most consistent fishing of the entire year here at Lees Ferry and they are also the least crowded. In the higher water most all of our fishing is done from the boat, drifting with heavy nymph rigs or casting big cicada dry flies into the rocky shores. The largest fish of the year are usually caught in the summer months and it is during these two months that the trout experience tremendous growth rates due to the high water transporting large quantities of food around.

The current health of the river is outstanding, better than it has been in years. Last year’s above normal runoff into Lake Powell delivered and stirred up countless tons of nutrients into the water and this nutrient rich water is passing through the dam and into the river. Algae is everywhere in the river and this provides food and habitat for the aquatic food base that the trout depend upon.

With the water flows increasing we will be spending more time fishing from the boat than wading. Fishing techniques have been mixed between using a “heavy nymph rig” which is a 9- to 12-foot leader, strike indicator, split shot, and dual fly rig, a “double tiny” rig with a long leader and 2 bead-head midges on 7X, or a dry and dropper rig. I have been using 6 and 7X fluorocarbon tippet and feel that the lighter tippet results in a much higher success rate than say 5X. Anglers might argue that they break fish off on such light tippet but my argument is that in order to break a fish off, you first have to first get a fish to eat your fly and you are going to get more eaters with lighter tippet than heaver tippet.

When wading the riffles you need long dead drifts. There are two types of drifts; perfect dead drifts and all other drifts. Perfect dead drifts catch fish at Lees Ferry; all other drifts don’t catch fish here. You get a dead drift by mending the line, then throwing slack line on the water. If your line is straight from your rod tip to your indicator or you move your indicator during the drift, then your drift is not perfect and will not catch fish. The key to success is to stay over fish, get the flies down to the bottom, and get a long, perfect dead drift.

Report courtesy of Terry Gunn.

LAKE MEAD

Water continues to drop slowly, falling about 1-foot over the last three weeks. The current level is 1,095 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. 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 641-feet above msl.

Fishing for stripers seems to be pretty good in the southern portion of the lake. Submersible lights are very effective for stripers when used on dark nights, but keep in mind there is a full moon July 8. Bass are located both in shallow and on fish habitat in 15- 20-feet.

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. The trout fishing has been pretty sporadic. About 30 percent of shoreline anglers are having success. The majority of these anglers were after trout and were fishing with Power Bait, night crawlers, spinners, Super Duper lures, Power Worms, and marshmallows. No stripers were reported from shoreline anglers on Friday.

Boat anglers had a little more success with about 67-percent of anglers contacted having caught fish. One angler reported catching two stripers, approximately 10- and 12-pounds each on an AC plug.

The desert bighorn sheep are in the rut, so this is a great time to fish and possible see some rams bumping heads or at least hear them. It sounds like a rifle shot echoing in the canyons.

TOPOCK MARSH

The water level is up and the bite has been pretty good. Both bass and catfish are biting well. Catfish are biting on anchovies and night crawlers.

You can access the marsh by boat at the North Dike, Catfish Paradise, and Five-Mile Landing. All three also provide plenty of area for shoreline fishing too.

PARKER STRIP

Fishing for smallmouth bass over 2-pounds in size is expected to be good to excellent. In addition, redear sunfish should also be good in the pound-plus sizes.

The Parker Strip is well known for its smallmouth bass fishing, especially in the area from the dam to several miles downstream. The Parker Strip is also home to some really impressive, dinner-plate sized redear sunfish of 2-pounds or larger.

Channel and flathead catfish fishing is always fair in this section of the Colorado River. Below the dam, striper fishing should also be fair, using live shad or anchovies. Largemouth bass are abundant, especially in the downstream portions of the Parker Strip. Channel and flathead catfish fishing will be fair to good in this section of the Colorado River as the weather warms up.