This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

My apologies for the delay in posting the report. I've been on vacation.

Lake Powell Fish Report – July 24, 2012Lake Elevation: 3629 Water Temperature 78-83 FBy: Wayne Gustaveson of Wayne's WordsWith great relief the fishing report is much better this week. Looks like last week's dismal report is gone and buried. Here are the bright spots. Scattered striper boils have been reported the past few days. Navajo Canyon and the high shady wall separating Padre and Last Chance got the most praise. Shade lasts in the eastern most part of Padre Bay until about 9 AM which allows stripers to hunt for shad in low light along the wall beginning at dawn. We arrived this morning at 6 AM with the entire bay in shade due to cloud cover. Unfortunately there were no boils in the choppy bay. We trolled the shoreline and caught 2 stripers and 1 bass but the boils did not happen. Moving uplake we found widely scattered stripers hitting the surface on the point dividing Padre from Last Chance. We trolled to catch a couple more but could not score on boiling fish. Another boil blew up in the shade of Gregory Butte. Long casts with ¾ ounce Kastmasters and 1 ounce Wally lure spoons were quickly rewarded with yearling stripers. Then we headed to Last Chance. Each bay on the east side of Last Chance had a small boil brewing. When we were in range to cast to any boil our spoons were quickly taken and fish began flying into the boat. After one boil subsided we had 9 fish lying on the deck ready for deposit on ice in the fish cooler. Now we were having fun. The only secret to catching fish was to hit near the splash ring made by actively feeding stripers. The spoon fell only about 5 feet before being engulfed by voracious stripers. When the boil sounded a few more fish could be caught by letting the spoon fall 20-30 feet before working it back. But casting into active boils was by far the best pattern. We forgot all about trolling. Stripers boiled until about 9 AM (MST). With the surface quiet we concentrated on the graph and found a striper school on a submerged reef that ranged from 25-40 feet surrounded by very deep water. Our spoons were attacked as soon as they hit bottom. We caught more stripers, including 4-pound adults, at depth but half the fish caught were walleye. We made 3 productive passes over the reef before the school got tired of us and left the reef for the depths. What a great morning. We caught 36 stripers and 4 walleye. This pattern should hold up for a few more days. Search the shade line along the east wall of the canyons and main channel looking for a few splashes which designate the location of a striper school. Look for bass and walleye to be stirred up by stripers herding shad into their cove. This should be a lakewide pattern. The San Juan and White Canyon area near Hite should be boiling as well with bigger fish being caught in scattered boils. In brushy shoreline areas use topwater baits to catch bass and stripers at dusk and dawn when stripers are not boiling. Look like the summer doldrums are over. Expect more surface activity at Lake Powell during August. Photo Caption: Jerrie Beyrodt, Twin Falls ID, caught this 5-pound, 27-inch striper off the back of the houseboat near Buoy 111. She used an anchovy suspended under a floating slip bobber. Anchovies are working some but the real action is from boiling stripers in the morning.