Here’s the day-by-day report.
Wednesday- we arrived at Stanton Creek and quickly set-up camp. The wind was already an issue that afternoon, and we shot up to Moki Canyon to look for fish. We trolled the mouth for stripers without any success. There was less wind in the back of the canyon, so we pitched grubs for a few bass and crappie. Water temp was 56F.
Thursday- In the morning, we headed down lake looking for stripers near Lake and Slick Rock Canyon. We graphed some targets on the points along the western shore, just above Lake Canyon. We trolled about an hour, catching a couple of stripers using silver Wally Divers and Thunderstick Jrs. We also marked fish in the back of Hall’s Creek, but trolling only produced a few hits. In the afternoon the wind picked up (here we go). We switched back to fishing for bass and found a few cooperative smallmouths and largemouths in the mouth of Bullfrog Bay and the back of Stanton Creek. Water temps were 52F in the morning and only 55F in the afternoon (wind again).
**Friday- **Once again, we searched for stripers willing to hit crankbaits. The cold front passed overnight and we took a chilly boat ride up to Knowles Canyon, graphing main channel points along the way. We graphed several fish at the mouth of Knowles between 30-60ft. Trolling only produced one striper, and we tried several different crankbaits. That afternoon, we moved into the canyons fishing for bass and crappie. The wind was light (surprise, surprise!), the sun was high, and the fishing responded. We caught around 30 crappies up to 13 inches in Smith’s Fork Canyon, along with a few blue gills, stripers, and bass. We were using Berkely Power Grubs in motor oil/chartreuse on a ¼ oz jig head, 4-6ft under a bobber. Water temps were 50F in the morning, warming to 59F by afternoon.
Saturday- After a bumpy ride uplake, we tried to mimic the previous day’s crappie event with little success. After a few hours and only a handful of crappie, we switched to bass. The wind howled (go figure!), the water remained cool, but the bass were active in both Smith’s Fork and Forgotten Canyon. We did best by fishing the sunny shores, and caught several smallies and one largemouth, using Hula Grubs in black/silver flake and single tailed grubs in brown/green flake. We also hooked a few more crappie fishing the trees in Forgotten Canyon. Water temps remained around 54F.
Overall the fishing was pretty good, when the wind let you fish. The mornings were definitely slower and a little sun and/or reprieve from the wind warmed up the water in the afternoons. As the water temps slowly crept up, we saw an increase in fish activity. If winter will ever let go, the fishing is going to go berserk down there.
Hope it helps, Ryno
I enjoyed reading both of your reports a great deal. A couple more weeks of wamr temperatures and the ultimate Spring Powell fishing will begin for another year.