Fishing Report: North Central region
The campgrounds have opened across the forests. I’ve had several reports that the trout are starting to hit at Lower Lake Mary. Kaibab has also been good for trout.
WILLIAMS LAKES:
KAIBAB LAKE — Kaibab Lake is full. Fishing was good over the weekend with trout being caught by anglers using small lures or flies. Folks were also catching trout using worms fished under a bobber. PowerBait was also working. Stocked last week.
CATARACT LAKE — Lake is full.
CITY RESERVOIR — Stocked with catfish on last week.. Fishing was fair for trout over the weekend for folks fishing with garlic PowerBait. Try hot dogs or worms on the bottom to catch catfish. Folks fishing with spinners were also doing well for trout.
DOGTOWN LAKE — The lake is full. Fishing was is starting to pick up. Stocked with trout this week,
SANTA FE — The lake is full. Folks are catching lots of small crappie and yellow perch.
WHITEHORSE LAKE — No report. Campground is open.
FLAGSTAFF LAKES:
LOWER LAKE MARY – Lower Lake Mary is about ¾ full. About 65,000 rainbow trout have been stocked in the lake so far this year but many were smaller fish. I’ve had reports from several people that the fishing is starting to turn on. Fly fishermen are catching fish on leech patterns and woolly buggers, For folks who don’t fly fish try fishing the flies behind a clear casting bobber. Tie a swivel below the bobber then attach about 3 feet of line below the swivel with the fly attached to the line. Small lures should also work. For folks who like fishing with bait I would try worms under a bobber. Scheduled to be stocked with Colorado trout today.
UPPER LAKE MARY — We are hearing reports of folks catching good numbers of walleye trolling lures on the lake. Folks drop-shotting nightcrawlers are also catching walleye. Folks are also catching northern pike and channel catfish.
Angler Report:
Pat B.: Caught this guy at south end of upper lake Mary on a plastic trout pattern lure .
ASHURST LAKE — I’ve had a couple of good reports from boat anglers on Ashurst this week. I would try flies or lures on the shallow end of the lake to catch the bigger trout. Bait anglers fishing worms under a bobber were catching some fish. Stocked with trout this week,
FRANCIS SHORT POND – If you have kids you want to catch fish Frances Short is the place to go. Folks were catching lots of bluegill on worms. Fly fishermen are catching lots of trout and crappie Folks fishing with worms or hot dogs were catching catfish. Stocked with Catfish last week.
KINNIKINICK LAKE — The road is open. Stocked with tiger trout this week.
OAK CREEK — No report. Stocked with trout this week.
BEAVER CREEK – No report.
WEST CLEAR CREEK – No report.
BLUE RIDGE — No report.
KNOLL LAKE — No report. Stocked with trout this week.
LAKE POWELL
Lake Powell Fish Report – June 5, 2019
Lake Elevation: 3,586.42
Water temperature: 68-75 F
By: Wayne Gustaveson http://www.wayneswords.com or Wayneswords.net
The lake is coming up fast. Castle Rock Cut now has over 6 feet of depth allowing all vessels to pass through. The Antelope Point launch ramp will open in a week or less. For those camping on the shoreline, be aware that the lake is coming up 6-inches or more per day. Make sure your boat is retied every morning. The rising water is also confusing some of the fish.
Stripers and shad are always in close proximity. Shad have been absent most of the winter and spring but are now reproducing in big numbers. Our shad sampling shows good reproduction results over the length of the lake. There are tons of shad in the backs of the canyons. That means stripers are beginning to move from the main channel walls to the backs of canyons. This will take a few weeks for stripers to find shad and make the right moves.
Slurping stripers are now common in the northern lake. The southern lake is slightly behind, but slurps are starting in the backs of most major canyons. This has caused some movement, as active stripers will now be searching for shad. Stripers are scattered in the backs of canyons but can be seen surfacing very early in the morning. Catching topwater stripers is a good start for any fishing trip.
Rising lake levels have displaced largemouth and smallmouth bass. Largemouth want dense cover so newly submerged tumbleweeds are very welcome shelters. Look for largemouth in new brushy cover in the backs of canyons. Smallmouth bass like rock structure so they are holding in familiar rock structure as the lake continues to rise. Crayfish are not moving shallow as fast as the lake is rising so smallmouth bass are now deeper than expected. Smallmouth are susceptible to the normal plastic baits, as their activity level has increased with the warming water temperature. They will hit in shallow water near rocky habitat. We also found them in open water while trolling along rocky shorelines.
Walleye are scattered but more aggressive as the water temperature has increased. We did not target walleye but were able to catch them while trolling and casting. My biggest surprise came after catching a striper while trolling. While playing that fish, I saw other fish on the graph following the striper. When that happens, the troll-caught first fish is tossed in the cooler and a spoon deployed to catch more stripers. My spoon was inhaled by a walleye on the first bounce, on the bottom in 25 feet of water. The best walleye baits are bottom bouncers, Ned rigs and bass jigs with a piece of night crawler attached. Walleye will be vulnerable to daytime anglers for a few more weeks. After that, they will revert to a nighttime shad and crayfish diet.
Our main target this week was Bluegill and Green Sunfish. A piece of worm hooked to a tiny ice jig was a successful technique once the proper habitat was located. With rapidly rising water, shallow rocky habitat can be covered and lose its appeal. We looked for very tall rockslides that offered constant rocky habitat as the water level quickly rises. These tall, but narrow, rockslides worked well for sunfish and we found smallmouth bass happy to bite a worm.
The fishing trip produced a mixed bag of species caught while trolling, casting, spooning and dropping worms in shallow water. There are many options for your fishing enjoyment.
