Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 128
The warm blanket of water was ripped off the surface by an unprecedented cold blast from the north. At press time, daily air temperature has been in the 100s, with low air temperature in the 80s. The water temperature has been holding in the 80s but is now 76 and may be lower tomorrow. How will fish respond to the quick cold front? Stripers In the past week, stripers have been feeding on the surface at dawn and dusk. They were not dependable each day but when it was about time to give up, they... Full story
We began the weekly fish-sampling trip with a quick run to Warm Creek before the sun cleared the horizon. Last week we found quick boils and caught stripers on surface lures and spoons. This week was a bust with no fish on top and no fish showing up on the graph. That was what I expected so we headed uplake. We scanned the surface as we ran directly into the rising sun. Leaping stripers are often backlit while heading east in early morning light, making them easier to see. Still no fish showed... Full story
Lake Powell water temperature in the morning remains at 72F. It will get warmer but now the wind is still mixing the warm surface layers with cool deep layers of water. The lake remains very busy with lots of boats over the length of the lake. Get to the launch ramp early to head out for a morning fishing trip. Run Uplake I followed that advice recently and headed out to Warm Creek to test fishing success. We trolled for stripers but did not catch any. Then we switched to bass lures. We caught... Full story
Lake Powell is now back to normal and open for fishing, recreating and camping 24 hours per day. Smallmouth Bass fishing has been incredible with a consistent catch of 40 fish or better each day. Most anglers are pounding the shoreline from 5-30 feet deep with plastic baits including Ned rigs, plastic grubs, Maniac Cutter bugs, and various crankbaits. Many have enjoyed topwater fishing in the early morning and evening in coves and the backs of canyons. Lake Powell bass seem happy to have anglers... Full story
Columbia River scheduled to open for spring Chinook on select days beginning May 5 OLYMPIA – The Columbia River spring Chinook fishery is scheduled to open for four days through mid-May, state fishery managers announced today. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) jointly manage the river through the Columbia River Compact process, which met Friday and laid out proposed fisheries for spring Chinook and sockeye. Anglers will be a... Full story
OCEANSIDE, Calif. (May 4, 2020) - Whether you're talking the expansive rivers of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, or the reservoirs and rivers of Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma, primetime walleye fishing is happening right now. In all these places, walleyes are moving to the headwaters, narrows and dams, making them quite uncomplicated to find and catch. A kayak is a great alternative to fishing walleyes by motorized boat or from the bank. Specific models like... Full story
I was lucky enough to get out on the lake when it opened to locals last month. Lake Powell bass were spunky, bold and ready to chase or eat anything in the tackle box. I started with a simple single-tail green grub and dropped that straight down 8-15 feet in front of isolated rockslides. Smallmouth from 1-2 pounds were all over the bait. Catching was quick and easy and a whole lot of fun. Every rockslide had a bunch of agreeable bass. The success came because bass were in spawning mode and they... Full story
Nitro and Bass Pro Shops pro Matt Shura has been fishing bass tournaments since he was just a kid, and in fact, he held the state record for largemouth bass for some time a few years back. If you go to the fishing seminars at the Mesa Bass Pro Shop store, you've seen him there and probably heard some great bass fishing tips from him. Rig It Straight Matt took us to Saguaro in March and showed us how to fish one of his favorite early spring baits – the Reaction Innovations Little Dipper. This bai... Full story
This is a huge year for Dylan with tournaments and marriage ahead. We wish him well. February can be a tough month at Bartlett. The water isn't warm yet, but it's coming, and a degree or two a day can put the bass in pre-spawn mode. This time of year, Dylan Maxon reaches for a big spinnerbait to get a limit at Bartlett. Dylan is a long-time tournament bass fisherman with some great sponsors – Signature Gates and Welding (the owner is another great fisherman – Kevin Finley), Irod Fishing Rod... Full story
This will be the last regular fish report from Lake Powell this year. We have been fall sampling, and when we finish sampling, there will be reports to update everyone about what the fish are up to in this most unusual year. Weather was cold in the springtime and continued into the summer, moisture was above normal, and runoff was strong bringing the lake up 53 feet. Something happened during this strange weather period that the fish really liked. Shad reproduction was unprecedented. Bass and... Full story
Lake Powell weather is delightful with a warm, calm autumn weather. Air temperature is holding in the mid 70s during the day and in the 50s at night. Water temperature is holding in the mid 60s, which is the ideal fishing temperature for the springtime spawning period. Sport fish are still in vacation mode as they quietly attack one of the thousands of shad balls still swimming on the surface. Not much has changed during this unusual fishing year. Adult Stripers Adult stripers are still swimming... Full story
Quality of life is measured by amount of time spent fishing. As I returned from vacation, we had an assignment to catch 60 striped bass for the annual disease re-certification, to ensure that Lake Powell fish do not have any viruses that might destabilize the fishery. We must collect the fish on the same day that they are certified. Hot weather had really slowed down fishing in August, but I checked recent fish reports and found that small stripers (8-12 inches) recently boiled in Warm Creek.... Full story
We went to Bullfrog recently to complete a work assignment, which was to collect 200 surface-feeding striped bass. These captured fish are destined to be brood fish used to create hybrid stripers. We chose the date months ago, based on previous fish reports, which indicated slurping stripers would begin feeding on the surface during the first week of June. The report strategy worked great as we caught 100 surface-feeding (slurping) stripers from dawn until 10 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday.... Full story
Quality of life is measured by amount of time spent fishing. The snow and rain continue providing the moisture, and eventually the runoff, needed to allow the lake to rise back to the levels that enable safe passage and enjoyable fishing trips over the length of the lake. The Lake Powell water level is slowly declining due to the continued stormy and cool weather that we all have experienced lately. Hope For A Large Rise The lake has been holding near 3571 feet (mean sea level) during March. In... Full story
Most Versatile Rattlebait Ever? LIVETARGET®'s Golden Shiner Rattlebaits Are A Multi-Species Phenom Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON (April 24, 2019) - Veteran freshwater anglers know how important it is to keep quiet on the approach. Bang a tackle box against the gunwale, drag a cooler across the deck or wade a little too forcefully and predator species instantly scatter. Get the right sounds working below the surface, however, and you can really light up the bite, which is why lipless rattlebaits... Full story
Third weekend opening planned for Columbia River spring chinook fishery below Bonneville Dam OLYMPIA – For the third weekend in a row, a section of the lower Columbia River will reopen for two days of recreational spring chinook salmon fishing beginning Saturday, state fishery managers announced today. The initial spring chinook fishing period from Bonneville Dam downriver to Warrior Rock closed at midnight Wednesday, April 10, then reopened for the weekends beginning April 13 and 20, based o... Full story
We have finished fishing with gill nets at Good Hope Bay and Rincon. Therefore, this will be the last regular weekly report for 2018. Each year we do gill net studies to document changes in fish populations, health indexes, and to help us understand how the fishery is doing compared to previous years. The gill netting sites included Wahweap, San Juan (Piute), Rincon and Good Hope Bay (Red Canyon). Gill-netting data dates back to 1973 so there is a long history of netting data for comparison.... Full story
At press time, Lake Powell was continuing to drop about one foot per week. The Castle Rock Cut should be passable for another two months. It was recently announced that a High Flow Experiment (HFE) will occur during the first week of November. At that time, the outflow from the dam will increase dramatically to move sediment from the river bottom to the river banks further downstream. This event improves habitat for native fish in the river and in backwaters. It is likely that the Castle Rock Cu... Full story
Quality of life is measured by amount of time spent fishing. Welcome back to the weekly fish reports from Lake Powell - 2017 was a banner year with high water levels that covered shoreline vegetation and provided extensive habitat for both predators and prey fish. Young fish survived in big numbers and these fat healthy fish will awake and become active as soon as Lake Powell water temperature rises above the 54-57 range. "Warm water" fish residing in Lake Powell really do like warmer water... Full story
Don McDowell, Arizona native, is an avid outdoorsman and has been an active bass pro fisherman for over 16 years and in the past 15 years has developed his own radio show promoting bass fishing and conservation efforts for bass fishing that escalated to nominations with several bass groups and organizations. In the past 12 years, Don has pursued his conservation agenda through AZBFN-TBF as Conservation Director and with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, in the spring of 2014 redesigned his... Full story
'Quality of life is measured by amount of time spent fishing.' In the last fish report we reported stripers and shad holding in the 15-30 foot depth range but suspected that colder weather would force both species to seek deeper water where temperature was more stable. With that in mind, we headed for Warm Creek to look for striper schools. We passed the floating restroom and slowed down and started graphing. This fall, the graph has printed a mostly blank screen in deep water with an occasional... Full story
PHOENIX -- To protect large fish that are targeted by tournament anglers, the Arizona Game and Fish Department has requested that the USDA Forest Service temporarily suspend angler tournaments from Apache, Canyon and Saguaro Lakes until environmental conditions improve. Golden alga blooms have developed over large portions of Saguaro and Apache Lakes. Golden alga produces a toxin (prymnesin) that affects any organism with gills. Currently, the primary species that is being affected is threadfin... Full story
Warming nighttime temperatures play a big part in regulating lake water temperatures. Already in our beautiful desert impoundments, water temperatures have popped into the magical upper-60s, lower-70s range, prompting bass, shad and other fish to increase their activity levels. Before the Memorial Day weekend, Arizona Game & Fish had stocked an additional 20,000 trout and catfish into waters statewide. Through June, they'll have stocked a quarter-million more trout, catfish, bass and sunfish.... Full story
To protect large fish that are targeted by tournament anglers, the Arizona Game and Fish Department has requested that the USDA Forest Service temporarily suspend angler tournaments from Apache, Canyon and Saguaro Lakes until environmental conditions improve. Golden Alga Blooms Golden alga blooms have developed over large portions of Saguaro and Apache Lakes. Golden alga produces a toxin (prymnesin) that affects any organism with gills. Currently, the primary species that is being affected is... Full story
Wayne's Words - http://www.wayneswords.com Surface water temperature today and for most of the week was 64 degrees. End of report! For those who need a bit more information, here are the details: Striped bass adults prefer a temperature of 64 degrees. At this comfort level, trophy size fish, adults, and juveniles have free reign and can travel in any direction, any depth and feed anywhere. Trophy fish cannot handle warmer water and must stay in the 64 degree range. Adult fish are found close to...
