Water temperature (Wahweap Bay) 79-87 F, Lake Elevation 3,586.09 MSL (and dropping) as of 7/15/2024. The Castle Rock Cut is now open. Report courtesy of Wayne Gustaveson, www.wayneswords.net:

We went fishing this week to see how the bass were spawning and where they were located. It was an awesome trip as we found large numbers of largemouth and smallmouth bass building and guarding nests in shallow water from 2-10 feet in depth. Smallmouth bass were building nests in shallow water with rocky habitat, while largemouth bass built nests in shallow, sandy areas with lots of brush and cover near their nests.

Fishing was great as bass were very interested in our bass baits and lures swimming past their nests. The best baits were plastic grubs in many different varieties and colors that attracted lots of attention from bass. It was best to throw a long cast toward the brushy areas and then retrieve the lure slowly while letting it drop to the bottom and then picking it up and letting it fall back down. The best depth for the boat was about 15-25 feet while casting to shallower water to catch fish. Water is very clear in most areas now, so long casts to the right depth usually were more effective for getting bites from bass.

The biggest surprise was which fish species was most likely to bite our lures. Bass were our main target but we found an amazing number of walleye and striped bass in the same area. It was amazing to capture seven walleye while fishing for bass in the sandy weedy coves where the bass were hanging out. Walleye have already spawned, so they were apparently hungry and willing to eat the bass lures that we worked slowly along the sandy bottom. That was the most walleye I have loaded
in the boat in one day. It was awesome to get that many walleye, bass, and stripers on a single trip.

Stripers were swimming in the same areas in coves with a sandy bottom and brushy areas. Trolling through deeper water while moving from one shallow cove to the next often produced some large healthy stripers. It was hard to choose which fish to pursue, but at the end of the day we had a grand mix of species. We saw a lot of bluegill occupying the same areas, but we did not select tiny lures to catch sunfish when we had many larger bass and stripers and walleye to target.

The best fishing areas contained islands and lots of brush. While traveling uplake through the main channel from Wahweap to Padre Bay, the lake is very riverine. There are more coves and open areas from Padre to Last Chance and beyond. Fishing success is great for bass, walleye and stripers in mid-lake canyons.