Water Temperature (Wahweap Bay) 57 F, Lake Elevation 3,558.62 MSL (and dropping) as of 4/14/2025. Report courtesy of Dan Keller (www.wayneswords.net). At the end of March, the lake elevation was holding around 3,559 feet. This elevation is very similar to this time last year, so with that in mind, areas that fished well last spring should also provide good fishing this year. Beginning in mid to late April, water levels will start to rise.

Morning water temperature is holding around 52 degrees, with afternoon water temperature exceeding 60 degrees (south end of the lake). Expect water temperature to consistently reach mid 60s by the second week of April. That temperature really wakes up Lake Powell fish. Here is what to expect for each species this April.

Largemouth bass: Bass seek out and reside in cover, this can take the form of brush, tumbleweed piles, and trees. Bass share cover and space with sunfish. As the water temperature warms, bass will begin chasing sunfish, so if largemouth bass is your quarry, be on the lookout for cover and sunfish schools. Doing so you will put you in the right areas to catch largemouth bass. It’s still too cold for fast-moving presentations, so the lure must be placed in or really close to cover. A weedless presentation is often best. Use a slow retrieve to allow more time to entice fish to bite.

Black crappie: Thanks to all the vegetation that was submerged in 2023, it won’t be difficult to find potential cover; however, it likely will take some time to find a good concentration of black crappie. Search the backs of canyons where water depth is 12-25 feet with nearby submerged trees or large boulders providing cover. Try using an eighth ounce jig (hair jig or plastic grub), or Gulp Minnow to target black crappie in the backs of canyons. I like to use a slip bobber rig. Adjusting the bobber stop allows suspending the jig right over the brush,  maximizing the jig's time in the “strike zone” and avoiding snagging up in the cover. I often tip the jig with a red wiggler worm (or small piece of nightcrawler) to increase bites from both black crappie and bluegill sunfish.

Smallmouth bass: Smallmouth bass prefer rock structure for cover, so it is easier to locate them with plastic baits fished on rocky shelves, in boulder fields, or at the edge of drop-offs and other shallow areas from 30 feet deep to the shallow shoreline. The key to springtime bass fishing is to find the warmest water available. Often a tall rock, facing the mid-day sun, will heat a cove slightly warmer than the surrounding water. Fishing in that cove will be better than a cove in the shade or without a warming rock. Pay close attention to water temps as you move around a cove or work along a shoreline. Locating even slightly warmer water can make a big difference in the number of fish you catch.

Walleye: Walleye fishing at Lake Powell picks up in April, when walleye are post spawn and ready to feed. Start your search by looking for green to muddy water in the backs of canyons. If shad are present and swimming in open water, bigger walleye can be caught trolling deep divers, and casting shad-size baits (jerkbaits, lipless crank baits). The last few weeks of April and all of May is one of the best times to target walleye. When trolling for walleye, it is best to fish at a water depth where the lure occasionally hits bottom. The most effective trolling method may be a bottom bouncer that can hit bottom at various depths. Walleye are bottom oriented, so a very effective technique is to simply hook a piece of worm to a curly tail grub, tube jig, or Ned rig, and slowly work that along the bottom structure. If you randomly catch a walleye while bass fishing, mark the location and return at
dusk, as walleye are more active during low light.

Striped bass (stripers): You often will need to cover lots of fishless water before locating a school, so get comfortable behind your sonar and spend the required time locating a big school before working too hard at enticing them to bite. In springtime, stripers can often be caught in the backs of canyons chasing lures or in deeper water of the main channel using spoons or anchovies as cut bait. So far this spring, bait has been more effective on the south end of the lake as shad numbers are on the decline. Many stripers caught this spring have been eating crayfish. Stripers prefer shad; however, shad numbers are at a low point coming out of winter and hungry stripers will move shallow searching for crayfish. Anglers are finding success from Bullfrog up to Good Hope Bay with various methods, including spoons, jigs, trolling, and cut bait. Anglers fishing at the south end should try the back of Navajo Canyon, Warm Creek, and cliff walls around mile marker 25. Striper fishing with
anchovies at the dam is also picking up. The condition of stripers is mixed right now, with about half being in good condition and half in poor condition. Catching and keeping stripers helps to maintain forage fish at Lake Powell, so bring an ice chest, fillet knife, and be ready to fill up bags of fresh striper fillets.