01-20-2013, 08:40 AM
OK first off Lake Powell seems to be one of the west's best kept secrets. With 3 million visitors coming through Page,AZ between the months of May and August it would seem more people would be able to point it out on a map.
Lake Powell at full pool is approx. 165 miles long and has almost 2200 miles of shoreline. It was made when they put in the dam on the colorado river. It is what the National Park Service has named Glen Canyon national park. Page,AZ is the biggest town close to the lake. Where is Page???? It is 525 miles east of so-cal. The Lake itself is along the AZ/UT border almost dead in the "middle" of the state-lines. An easy trip up the 15 to St. George and turn east............
With in a coupe hour drive of Page are 5 bucket list national park destinations other then Lake Powell. Grand Canyon, Vermilion's, Bryce Canyon,Zion, Cedar Breaks.....to mention the heavy hitters......Stair step Mountains, Escalante, Coral dunes and a longer list of "sub" hot spots.....There is something for everybody very close.
On to the Lake.......There is camping allowed almost everywhere along the shoreline of the lake. One hitch 98% of the Lake is only accessible by boat. In the area of Page there is Wawheap and Antelope Marinas. Both rent house boats and fishable boats. At Wawheap Marina they do have a limited number of full hook up camping spots and a hotel. A few miles north of Wawheap is Lone Rock camping area with motor vehicle access. It is mostly "primitive camping". They do have restrooms, showers and drinking water is available. It is possible to bring your RV's here and camp along the shoreline. Or away from it with a nice view. It is a very popular area as it is the largest best "car camping" area on the Lake.
Though they do rent fishable boats they are really multi-use boats. Most people bring their own fishing machines. On that note the lake does not at this time have zebra/quagga mussels....and every boat will be inspected before it is launched. Everyone must have a mussel certificate. The inspectors are very nice and it is required but.......at no charge.
OK the fishing for striper is year around just different with each season. The lakes only problem is......it has so much fish they boom and bust with the shad population they eat themselves out of house and home. We have very healthy populations of all species. The following are the limits....striper and walleye are no limit species. Take all you can use!!!! Smallmouth bass have a limit of 20 and they encourage everyone to Please take 20 fish under 2lbs. There is no requirement they be a certain size but....we have a lot of smallies and of course trying to get a trophy fishery consistent. Out of Powells clear cool water, the smallies are very good to eat.......Strange to kill them at first but......look forward to those smaller fish for dinner now. Channel Catfish is 25 a day. We don't lots of huge catfish but.....lots of 4-6lb fish for the aggressive catfisher. Again you are encouraged to keep all you can use. Crappie is a 10 fish a day limit. There are ton's of crappie in the lake but the small limit was put in place to help keep it healthy. With fluctuating water levels they can be very vulnerable to over fishing. Largemouth bass.....standard limit of 5. We have a pretty good average size fish. The average fish caught at the end of the day is 3-4 lbs. We have good green bass fishing......but......water levels are very disruptive for these guys. C/R is encourage for these guys.
Overall the fishing is varied and good. What you want to catch is a matter of fishing the correct type of water. The lake is deep overall. Backs of the canyons do have a slope to them and shallower water is available for the species who are targeted in that kind of water. It is generally very clear here........see fish swimming along the boat in 25-30' of water. Light line and/or floro are often times needed.
Many people load up their fish boats with camping gear and go up lake!!! Find an area they like and set up camp. Fishing,camping,hiking all right where they decided to stop.
If you want a fishing/adventure it very close to you.........come on out and check it out!!!
Lake Powell at full pool is approx. 165 miles long and has almost 2200 miles of shoreline. It was made when they put in the dam on the colorado river. It is what the National Park Service has named Glen Canyon national park. Page,AZ is the biggest town close to the lake. Where is Page???? It is 525 miles east of so-cal. The Lake itself is along the AZ/UT border almost dead in the "middle" of the state-lines. An easy trip up the 15 to St. George and turn east............
With in a coupe hour drive of Page are 5 bucket list national park destinations other then Lake Powell. Grand Canyon, Vermilion's, Bryce Canyon,Zion, Cedar Breaks.....to mention the heavy hitters......Stair step Mountains, Escalante, Coral dunes and a longer list of "sub" hot spots.....There is something for everybody very close.
On to the Lake.......There is camping allowed almost everywhere along the shoreline of the lake. One hitch 98% of the Lake is only accessible by boat. In the area of Page there is Wawheap and Antelope Marinas. Both rent house boats and fishable boats. At Wawheap Marina they do have a limited number of full hook up camping spots and a hotel. A few miles north of Wawheap is Lone Rock camping area with motor vehicle access. It is mostly "primitive camping". They do have restrooms, showers and drinking water is available. It is possible to bring your RV's here and camp along the shoreline. Or away from it with a nice view. It is a very popular area as it is the largest best "car camping" area on the Lake.
Though they do rent fishable boats they are really multi-use boats. Most people bring their own fishing machines. On that note the lake does not at this time have zebra/quagga mussels....and every boat will be inspected before it is launched. Everyone must have a mussel certificate. The inspectors are very nice and it is required but.......at no charge.
OK the fishing for striper is year around just different with each season. The lakes only problem is......it has so much fish they boom and bust with the shad population they eat themselves out of house and home. We have very healthy populations of all species. The following are the limits....striper and walleye are no limit species. Take all you can use!!!! Smallmouth bass have a limit of 20 and they encourage everyone to Please take 20 fish under 2lbs. There is no requirement they be a certain size but....we have a lot of smallies and of course trying to get a trophy fishery consistent. Out of Powells clear cool water, the smallies are very good to eat.......Strange to kill them at first but......look forward to those smaller fish for dinner now. Channel Catfish is 25 a day. We don't lots of huge catfish but.....lots of 4-6lb fish for the aggressive catfisher. Again you are encouraged to keep all you can use. Crappie is a 10 fish a day limit. There are ton's of crappie in the lake but the small limit was put in place to help keep it healthy. With fluctuating water levels they can be very vulnerable to over fishing. Largemouth bass.....standard limit of 5. We have a pretty good average size fish. The average fish caught at the end of the day is 3-4 lbs. We have good green bass fishing......but......water levels are very disruptive for these guys. C/R is encourage for these guys.
Overall the fishing is varied and good. What you want to catch is a matter of fishing the correct type of water. The lake is deep overall. Backs of the canyons do have a slope to them and shallower water is available for the species who are targeted in that kind of water. It is generally very clear here........see fish swimming along the boat in 25-30' of water. Light line and/or floro are often times needed.
Many people load up their fish boats with camping gear and go up lake!!! Find an area they like and set up camp. Fishing,camping,hiking all right where they decided to stop.
If you want a fishing/adventure it very close to you.........come on out and check it out!!!
