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Lake Powell Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The canyon labyrinth: 2,000 miles of Glen Canyon shoreline where stripers school in slot canyons.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~84 F est.
Air / High
92 / 94 F
Wind
WSW 16 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Lake Powell serves up more heat: the productive hours are the dim ones. Today brings clear skies, wind WSW around 16 mph, rising pressure near 1008 hPa and a high of 94. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassGood

Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassFair

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Similar at 93 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp92 F
High / Low94 / 70 F
WindWSW 16-21 mph
Pressure1008.0 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset06:56 / 19:47
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Overcast, 94/70 F, wind 18 mph, rain 1%

Fair or better. A 18 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Powell: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall

The reservoir heavyweight. Follows shad and herring schools in open water year-round. Deep and early: live bait on downlines over the river channel at first light, or downriggers along thermocline depth.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

When to come: the Lake Powell calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Powell today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 93 F, wind to 16 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 94 F, wind to 19 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Striped bass led the card at good. High of 89 F, wind to 15 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

Utah requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Utah or Arizona license depending on where you fish; reciprocity stamps available. Stripers: no limit, keep what you catch. Confirm UDWR/AZGFD.

Access

Wahweap, Bullfrog, Halls Crossing and Antelope Point ramps: status varies with level (NPS Glen Canyon NRA).

About this water

~100,000+ acres at typical levels on the Colorado River, UT/AZ. Glen Canyon Dam (1963).

Fishing Lake Powell: the full guide

Fishing a flooded cathedral

Powell floods Glen Canyon into a 186-mile maze of red-rock walls and slot canyons: the most visually stunning fishery in America. Stripers (self-sustaining, prolific) drive the action with legendary boil seasons; smallmouth own every talus slope; and walleye plus largemouth round out a desert fishery that fishes differently in every canyon.

Boils and walls

Summer-fall striper boils erupt when schools push shad to the surface: run to the splashes, throw anything silver. Otherwise: vertical spooning deep bait balls in winter, anchovy chumming at the canyon mouths, smallmouth on grubs along broken rock everywhere. Levels swing enormously: this page's gauge trend tells you which ramps and canyons are in play.

The canyon-country reset

Powell's fluctuating levels keep resetting its fishery: re-flooded brush from recent rises turbo-charged the largemouth and crappie spawns, while the ever-present stripers boil on threadfin across the main channel all summer. Chase splashes between Wahweap and Padre Bay at dawn, then spoon the 40-60-ft schools midday. Smallmouth paper every rock slide lake-wide: the most democratic bite in canyon country.

Common questions

Why is there no limit on Powell stripers?

They reproduce faster than the shad base can support: managers want harvest. Filling a cooler during a boil is a public service with a view.

Where are Powell's striper boils?

Anywhere bait pushes: the main channel off Padre, Warm Creek, and Bullfrog's bays are classic. Run at cruise watching for splashes; a school stays up minutes: fast casts count.

Is fishing good at Lake Powell right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Colorado River48 miGreen River87 miOtter Creek Reservoir95 miFish Lake107 miPanguitch Lake108 miMinersville Reservoir132 mi
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