Time on the water was 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM with water temps holding at 84°F and air temps between 94 and 110°F. Winds were steady around 7 mph with gusts up to 15 mph, putting a light chop on the lake as the sun set at 7:39 PM. We headed straight to Thompson Bay and anchored about 50 yards off the no-wake buoy line in roughly 30 feet of water. After setting out the chum bucket and green light, we started with a white curly-tailed grub on an 1/8 oz jig head, casting as far as possible, counting down to about 25, and reeling back slowly while jerking the grub to create an erratic action. This produced a few fish right away. As the sun dipped below the horizon and fish began marking under the boat, I switched to a 1 oz jigging spoon and worked it vertically. The key was dropping straight down while pinching the line between two fingers to feel any subtle hits on the way down. Once on bottom, I reeled up a few cranks and popped the jig repeatedly, watching carefully for slack or any unusual line movement. Nearly all of the fish hit on the drop, so staying focused on the line was crucial. We ended the night with around 30 fish, most in the 1 to 2 pound range, which was a nice upgrade from the schoolies caught earlier this week. The bite slowed around 9:30 PM, and we switched to bait on a high-low rig with small circle hooks, picking up a couple more before calling it a night at 10 PM.

Headed to Thompson Bay and anchored on the same numbers as the day before. Fish were boiling all around the boat with massive schools of baitfish stacked in the area. I adjusted my setup to free line anchovies using 20 lb braid to a 20 lb fluorocarbon leader with a small circle hook. I eventually added a small split shot just a few inches above the hook to keep slight tension on the line as the bite continued. I also worked a jig by dropping it to the bottom, popping it up, and reeling in slack. Many of the strikes came on the drop, so watching for slack in the line after each pop was critical to hooking up. With fish feeding aggressively around the bait schools, the combination of free-lined bait and jigging produced steady action throughout the morning.

We hit the water early, fishing from 6:00 AM to 10:30 AM with water temps between 81–84°F and calm winds under 5 mph out of the ESE. The morning started trolling 30–50 feet of water from Pilot Rock to just south of Steamboat Cove using a deep-diving crankbait and an A-Rig, marking single fish but no large schools. I had one short strike on the A-Rig north of Steamboat. South of the cove, I found a school of stripers in about 33 feet with balls of shad slightly higher in the column. After anchoring and chumming, small striped bass started boiling on the shad all around the boat, so I switched to a jerkbait and spent the next hour catching schoolie stripers one after another. Around 7:30 AM I ran toward Thompson Bay, spotting several small boils chasing shad along the way. In Thompson Bay, I marked massive bait balls with stripers stacked from 10–30 feet. I ended the trip with 10 keepers, the biggest about 1.5 lbs, while most were in the 1 lb and under range with a few larger fish holding on the bottom. Chumming kept the fish under the boat, and the key setup was anchovies on 20 lb braid with a ¼ oz sliding sinker, bead, and 18" 20 lb fluorocarbon leader.

*Pictured is my son Kaleb with this beautiful 3 pound Small Mouth Bass hooked while taking a break from guiding out near the Bill Williams River* Flathead Catfish The Flathead Catfish bite has been strong on Lake Havasu, especially during evening and night sessions. Anglers report several hook-ups with fish in the 10–20 lb range using live sunfish (bluegill)—our go-to bait for trophy Flatheads. These deep-water predators are staging around submerged rock structures and current edges, with drop-shot and bait rigs yielding the best results. Striped Bass Striper action has been excellent around sunrise and sunset near Windsor State Park, the chalk cliffs, and Main Channel. Local reports have noted schools boiling on baitfish, with anglers landing stripers from 14–20 inches using green-tailed Bass Assassins or cut anchovies on 3/8–½ oz leadheads.