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.