Water temps this past week have ranged from 82–87°F with air temps between 94–115°F. Sunrise has been around 6:01 AM with sunset at 7:15 PM. Winds have been all over the place, from glass-calm mornings to 15 mph gusts, and we even had one monsoon storm on Friday the 15th that brought rough evening water for a short time. Last week was jam-packed with back-to-back 3-hour striper charters. Many clients wanted to target quality striped bass, and the bite was steady but definitely changed with the wind. Trolling produced most of our action, with River2Sea Pearl Swimbaits, Cotton Cordell hard baits, Rapala deep divers, and custom-painted jerkbaits all getting bit. The standout lure for the week was the River2Sea swimbait, consistently producing solid fish. Most trips started just north of Site Six, working through the “Sod Farm” where striper were stacked up in 25–30 feet of water. Some days it was wide open, other days the fish had lockjaw. If that slowed down, we pushed into Mesquite Bay or Thompson Bay when time allowed. Midweek through the weekend, fishing got tougher and daily counts dropped, but the majority of fish were quality in the 14–19” range. Later in the week, I switched gears and headed south, trolling from Pilot Rock to Standard Wash. That adjustment paid off big — we were back into steady action, landing 30+ fish most trips, mainly in the 14–17” class with a few smaller ones mixed in. We also started bait fishing in 20–40 feet of water using cut bait on fly lines and drop shots. Keeping a chum bucket going was key to holding fish under the boat, since there’s so much natural forage right now. On Sunday I had a day off and used it to scout. I worked the Intake area for the first time since winter and landed about 15 striper trolling lipless crankbaits in 30 feet. On the way back, I picked off a few more near Cattail Cove, where fish were shallower and even chasing bait into boils late in the morning. Monday evening, I switched gears again to target flathead catfish. I hustled to catch bluegill for bait before dark, then set up anchored on one of my favorite spots. With a Santee Cooper rig and live bluegill, plus a slide rig and cut sardine, I managed a nice flathead just under 10 pounds. Lost another fish to structure and had a few short runs, but I think more live bait would have really dialed them in. Later in the night, I dropped a green light and picked up several 2–3 lb striper that moved in to feed — an awesome sight if you’ve never watched them school and crash bait under the light.

On the water from 5:30–10:00 AM, water temps held steady at 84°F with air temps from 89–100°F. Sunrise was at 5:55 AM, and winds blew 10–15 mph out of the south. Today’s trip was with a fellow licensed boat captain who runs his own wake surf boat here in Havasu—it’s always great having locals aboard! We headed to Blue Dock Cove and trolled through the “Sod Farm” to the White Lighthouse on the island, about a 1.5-mile run. With the south wind, I figured the north side would be more protected, but the bait and stripers were scattered, making for a tougher bite. We ran two different setups at the same time—one rod with a River2Sea D Walker 4.5" Pearl Swimbait on a 1/2 oz jig head, and the other with a 4" fluke for a slimmer profile. Around 7:30, we landed our first 14" striper, quickly followed by another. A few short strikes and lost fish followed before we trolled from Site Six to Body Beach. We landed a 12" striper off the fluke near Beachcomber, but the action picked up again as we neared Thompson Bay. My client hooked a solid 18.5" striper that crushed the D Walker, and later, in the no-wake zone, we doubled up—landing one more 15" fish to wrap up the morning. Conditions were challenging, but persistence paid off, and we had a great time. We’re back at it tomorrow morning—stay tuned for the next report!

Time on the water was from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM, with water temperatures between 85–87°F and air temps rising from 89°F to 100°F. Sunrise was at 5:55 AM, and winds stayed light and inconsistent at under 10 mph, leaving the lake mostly flat with only slight ripples at times. After a long weekend of charters, I had a day without a booking and decided to take my boy out fishing. We headed for the “Sod Farm” on the north side of the island and began trolling around Blue Dock Cove, following the tight contour lines where the depth dropped into deep pockets surrounded by shallow structure. We trolled at around 2.4 mph using a white fluke on a 3/8-ounce chartreuse jig head along with a few different hard baits. The white fluke was the clear MVP, while the Cotton Cordell Grappler Shad only produced one fish. All our fish in this area measured between 15–17 inches—consistent with last week and a nice upgrade from the 10–12" dinks we were catching a couple of weeks ago. Eventually, my boy wanted to try bait fishing, so we circled back to a deeper hole I had marked earlier that was loaded with bait and good marks. We dropped the chum bucket and fished cut bait on a free line. The fish were close to the surface and in that same size range, but the bite had slowed. We each caught a few more, and I added a couple on jerkbaits, but my boy started getting antsy as the action tapered off. After a quick swim for him while I cleaned up the gear, I decided to troll a new section on the west side of the lake about half a mile south of Chemehuevi Wash. This area showed tons of fish and great underwater structure. We had a few short strikes and lost a decent fish right behind the boat, but it seemed like it was just too late in the day for them to really feed.