Lake Powell water level will be 3,533 in the coming week, which means the lake has risen 11 feet since the runoff began. That is encouraging, and we hope the runoff continues and the lake continues to rise for as long as possible. Ramps at Bullfrog and Wahweap are open and operating on concrete instead of metal boiler plate. Launching is easy. That is the good news.

On my weekly fishing trip, I was so excited to get out on the water because of the great success catching fish in the previous two weeks. I woke up early, well before the sunrise, and headed to the lake. The sun was just starting to rise as we headed up the main channel from Wahweap and through the three wakeless areas before finally passing through Antelope Point Marina. It takes an hour to get to this point. Leave early to avoid the many boat wakes that make the southern lake very bumpy after 8 a.m.

I was so excited to get back to my fishing hole that produced so well on my previous two trips. The key spot was a long, rocky ridge that was exposed for 100 yards during the first week and then only 50 yards the second week as the water level increased and covered the great fish habitat. On this trip, I was surprised that the lake rise had covered almost all of the rocky structure, but that should just make more rocky habitat available to the bass, walleye, crappie and stripers. I fished from the shallow end following the rocky structure into deeper water. The only difference this time was that there were no fish interested in eating my plastic grubs or crappie jigs or trolled lures. I could not believe it! How could the fish hide and where did they go? We continued up lake only to find the same lack of cooperative fish. After five hours of traveling and fishing in great habitat without one bite, we decided to head back to the marina. We turned around at the back of Rock Creek and then stopped at Pot Hole Arch to take in the beauty of this amazing arch and beautiful scenery on the way out.

After leaving the Arch at 11 a.m., I decided to troll along the rocky shoreline at the bottom of the cliff and give the fish one more chance to cooperate. We trolled for about 50 yards, and our day changed dramatically. A striper and a smallmouth hit our two trolling lures at the same time. We landed both fish and put the Rattletraps out again – same result! We caught fish for the next hour in every place we tried. The fish were obviously not interested in eating early in the day, but they got hungry and then went crazy chasing our lures midday. It was time to head in and we were satisfied, so we began the two-hour journey from Rock Creek back to Wahweap Auxiliary ramp.

Some days the fish decide when they are going to eat, and it does not matter what lures you use or where you are fishing. I expect the fish to respond to my wide range of lures and techniques at all times and places. So, these fish reminded me that I am not always in charge of my own fishing adventures. Some days they only eat when it is their time to shine. I thank them for the reminder and will try to keep that in mind on my next fishing adventure.