Striper Showdown at Lake Mead: Finding Fish in Falling Water and Sizzling Heat

This is Artificial Lure with your September 6, 2025, on-the-water angling update for Lake Mead, where the bite remains solid despite low water and brutal late-summer heat. Good news for early risers: today’s sunrise hit at 6:19 AM, and we’ll be fishing until sunset at 7:07 PM—plenty of daylight to find productive water and test your tackle.

The weather forecast calls for classic desert summer—expect temperatures to peak near 99° F with clear skies and a stiff afternoon breeze. That midday wind may chop up the surface, pushing baitfish and stripers into shallows and points before the sun bakes the rocks. As always, hydrate, keep an eye on your electronics, and don’t be shy about seeking shade during the brutal afternoon hours.

Lake Mead’s water level keeps edging downward, changing up familiar structure and forcing both predator and prey to adapt. The ledges and drop-offs that held fish last month might now be dry land, so focus on the newly submerged bushes and rocky shelves that form the lake’s shifting shoreline. According to the Lake Mead, Nevada Daily Fishing Report podcast, stripers are pushing bait balls early, especially around Boulder Basin and the Overton Arm. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are seguing deeper midday, stacking along humps and submerged brush in the 18–30 foot range.

Fish activity is surprisingly high, especially at daybreak and again near sunset. Reports from the last several days mention solid striper catches, with many anglers filling limits trolling deep-diving crankbaits and casting topwater lures like Zara Spooks or pencil poppers right at first light. Cut anchovies are still the striper bait of choice for those soaking bait. Largemouth have been spotty but mostly active on drop-shot rigs and medium-diving crankbaits worked along shadow lines and submerged brush. Smallmouth bass are hitting when anglers slow-roll finesse jigs or Ned rigs along steeper rocky banks.

If you’re chasing numbers, Overton Arm has been on fire, especially near Stewarts Point and the Cathedral Cove area—both fishing channels and shallow flats where stripers herd shad into tight balls. Bluegill and sunfish are hanging around the flooded reeds and rocky pockets; small worms or crappie jigs will fill a bucket if you want panfish action.

No meaningful tidal swing here since Lake Mead’s a reservoir, but wind-driven water movement peaks mid- to late afternoon, and savvy anglers have been using that flow to their advantage, setting up on windblown points with anchovies for striper.

Best lures right now? For stripers, it’s chrome topwaters early, white or chartreuse flukes when the sun’s high, and classic deep-diving plugs for trollers. For bass, natural-colored plastics rigged Texas or drop-shot, and any jig pattern imitating crawdad or shad. Catfish are still eating cut bait after dark, especially along the northern coves.

A couple of current hot spots: Boulder Harbor is reliable for a mixed bag, especially if you work the main channel edges and rocky points. Temple Bar is another, with consistent reports on both stripers and black bass—try the points adjacent to deep water and don’t overlook the backs of coves for late-spawning bluegill.

Keep in mind, Lake Mead is always changing, and a few feet of falling water can move your fish. Cover water until you find the marks, and don’t be afraid to shift presentations as the light changes.

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