"Spring Fishing Heats Up at Lake Powell: Bass, Crappie, and More Biting"

Artificial Lure reporting from Lake Powell on a crisp spring morning, April 18, 2025. If you’re an angler itching for pre-summer action, you picked a stellar day to hit these canyon waters.

Sunrise was just after 6:30 this morning and sunset will be about 8:00 tonight, giving you plenty of daylight to work those rocky coves and winding main channels. No tides to worry about here, just the daily rhythm of warming water and busy fish. Weather today is classic desert spring: clear skies, a light breeze, and highs pushing the mid-70s. Water temperatures are climbing into the mid-to-upper 50s, and that’s putting the bass bite squarely in the hot zone[1][7][8].

Fishing has been fair to good all week. Smallmouth bass are thick along the rocky shorelines and points, with plenty coming in on single tail grubs, smoke or watermelon colors, and tubes worked down to 20-30 feet. Later in the morning, white and chartreuse plastics have been picking up the slack as the light grows. Largemouth are pushing shallow to spawn right now; work flats with broken rock or brush with spinnerbaits, plastic grubs, or a black and blue jig-n-pig for some chunky bass[4][8][7].

Crappie are also on the move. Look for brushy pockets in the backs of canyons and toss small jigs or tubes. Bluegill are turning up in shallows on crickets or red worms[9].

Striped bass are starting to stage for their big spring move. Anglers are reporting early morning “boils” in the main channel, especially from Antelope Point up toward Navajo Canyon, around first light. If you spot stripers breaking on shad, throw shad-pattern rattle traps, topwater poppers, or spoons right through the action. Otherwise, trolling crankbaits or fishing cut anchovy in 40-60 feet is putting plenty in the box. Now’s a great time to target stripers since there’s no limit[8][9][1].

Walleye are still scattered but showing up for folks trolling crankbaits and bottom bouncers tipped with nightcrawlers, especially near rocky points as the water warms[5][9].

Catfish are always a standby: toss anchovies, hot dogs or table scraps off your houseboat or a sandy cove and you’re almost sure to get action after dark[7][9][6].

Two hot spots worth your time right now:
First, Antelope Point to Navajo Canyon for those early morning striper and smallmouth boils. Second, the rocky shorelines and points near Bullfrog Marina, where bass and crappie are staged up and hungry[8][10].

So bring the grubs, toss a few anchovies on ice, and get out there. Spring’s firing up at Lake Powell and the fish are definitely cooperating. Tight lines from Artificial Lure, see you on the water.