Las Vegas area fishing report: Overton Arm rich in bass, black crappie

Friday, April 12, 2002 | 9:23 a.m.

NEVADA DIVISION OF WILDLIFE

Fishing took off last weekend in the Overton Arm with boaters having good luck for black crappie and striped and largemouth bass, according to the Nevada Division ofWildlife.

Walt deMattos, NDOW creel census clerk, said he checked six boaters on last Saturday who had 80 crappie. He also checked 120 stripers and 40 largemouth bass.

All of the fish are being caught from Fish Island to the Virgin River. Anchovies are catching the stripers while largemouth bass are falling to deep running lures. Yellow jigs are the preferred bait for catching crappie.

Fishing continues to be slow in the Boulder Basin with only a few largemouth and striped bass being seen at the docks during the past week. Stripers are in schools, so the secret to catching the fish is to first locate them with fish finders.

The dropping water level is causing difficulty in launching boats at Callville Bay, Las Vegas Bay and Overton Beach marinas.

One party of boaters fared very well for rainbow trout over the weekend by fishing in coves near Cottonwood Cove. They caught several trout that measured 14-15 inches.

Striped bass fishing has been good as well around Cottonwood Cove with the better action taking place in the narrows above the marina. Over the weekend NDOW creel clerks checked a party of boaters who had 30 stripers and another that had 15 fish.

Fishing has been good as well for brown trout with crawdad colored lures being favored by anglers to catch the fish.