Fishing Report: Stripers biting at Lake Mead, largemouth bass picking up

Friday, July 18, 2003 | 10:02 a.m.

NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE

Fishing for striped bass is picking up in the Boulder Basin at Lake Mead as boaters are reporting to the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) that the game fish are on the surface feeding on threadfin shad.

Jim Heinrich, NDOW fisheries biologist, said that he has been seeing good numbers of shad throughout the Boulder Basin while diving to do research.

Recent evening trawls also indicate that this has been at least an average year in terms of the number of shad produced in their recent spawn.

Some of the better fishing recently reported to NDOW has been at the newly exposed islands near Callville Bay. Stripers ranging 16-18 inches and largemouth bass have been taken in the past week.

Boaters are finding fairly good action for stripers from Overton Beach to Echo Bay. Shore fishing has been very good for stripers and channel catfish at Stewart's Point.

Most of the fish range 12-14 inches and are being caught by drifting and chumming with anchovies and squid. Fishing has been poor for rainbow trout at Willow Beach.

Dan Maes, NDOW installation specialist, said that over the weekend he checked a number of trout that ranged 14-15 inches, along with a few that went 17 inches. Most of the fishing activity has been taking place at Haymeadow Reservoir.

Largemouth bass fishing is fair, but winds have been causing some problems. Haymeadow and Cold Springs reservoirs are both producing bass.Daytime temperatures have been near 100 while evenings have been dipping into the 50s. Surface water temperatures are around 78 degrees.