Overton Arm water starting to heat up with fishing action

Friday, April 8, 2005 | 9:12 a.m.

NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE

Despite strong winds, boaters had some luck for stripers in back of Fish Island and at St. Thomas in the Overton Arm. One boater brought two largemouth bass to the fish cleaning station Saturday that weighed 3 pounds each. The fish were caught near Fish Island with crank baits.

Two anglers fishing from shore Sunday at Echo Bay caught 15 stripers and two catfish. Boaters are catching stripers in Las Vegas Wash.

NDOW biologists said that now is the time of year that stripers traditionally begin to spawn and they normally can be found close to shore at depths of 50 to 60 feet. In previous years, anglers have found fish spawning in the Meadows, Walker Wash, the Meat Hole, Fish Island and Rogers Bay areas.

Unlike some fish, stripers will feed while spawning. Chumming will attract the fish and they can be caught with anchovies or lures that imitate shad, such as Spots. Jigging spoons are not as productive at catching the fish at this time of year, but they will be in a month or two.

The action for striped bass continues to be below par for both shore anglers and boaters at Cottonwood Cove. Windy weather has kept fishing activity to a minimum in that area of the lake.

Willow Beach Hatchery scheduled a stocking of 3,000 rainbow trout Thursday at Davis Camp on the Arizona side of the Colorado River below Davis Dam.

NDOW is scheduled to stock Adams McGill early next week.