Lake Powell - 9/9 thru 9/15

[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Spent a few days on Lake Powell with my good friends, Old Crestliner and IceFishingGod and to say we had a blast would be short changing ourselves. The fishing was acceptable though it started out slow it ended with a bang with plenty of boils and topwater fishing.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]When we got there Friday, 9/10, it was was very warm and calm but by the end of the day the wind started to kick in. It never slowed down for 3-1/2 days! This slowed down the fishing but we were still able to get a few fish by fishing what few boils that came along or trolling JP rigs.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Monday evening the wind finally subsided and we decide to make the run to the Escalante River which is 30 miles down lake. We filled up the boat, 50 gallons and added 25 gallons in five gallon cans. After reaching the Escalante, we motored up the canyon, sight seeing and checking for fish. I hardly endorse checking out the Ecalante River arm if you've never been there. It has some pretty amazing sites.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]As we came out of the Escalante arm back to the main channel, we decide to troll. We had some surface activity out in front of us and decided to pull up and see if we could catch a few. As with most of the boils we encountered, it wasn't up long and we didn't get to it before it sounded on us. It was just starting to get dark and we saw some activity, a few light ripples very near the slickrock shore line. We idled over and I chucked a BassPro Dying Shad and on the first cast, WHAM! A nice 4 lb striper. I threw in again and WHAW! another nice striper. We ended up with eight stripers in ten minutes before the stripers decide to hit the road.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We also went night fishing and dropped a green underwater light that evening. We had tons of shad coming to the light but no luck in drawing in the stripers.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]The next morning started out slow but by 10 am, there were boils everywhere. they never stayed up long but it made for a lot of fun fishing and chasing.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We made the run back and made it back by the skin of our backsides. We had plenty of fuel after adding the additional 25 gallons from the can but we nearly ran out of two cycle from the injector pump tank. Old crestliner held the tank so that the oil would fill the end of the tank where the intake tube in the tank could continue to suck oil, We got back to Hall Crossing will none to spare.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We ended the day trolling the Mokei Wall and picked up more stripers using JP rigs. Anyway it was a great trip. We ended burning over 100 gallons of fuel in the boat and saw a lot of lake Powell. Here's a few pics.[/size][/black][/font]
[center][inline LP_1.JPG][/center] [center]My boat in the Cathedral in the Desert in Clear Creek Canyon on the Escalante Arm[/center] [center]

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[/center] [center] [/center] [center][inline lp_2.JPG][/center] [center]Another Shot of the Escalante Arm[/center] [center]

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[/center] [center] [/center] [center][inline lp_3.JPG][/center] [center]Old Crestliner with a little smallie caught on a shad crankbait[/center] [center]

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[/center] [center] [/center] [center][inline lp_4.JPG][/center] [center]Our camp on the Escalante[/center] [center] [/center] [center]

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[/center] [center][inline lp_5.JPG][/center] [center]A typical striper. Our largest were around 6 lbs[/center] [center]

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[/center] [center] [/center] [center][inline lp_6.JPG][/center] [center]IFG fishing a striper boil[/center] [center] [/center] [center] [/center] [center] [/center]
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[petty4life]

sounds like you guys had a great time. that new t-top looks sweat on the water. did you guys get any strippers on the hyperstrippers you made?
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[Hellsangler69]

Nice Report . You really burn some fuel up there . Good to hear it was a good time by all . Great pics .
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[AFDan52]

[font "Arial Black"][red][size 3] Hey Rich, looks like you had a Great time in some great country. I got to get down there one day. Glad there were no major problems on your trip. Thanks for the Pics.[/size][/red][/font]
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[font "Arial Black"][#ff0000][size 3]AFDan52[/size][/#ff0000][/font]
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[Coldfooter]

Hey Rich sounds like the weekend end with a bit of an adventure. Stuff like that makes for fond memories.. How was the fuel prices at the docks and were the strippers rising most of the day or just morning and evening? Ha!
Good ta see you guys got a few. Mark any real locomotives along "the wall"?
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[Theekillerbee]

Thanks for the report Rich, it sounds like the trip was much better than the last time you went down. Remember, I'm your man when you need to sell that kidney to pay the fuel bill!
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[CBR]

Nice Report! Can't wait to get down there this mid-october. We have a house boat for 5 days but I could only stay 3 and I doubt I will spend much time on the house boat.

I hope to get some good weather while down there, things have been so up and down wind/weather wise.

Thanks for the report.
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[luckybob]

Nice report...Great pictures!!!! Thanks for sharing.
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[DonInDenver]

Nice report! Thanks. Looks like you guys had a great trip and a lot of fun. I love that Escalante arm!

Is that a different boat than you had when we met at the Gorge a year or so ago?
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We did have a great trip. We went as far up as the mud line on the Escalante when we finally decided to turn back. It got shallow fairly significantly after that so we decided to bag the sight seeing and go back to serious fishing. Yes, that Escalante Arm rocks![/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]The fishing was really starting to turn on when we had to leave. That wind just put them down. It was good that we had the JP rigs to fall back on when the boils and topwater evaporated. Trolling 40-60 ft deep at 1.0-1.5 mph seemed to be the key with the JP rigs.Once the wind decided to stop, the stripers came topside again.[/size][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]When you saw Predator and I at the Gorge, we were in his Weldcraft Maverick. My boat is a Gregor Super SeaHawk 20 with the t-top. Great open water boat. A bit to be desired on the bass circiut though! LOL![/size][/black][/font]
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[DonInDenver]

Thanks. I couldn't tell from the pics, did you ever get your bow mount electric installed? (I seem to remember from an earlier post that you said you had one - just needed to install it.)

Powell in September and October is really spectacular. Glad you had a fun trip! Later...
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[a-b]

Sounds like yuou had a great trip Rich. We will be headed back down on the 28th. I want to give those J.P. rigs a shot this trip. But I think I will try useing a bottom bouncer instead of a sinker on a drop line. I'm thinking it might not get tangeled as easy. Hopefully the boils will still be cooperative. The wife is kinda addicted to them after our trip in August.

a-b
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]a-b, I'm with your wife! I like the boils too. My friend, old crestliner, gets impatient if the action is not going and wants to go to the JP rigs right away. I'd rather wait for boils than try and crank riggers and rods up trying to get to them.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]The secret of those JP rigs is the slow roll of the anchovies. Seems the stripers can't resist it. When it gets slow, head for the vertical walls, try right up against them on the slow troll. We had a lot of people asking what we were using to catch fish when just bait fishing wouldn't work.[/size][/black][/font][font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Good Luck! Wish I was going down again. Think I'm shooting for Late December.[/size][/black][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Hey, Don! That electric is mounted and works ok. That tall bow of mine is like a sail in the wind so it makes boat control a little tough when the wind comes up but I used it on the Gorge last time when we were there and stayed over the macks.[/size][/font]
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[DonInDenver]

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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]That tall bow of mine is like a sail in the wind so it makes boat control a little tough when the wind comes up ...[/size][/font] [/reply]
Yes, but I'll bet it makes for a nice, safe feeling when the wind starts to scream and those 3-4 foot rollers come at ya.
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[MisterCompletely]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Thanks for that report. My wife and I are heading down to Bullfrog Friday 9/23 for a quick trip. I've been trying to decide whether to even take the trolling motor. Maybe I'll just take my 55 lb. transom mount instead of the bow mount, and it'll be out of the way. I have some JP rigs that Kent Jorgensen tied up, that I didn't get to use last spring because we got rained out. Besides, the really big stripers are down there deep in the cold water, and one of those big cows would really make my day! A 20 pounder would do just fine. Of course we're hoping mainly for some good boils. And no major wind! I'll post a report when we get back.[/size][/black][/font]
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