Going to Lake Mead for first time...advice

[BridgerM]

We (brother, father, myself) are going to try to get into some stripers the first week in January. I realize early January isn't the best time of year, but i'm sure it will beat the conditions here in SLC. After looking at the shore fishing sticky (bank fishing only, no boat), 33 hole seems like a good place to start, then perhaps Boulder Harbor. I've looked at a few threads but have some questions. this is our first time at Mead and first time for striped bass.

1. What is the weather like in early January? Seems like 60's(high) to 40's(low)

2. How far down are striped bass? Or LMB?

3. I'm assuming that live shad are used as bait, How is it rigged?

4. Can shad colored/patterned lures be effective as well?

Any info is appreciated

Thanks
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[syncityangler]

well if your going to 33 hole be prepared for a bit of a hike but not too bad. I can make it down with all my gear and my 3yo daughter in tow... fish the middle parking lot. hike down and fish on the north side of the hole there is a picture attached to the bottom of this post, one key PHRASE for lake mead is "CHUM, CHUM, AND CHUM SOME MORE AND KEEP CHUMMING" bring the fish to you:

then use carolina rigged anchovies/sardines/shad on the bottom

or "drop shot/bottom fishing" style rig with the weight at the bottom and the hook 12" or so above the weight.

cut bait seems to work the best this time of year. I'm sure other will chime in on this one

also Government Wash is also a good place to fish from shore

check out the attached picture of 33hole
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[BridgerM]

Thank you for the reply and detailed pic. That will help a lot once we get there. We should have no problem with a little hike.

MMM, chum. lol. we are very familiar with the drop shot, however only used plastic worms with it. I'm excited to try it with a real fish. Same with the carolina rig.



I have a question regarding the pier at Boulder Harbor. Is the pier easily accessible from the parking lot? And are there fish to be caught?
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[syncityangler]

[quote BridgerM]
I have a question regarding the pier at Boulder Harbor. Is the pier easily accessible from the parking lot? And are there fish to be caught?[/quote]

The pier at Boulder Harbor is gone, but the one at Hemmenway is still there, and very accessible, but I tend to stay away from the pier, its usually combat fishing for the same chance or less, that you could do off a nice secluded cove/shore.

there used to be a pier at Boulder Harbor also, before the water dropped drastically then they just took it out. they actually closed the harbor for a bit due to low water, then they dredged the harbor and re-opened it recently, fishing was good before the low water. now its not so great. but the last time I went out there I hooked up twice one small smallmouth right at shore, then another unseen fish I lost cause my rod broke, not from the weight of the fish but from a cheap rod LOL[fishon] hope this helps a bit[cool]
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[BridgerM]

Yes, you have been very helpful. Taking a road trip to fish unfamiliar water is somewhat intimidating, but your replies and the sticky with shore maps have decreased some of that worry and boosted the excitement. Thank you.

Pier fishing isn't ideal, I agree. My mom has limited mobility due to cancer and wants to fish with us if possible for a day. She can handle the walk from the car to a pier. Hopefully we'll get lucky and choose a less crowded day.

At the very least, it will be nice to have a break from the snow and freezing temps.
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[TheWhizzle]

It can be tough fishing from shore here, but persistence will pay off.

Live shad will be hard to come by in January, but frozen sardines and anchovies will be the ticket. If you chum up an area, and continue chumming while you fish, you should be able to pull some in. The typical style is to chum with anchovies and use the more oily sardines as bait (10-15lb line is typical). You could connect with stripers or decent sized channel cats this way. And by chum, we mean bring 5 or more pounds of just chum, plus your bags of bait. You really want to keep the area well "lubricated".

If you don't know where the fish are, it will be hit or miss from shore fishing shad-imitating lures, but another option in these areas is to fish a bigger setup (15-20lb line) with a trout-imitating swimbait in the 6" to 9" range. They stopped stocking trout in our lake a little over a year ago, but luckily, nobody told the stripers. They will still hit a trout artificial, and these fish can easily go 10 pounds or more. Winter is typically the time when striper guys bag the biggest fish of the year with this technique.

LMB are going to be a little deeper in January if the weather gets cooler. If we still are having 60 degree days, you may find some fish shallow still, but typically they will be holding on ledges in 25-50 feet of water. A drop shot rig with a little 4.5" straight-tail roboworm will do the trick here. Aarons magic, morning dawn, hologram shad, they are all good colors.

I expect the weather to be somewhere around 50's for the high, 35-40's at night.


Good luck buddy, let us know how it goes!
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[BridgerM]

Here is a partial update.

We found Seafood City and got some sardines. Wow, what a place. lol. thanks for the advice.

We hit Stewart's point yesterday and today. Pretty windy yesterday and chilly. Less wind and more comfortable today. I caught a small LMB on a drop shot. Nothing else. We have never used chum before and probably didn't use enough the first day or correctly, so doubled up went through nearly 10lbs today. Cut them up and threw them in periodically and used a couple of chum bags as well. Casted out as deep as we could get the bait. Also tried swimbaits, jigs, lipless cranks. I don't know if we were doing something wrong or the fish weren't there/too deep.

So, tomorrow is our last day and will try somewhere closer to boulder basin. Open to any location/technique suggestions.

On a side note, the overnight low here is double what the daytime high has been in SLC, UT. It was 8 degrees when we left Wednesday. Not catching fish isn't fun, but it sure as hell beats freezing and not fishing.
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[BridgerM]

Saturday was our last day and we hit govt wash. Long story short, we chummed the area well and continually, tried drop shotting and other lures. No fish, no bites. There were a few other people bank fishing and from what I could tell there wasn't much catching going on. A few boaters that launched from the shore near us all had some stripers when they came in.Some in the 5lb range i'd guess. I've attached a pic of the only fish that was caught over three days.

We made a stop at Bass Pro Shops, it was our first time visiting. We have a Cabelas and Sportsmans warehouse in Salt Lake, but no BPS. Damn what an awesome store. It's like a better cabelas. The selection is overwhelming, I'm glad I knew exactly what I wanted before going in. It was hard not to load up on stuff I didn't need. Like a fat kid in a candy store.


The scenery at Mead is amazing. I would love to fish there again. It sucked not catching fish, but it will make the fish on the next trip even better.

Thank you guys for the info and tips.
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[syncityangler]

[quote BridgerM] The scenery at Mead is amazing. I would love to fish there again. It sucked not catching fish, but it will make the fish on the next trip even better. [/quote]

that's good ole mead shore fishing for ya. when I first moved back and fished mead, I caught 4, then I went a year without catching a striper from shore. March 2010 - Feb 2011 no stripers. but then I only caught one, which is also my PB. the one in my avatar. then went another 6 mos without a striper. 2012 was my year though, I caught a lot of stripers last year! Hope this year is better than last year, and this year I hope I can bag a double digit fish!! [fishon]
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[reellittlephish]

Mead has, IMO, a well deserved reputation for being tough. I experienced a long slow learning curve. That's coming from years of Southern California lakes which are known toughies... I'm more consistent now but I know the lake a lot better. I also upgraded through 3 boats to what I have now.

Then you came at a slow time. Come back in late March, April and May and bring a boat. Stripers start to school and blow up on the surface early mornings in May and June most years.
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[Erawk]

It's nice to hear that you appreciated the scenery. Sorry the fish didn't cooperate much. It looks like you captured some of the great views at Mead, speaking from your photo. That is a great shot, thanks for sharing.

BPS is awesome. I've never been in and out of that store in less than 45 minutes, even if when I was trying.

Better luck next time. As was said, try again in warmer months and yo should do better.

[fishin]
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[Dan79]

Sounds like you guys had a cool trip!

And you my friend, caught a SMB not a LMB. Props!
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