Lake Powell ? HELP! ! !

[Jarrod]

I am taking a houseboat trip on lake powell (Wahweep/Page Marina) May 18th - 25th 2007. Anyone interested in making the trip? I hear spearing the stripers and cats can get pretty intense on the lake but would like to hear some first hand accounts and get any tips possible from the pros.

If anyone has any info or has dove the lake before let me know. I am going into this blind but want to shoot some delicious fish.

Thanks Guys/Gals

-J

[Inanity]

Yes, I have freedove there. If I am in Utah at that time I would love to go along. There are great spots for bass. In the area I dove last year I didnt see any cats or stipers. I drove in from the north at a random spot and suited up and went out. The structure is great with huge boulders and caves. I found a ton of trash on the bottom and even dove a boat that sunk.
I wore my 5mm surfing suit. It was so god awful hot on the outside I didnt dare put on my 7mm. This was late July.
The theromcline is around 30ft and the temp drops to around 50 degrees. The vis where I was diving was roughly 40ft. I have heard from the locals the vis can get as much as 80ft.
The only issue I had was boaters. For some reason in Utah (in my experience) boaters do not have a clue when it comes to divers, freedivers and dive flags. I was buzzed a number of times by people wondering what the hell I was and what I was doing. I actually reported one boat that barely missed me. I live and dive the FAR northcoast of California where the risk level is a bit higher than other places..ie: minimal vis, huge swells, resident sharks, mad seals, currents from hell and so on. I was never more at risk from injury and scared than diving lake powell.
I hope that helps.
D

[scubadown16]

I have dove it several times with great reward... I am not sure where Wahweep/Page Marina is. Is that on the Utah or Arizona side??? If your diving in Utah you can only take Two game fish with the exception of stripers. They are unlimited. Now I have taken some good cats out of there. Along with a ton of carp. You can take all the trash fish you want. If your going to go after the stripers I suggest going along the walls that drop straight down. Try getting to about 35 or 40 ft and finding a shelf you can lay on and wait. usually the stripers will cruz the walls. For cats you'll find them along cracks and ledges and in holes. The carp are every where. Let me help you more if I can. If I can make the trip are you offering to put me up on your boat??? Thanks James

[Bill McIntyre]

Coincidentally, there was a Lake Powell post on the Freedivelist this morning. Here it is for what its worth.
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I finally had the chance to dive Lake Powell on Thursday. Conditions were great. Viz was about 15 to 20 feet. Carp and striper's can be hunted year around at the lake. Game fish cant be speared till June. The striper's in the lake were friendly and easy to get. I would dive to about 20 feet or so and just wait on the bottom. The schools of hundreds of fish would just swim by and I would just wait till the bigger ones to swim in front of my gun. Lots of curious carp and huge shad would pass me as well. I only saw one walleye mixed in with the striper's, but due to regs just observed him. Its an interesting lake as the thousand foot cliffs make for some interesting dives. The rock walls would go down to over 200 feet and fish would just hang near the walls.

Pictures...
http://i15.tinypic.com/30bpifd.jpg
http://i17.tinypic.com/2lapl01.jpg

Oh yeah, fresh striper's taste great in case anyone was wondering.

[element]

Coincidentally, there was a Lake Powell post on the Freedivelist this morning. Here it is for what its worth.

Yep, that was me. I don't know anything about the Arizona side, just the Utah side out of Bullfrog.