Lake Powell with RMA

Shortly after attending my first RMA meeting I was invited by some of the guys to participate in their Lake Powell Tournament. Come to find out, to these fearless fisherman the word Tournament is synonymous with "lets go fishing".

 We arrived in Bullfrog on Thursday night, had a dutch oven dinner and set up camp for the night. The next morning we hit the lake. The scenery was fantastic. It was a like a trip to a half flooded alien planet.

We made our way up to Good Hope Bay and started fishing. I really did not have many pre-designs about the trip. In fact, I really did not know what to expect. I had been to Lake Powell about 16 years ago and only ever caught a Smallmouth Bass. I had never caught a Walleye or a Striped Bass and I was hoping to knock a few firsts off of my species list. I soon landed a Smallmouth and my boat buddy quickly caught a Walleye. I was excited to see a Walleye in the boat and was waiting patiently for my turn.  We fished and fished and fished, had several bites that were followed by jumping Largemouth but the day was interrupted by a surprise wind storm. Other than a bonus Smally from the dock that would be it for the day.

We spent that night in a tent braving winds that caused me to fear waking up in the land of OZ. The morning came with much anticipation but the sky showed no sign of letting up. It would be too risky to hit the canyons in those conditions, so we decided to wait it out.

Saturday night we accepted an invitation to stay with some of the guys at a rented trailer. We hunkered down watched the NBA playoffs and ate BBQ and fish fry. Even though I was disappointed by the weather I had a fantastic day and learned a ton from these seasoned Walleye veterans.

Sunday morning came and we headed back up to Sevenmile Creek. Right away we felt bite after bite after bite, but there were no hook ups. In the shallow bay we could see several bluegill swimming around and chasing our lures under the boat. From around the bend I was hearing a faint yell WALLEYE!! Then a few minutes later another Walleye!! It echoed off of the narrow canyon walls, Walleye!!. It was one of our other groups. Every time I heard the yell I felt more and more discouraged. I felt that I was destined to be let down. Just then I felt a furious and powerful hit. After a fantastic fight filled with darts and runs ending with the splash of the net, I held up my first Striped Bass for a photo op.

After getting back to it with no more interest in my lure I re-rigged a full crawler on a drop shot. A few minutes later I felt a slight tug and set the hook. Out of the water came my first Walleye. These two fish took the edge off. If I didn't catch another fish the entire trip I would have felt just happy with what I had.

In the next two hours I landed two more Walleye, another Striper, a Smallmouth and several Bluegill. This was the fishing that I had traveled to Lake Powell to experience. Even though we had to head back early I was hooked. Lake Powell was slow to make an appearance but when it did there was no holding back.

After saying our goodbyes on the water and filleting a whole lot of fish we hit the road for the long drive home. 

The Final Tally:

3 Walleye (First Ever)

2 Striped Bass (First Ever)

5 Bluegill

3 Smallmouth Bass

The Best Walleye Education Ever