There are times when everything lines up. When all the things that make fishing good fall into place. When no matter what hits the water, or when, something with fins takes it.
This is such a year at Lake Powell. Oh, there have been good years at Powell - when crappie bit like mosquitoes, or when the arms ached from bringing in so many largemouth, or when fishermen actually put down their poles and cried "enough" when catching striped bass.But never - not in the 35-plus years fishermen have been coming to this southern water - has fishing been so good for so many different fish.
Wayne Gustaveson, lake biologist for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for 25 of those years, called this the best overall fishing he's seen since he's been stationed at the lake.
In recent weeks, it has not been uncommon for fishermen to hook onto 50 to 75 fish per day.
Steve Kener, a long-time Powell fishermen, fished there two weeks ago and said he and a friend averaged more than 100 fish a day.
Last week, there was talk around the docks at Stateline of two fishermen out of Hite telling staff they caught 150 fish that day, and were certain, now they knew the secret, they could hit 200 the following day.
"I don't doubt it," said Gustaveson, shaking his head. "It really is that good."
And not just for one species. Fishing has been especially good for smallmouth and largemouth, but good, too, for crappie, walleye and bluegill.
"The stripers haven't moved in, yet, but when they do, I'm afraid for what may happen. There are so many of them they could throw everything off balance," he said.
Back in the early 1960s, when the lake was just starting to fill, trout fishing was some of the best in the country. Then, mysteriously, the trout vanished. Crappie were next. When there was no limit on the small fish, fishermen were taking home large garbage cans filled with crappie. While the lake was filling, largemouth became the fish. But, when it filled the largemouth fishing crashed.
Stripers then became the target of lures and baits. The problem was there got to be too many. Several times, over the past 15 years, they've eaten themselves out of a good home. With stripers, it has always been feast or famine. A few years ago they crashed. The walleye, who utilize the same foods, crashed along with the striped bass.
What made this year possible, said Gustaveson, was the drought. The dry years brought down the lake level by more than 90 feet. When it began to refill, the water reintroduced new homes for the crappie, largemouth and the more recently introduced smallmouth.
"We've had tremendous spawns the past few years. The new brush covered by the rising waters resulted in good survival. The brush is what we call nursery habitat. The small bass can hide in it until they're large enough to escape from the larger fish," he said.
"Along with this, we've had two good years of shad production. And with striper numbers down, this has meant the shad have been there for the other fish. Now we've got good numbers and good size to the fish. What else could you ask for?"
What concerns Gustaveson is that the stripers appear to be coming back with a vengeance. During the drought years, between 1986-91, there was not much of a striper spawn. This allowed the shad to come back to what he called "record numbers in 1995-96."
Now, with full stomachs, the stripers are bigger, fatter and spawning.
"The stripers haven't come into the picture, yet, but they will. They're on plankton now, but they'll make the switch to shad soon. This year the shad could be decimated by the stripers, and when that happens the other fish will suffer. We're on top of the roller-coaster now, but we could be headed down fast.
"The only thing we can do at this point is put pressure on the stripers and take as many out of the population as we can. It's really the only way we can head off a crash. There is no limit on stripers and I don't foresee a time when there will be one," Gustaveson said.
When the stripers - most of them now in the eight- to 12-inch range - make the switch to shad, they will begin to grow much faster. The larger they grow, the more shad they'll need.
What he fears is that fishermen will throw back the smaller stripers. Gustaveson pointed out, however, that fish in the 3/4- to 1-pound range are easier to catch, easier to clean and make a tasty meal.
"Throwing them back is the wrong thing to do," he stressed.
Smallmouth and largemouth can survive without the shad. They can both easily switch to crayfish. Walleye can't. Like the striper, they need shad to survive in good numbers.
It is expected that as the lake fills and largemouth habitat is covered and eventually destroyed, it will eventually crash. The smallmouth, introduced into the lake by Gustarveson, prefer broken rock to live around. And it will never be lost to the fish. Gustaveson fells that it will be the smallmouth that will prove to be the most stable and frequent catch at the lake.
For now, the numbers are up, the fish are healthy and plentiful, and they're not at all particular about what lures they'll snap at.