Lake mead this weekend!!

[redone4x4]

We are heading out today around noon to hit up Echo Bay. Spending the night, so we will be out and about friday and saturday hangin around glory/klein cove. anyone else planning on being out on the water this weekend?

 

[Droopy]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

Hopefully going to be slaying some stripers in Las Vegas wash this evening... Probably going to be out with the tube tomorrow also...

John
1988 Bayliner Capri 2150 OMC 5.0

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

so how'd it go this week end red?
hope you had a gooder

up at bull frog in the slip now and we have net here now(sort of)

any how; nice here for this time of year--cooler than normal

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

Yeah, how did the trip go Red?

We were out at Echo 2 weeks ago and pulled in a boat load of stripers, right around the islands north of Stewarts Point. Well, it wasn't a boat load, but we packed the livewell and had 58 when we got back to the marina.

That launch ramp at Echo is kind of interesting now. It wasn't too bad launching/retrieving, but the hike back to the parking lot was kind of long,,, shuttle bus no where to be found one time.

I spoke with one of the shuttle bus drivers and he said the low lake level is taking it's toll on Echo, few boaters going up there and they don't have many good options for the next time the marina needs to be moved. Let's hope they send some water our way over the winter and bring the lake up a bit...

 

[QC]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

See here: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?p=2886549#post2886549

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

Fri was nice, sat was really windy. The restaurant and hotel are closing after this weekend, and they dont know if/when its going to re-open. We stayed there fri night and we are going to miss it! I like the new launch, the shuttle was working its butt off while we were there to make it easy. I was told that another launch north of the current marina is going to be built and they might move the marina out that way permanently?? not sure on that one though.

Glory/Klein coves were nice, the floating restroom had been attended to and was usable. We still had fun, nice beaches and we bbq'ed lunch so it still beat sitting at home

Dads tow vehicle broke down on monday so i towed his boat to my storage. And realized how small my little boat is after i parked them side by side .
Ill try to get some pics up in a lil bit.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

Bummer about the hotel/restaurant closing, I had a feeling it was coming. I've been out there 4 times this year and the hotel was dead, last Friday 2-3 vehicles in the parking lot and Saturday 10-15 vehicles in the lot. With the low lake level, no houseboat rentals, road construction and now dirt ramp, I can see why they are hurting. Then there's that narrow channel coming into the marina, I wouldn't want to navigate that with a houseboat, especially if there is opposing traffic.

I was BS'ing with one of the shuttle drives and he said they were going to build a new ramp like you said, I'm guessing it's going to be a low water ramp as the one they have right now is a great ramp,,, when the water level is up.

I read somewhere that they are going to add 10' to the lake over the winter, I hope they do, and keep it up there...

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

I understand the closing of the restaurant for now, but 1 week before labor day weekend was stupid. They could have made money for one last time before the winter. My dad cancelled a 4 day stay there in sept, as did I. oh well. I will say while we were there, we only saw 6 cars in the parking lot besides our 2.

10' would do wonders for the lake. that would be up to last years levels and it was alot of fun last year.

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

I understand the closing of the restaurant for now, but 1 week before labor day weekend was stupid. They could have made money for one last time before the winter. My dad cancelled a 4 day stay there in sept, as did I. oh well. I will say while we were there, we only saw 6 cars in the parking lot besides our 2.

10' would do wonders for the lake. that would be up to last years levels and it was alot of fun last year.

i kinda wondered when 7 crowns left..............


i think the "NEW GUYS" just picked it up to milk what ever they could get. and ship as much business to callville as they could.

i could be wrong, and often am.

i know when i was up there this spring, the help that was left, wanted to help. it seemed they had their hands tied-so to speak

anyway-- getting the road done and new ramp has to help and i don't thing the park service wants to loose service on that end not to mention the locals from overton ect.

nice to hear you had a fun trip

still looking to move to st.gorge? if you do get ready for utah taxes!!!!!!!! ouch

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

everyone in our family figured when 7 crowns left this would happen. You are right, everyone did want to help as much as they could. the 7 crown staff will be forever missed. It kinda feels like WalMart took over lake mead and drove out the friendly, small, quality locations. nothing against walmart, but it just feels like the lake is becoming a commercialized monopoly now. their lease is up in 3 years at echo so maybe some changes come then for the better.
As for St George, they didnt have any current openings to transfer so im staying in vegas. Our busy season is coming too, so ill keep riding it out. Its a good job for this economy so I'll stay where the work is. And they gave me a brand new Kenworth at the beginning of this year so sticking around has paid off

Im jealous Jax, we never made it to powell this year. Hey, have you been to that sand hollow lake in st george? i saw some pics and it looks really cool.

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

no i havnt been to sand hollow.
good your doing ok there in vegas.
with the new boat i couldnt get jill to go to flaming gorge this summer on the 230. that kinda bummed me out.
its not the best inter net connection here at B.F. but it works and it was nice of the marina to make net avaiable at no charge.
no reason to ever go home now.LOL!!!! even talked jill into mowing the lawn at home.

still looking at cotton wood cove for the 230 this winter instead of mead. have you boated much on mohave?

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

Ive been to Mohave a few times, not much though. I have a friend that went all the time, the fishing is really good in the winter from what i hear. I know QC goes there quite a bit though. We are going to make it a point to get to Wahweap early next year, even if its only for 2 days or so.

 

[QC]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

I have been on Mohave a lot, but I don't really like it. The best thing is Black Canyon:

There are some good and beautiful coves with sand down by Katherine. Some protected for anchoring overnight. Above Cottonwood, good coves are limited, although there are a few. The main basin has nothing to offer but seamanship lessons Black Canyon has hot springs and beautiful scenery, but very few good places to anchor a cruiser. I actually prefer Havasu to Mohave as there are things to do and lots of good coves. The River Rat crowd likes Katherine as it is close to Laughlin, but there is a realtive lack of quality boaters there IMHO. Lots of PWC. My .02.

 

[vegasphotoman]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

Hey QC...cool pic!
do you know what days you can take big boats up past Willow Beach? seems like everytime we go out that way...... they have it closed to all but 15 horse or less or some baloney...

Wow they let the boats come all the way around the curve on the river? cool!
last time we were that far up we rented a skiff out off WILLOW BEACH marina...there were ALOT of sandbars and shallows...cold water! brrrrrrrrr......but great views!

I tell ya what sometimes the colorado is SMOOOTH! and you can run it full throttle...other times big chop and wind.....

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

QC is spot on about Mohave, but I'll add a few things.

The river above Willow Beach is closed to boats over 65HP Labor day > Memorial day and every Sunday and Monday (treehuggers ). MM43-44 on up to Willow Beach MM52 is pretty cool, but the rest of the lake is mile after mile of the same thing, wide open. We found a couple cool areas by camping and hiking back into the desert, but not sure if you're up to that type of thing. None of the marina's have services available on the water besides fuel, no store or restaurant on the dock, they are on land above the marina. Though, you don't have to hike 1/2 mile up hill like you would at Mead. The lake level doesn't fluctuate much, but they draw it down every winter about 10' to do maintenance work. Willow Beach is being renovated right now, ($20,000,000) and might be finished by winter, new store, parking lots, RV & tent camping grounds.

I'm not sure if you're into fishing, but winter is the best time at Mohave. I venture down to Cottonwood to fish big stripers in the winter, because trout are stocked there every week or 2. Stocked trout = big stripers. Small stripers are also all over the place. Trout are stocked all year long at Willow Beach, then Nov>Mar at Placer, Aztec and Cottonwood coves.

 

[vegasphotoman]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

Thanks Dan for the dates and such!! good tips on the fishin...I like it but I like it better when I actually catch something! lol

Weve been down there mostly ini winter to fish...never had too much luck...doing something wrong......would love to limit out on stripers...mmmm good eats!
--------------------------------------------------------------
and found this info after a little searchin....DOH....I was just gonna take back my question hehehhehe

----------------------------------

Motorized Vessel Use Restrictions
Willow Beach to Hoover Dam
The canyon from Willow Beach to Hoover Dam is managed as a primitive zone where visitors can experience a variety of recreational opportunities in a natural setting.

Year-round: Sundays & Mondays
PWCs and vessels with motors are prohibited.
Memorial Day - Labor Day: Tuesdays - Saturdays:
There are no horsepower restrictions. PWCs are allowed.
Labor Day - Memorial Day: Tuesdays - Saturdays:
PWCs are prohibited. Only boats with with 65-horsepower engines or less are permitted.
Houseboating, waterskiing, and wakeboarding are prohibited for safety reasons because of the narrow canyon environment.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

Weve been down there mostly ini winter to fish...never had too much luck...doing something wrong......would love to limit out on stripers...mmmm good eats!

I tell ya',,, Willow Beach can be a heartless bi*** for fishing. I fish down there for the big stripers 20#+ and it has been a slow summer. I used to fish down there all the time for dink stripers, but the bait approach is more difficult now with weeds all over the place. The river is warming up and what used to be 53* water all year long is now 61* water, hence all of the weed growth. For little stripers during the winter, I go down on the lake south of MM40 and troll lures, anchovies, lots of 2-5# stripers. The difference between a 5# Mead striper and 5# Mohave striper is night and day, Mead one will be anorexic (razonback) while the Mohave one will be fat. I've never limited out on stripers at Mohave (like we can at Mead) but the quality of fish is better. Mead has a huge shad population and I can pull up a huge school with fishing lights, can't do that at Mohave.

Don't you love the Black Canyon motor restrictions. That has to be the most convoluted regulation I have ever seen! I could comment on that,,, but better keep my mouth shut

 

[vegasphotoman]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

oh I know the black canyon restrictions are an annoyance...

we use the anchovies too....and had imitation lures etc....just seems like alot of empty water.... we dont have a fishfinde ron this boat yet...need one!

and most of the timie were fishing with dead chovies on the bottom ....right off the beach where were swimming...not trying REAL HARD lol

we have had a little luck trolling at dusk along boulder beach...run into some small schools....then at teh tires at hemenway....ofcourse the best fishing is at the marina under the lights near the restaurant....geezz some bigguns there...too bad theres always some security gaurd around hahahha
so we fish at the tires...havent done very well the last few times....hmm....mebbe invest in a night fishin light.....

so Im guessing once you get a shad school going...mebbe using the liights and some chum....do you try and net some live shad for bait? or do ya use the dead anchovies?
I gotta go out there with just the boys one night....when ya go with family and kids it just doesnt work out for fishin......

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

Check out "Striper Fishing 101" I posted in this other thread...

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=299065&highlight=striper

When at Mead I'd rather catch a bunch of dinks this time of year, than the 5# fish. Seems that the big ones are anorexic and starving to death, not good to eat. We call them razorbacks since they are so skinny.

On the fishing lights, get a couple 9" fluorescent lights from BassPro. Don't get the 18-21" lights as I have had them burn up with little use, and the 9" lights throw off just as much light as the bigger ones. Also, don't buy the "headlight" fishing lights as they will suck your battery down quickly. I run 2 or 4 lights and can fish all night on on 1 battery.

Something else, you can get away with fishing 6-8# line for dink stripers, but I use 14-17# while night fishing. If it gets WFO you don't want to be re-tying your swivel/hook all the time. After 5-10 fish the line will get scuffed up from their teeth and heavy line lasts better. On the last trip my wife had (i say had) the biggest striper of the trip, but when I went to heavy it in the boat the line popped As the trip went on, and the fish started to grow, the story went from the line busting to me cutting the line...

 

[12vMan]

Re: Lake mead this weekend!!

Bummer about the hotel/restaurant closing, I had a feeling it was coming.

I hoped this wouldn't happen! After all these years, the low lake level and construction has taken it's toll on Echo Bay now, one of the hardiest long time marinas. We spent many evenings there in the lounge telling lake stories and even getting on the karaoke machine with Ron Pratte buying us drinks (maybe to stop ) We had some great times and good meals at that restaurant & bar. I hope it re-opens soon