Colorado River Early Summer: Stripers, Trout, and Bass from Willow Beach to Lake Mohave

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Colorado River Las Vegas report, centered around the Willow Beach to Cottonwood Cove stretch and the backs of Lake Mohave coves. We’re sitting under a stable early-summer pattern: clear to mostly clear skies, light to moderate south winds in the afternoon, and daytime highs pushing into the upper 90s to low 100s with cooler pockets down in the canyon. According to the National Weather Service, expect typical desert heat: calm mornings, breezier afternoons, and cooling again after dark. Sunrise is right around 5:25 a.m., with sunset near 8:00 p.m., giving you a long low-light window to work with. There’s no true tide on this section of the river, but flows will pulse a bit with releases from Hoover Dam. Watch the river level: generation bumps usually mean a little more current and often a better bite on stripers and trout. When you see that push, focus on current breaks, seams, and eddies. Recent action has been solid. Local reports from Willow Beach and the coves above Cottonwood have striper limits coming in for boat and kayak anglers, with a mix of 1–4 pound schoolies and the occasional double-digit fish. Trout plants below Willow Beach continue on a regular schedule, and folks are still picking off rainbows in the 10–14 inch class, with a few bigger holdovers in the mix. Smallmouth and largemouth have been active along rocky points and submerged brush in Lake Mohave’s upper end, mostly 1–2 pounders with a few nicer bronzebacks for those working slow and deep. Fish activity is best at first light and the last hour before dark. Midday, that bright desert sun pushes bass and stripers deeper or tight to shade; the trout slide into deeper slots and oxygen-rich current. Nighttime plug tossers are still doing damage on larger stripers along steep walls. Best baits and lures right now: For stripers: - Live or dead shad, anchovies, and sardines on a simple Carolina rig or dropper loop. - Hard baits: 4–6 inch glide baits, jointed swimbaits, and classic wake baits in trout, shad, and bone patterns at dawn and dusk. - Soft baits: white or pearl flukes and paddle tails on 3/8–1/2 ounce heads, slow-rolled through current seams. For trout: - PowerBait in chartreuse, orange, or rainbow off the bottom on light line. - Small gold or silver spoons and spinners, plus 1/16–1/8 ounce marabou or tube jigs in white and olive. - Fly anglers should run small woolly buggers, leech patterns, and midges under an indicator in the softer edges. For smallmouth and largemouth: - Finesse plastics: green pumpkin and watermelon ned rigs, tubes, and drop-shot worms on rocky flats and points. - Cranks and jerkbaits in shad and craw colors when there’s a breeze. - After dark, black spinnerbaits and buzzbaits over shallow rock and along the edges of weedbeds. A couple of hot spots to keep on your radar: First, Willow Beach downstream to the first few big bends. Work the edges where deep green water meets rock, especially when flows bump. Troll or cast big trout-pattern swimbaits for a shot at a larger striper, and drift bait or toss small hardware for rainbows along the seams. Second, the coves and points around Cottonwood Cove and up toward the narrows of Lake Mohave. Early, run topwater or shallow cranks along rocky points for smallmouth; as the sun gets up, slide deeper with finesse rigs. Stripers will roam the breaks off the old river channel—watch your graph for bait balls and arcs, then drop jigs or slow-troll soft plastics through them. If you’re bank fishing, target shaded rock walls, marinas, and any inflow or cooler trickles you can find. Keep an eye on boat traffic; early and late will not only fish better but be a lot more peaceful. That’s your Colorado River Las Vegas-area rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn