Colorado River Summer Stripers: Dawn and Dusk Tactics from Willow Beach to Laughlin

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Colorado River Las Vegas fishing report. We’re working that stretch from Willow Beach down toward Cottonwood Cove and the Laughlin area. The river’s running clear and cold out of Hoover, with typical desert summer heat building fast by late morning. According to the National Weather Service out of Las Vegas, expect highs pushing into the upper 90s to low 100s with light south winds and clear skies. Sunrise is right around 5:25 a.m., sunset about 8 p.m., so you’ve got a long light window, but the best bite is still that first and last couple hours of the day. No tides here since we’re on the river, but flows below the dam can bump up with power demand. Mornings usually see a little calmer water; by afternoon the release can pick up, giving that stronger push and a deeper, cooler main channel. When you see that current rolling and the surface temp dropping a touch, that’s when the striped bass wake up. Local anglers along the Colorado near Laughlin and Davis Dam have been reporting steady striper action, with a lot of schoolies in the 1–3 pound range and occasional fish running 5–8 pounds. A few lucky folks have stuck double-digit fish this past week, mostly in the deeper, moving water where the shad are stacking. Rainbow trout are still being picked off near Willow Beach, especially around stocking days, with most trout running 10–14 inches and a handful pushing 18–20 inches for the patient crowd. For lures, this is prime **reaction bite** water. Small to mid-size swimbaits and paddletails in shad or silvery patterns are producing well on stripers. Think 3–5 inch soft plastics on 1/4 to 1/2 ounce jig heads, slow-rolled just off the current seam. Crankbaits that dive 8–12 feet in chrome/blue or ghost shad are also putting fish in the net when the sun gets up and the fish slide a bit deeper. If you’re more of a bait angler, cut anchovy is still king on the Colorado down by Laughlin. Rig it on a simple Carolina rig with enough weight to hold bottom in the current, and let it soak along drop-offs and channel edges. Nightcrawlers are picking up trout and the occasional smallmouth, especially in the softer pockets and eddies behind rocks. For trout near Willow Beach, small in-line spinners in gold or silver, plus little marabou jigs under a clear bubble, are hard to beat. Hot-spot wise, I’d aim at two zones: 1. The **Davis Dam to Laughlin** stretch: Focus on current breaks, the deeper runs, and the outside bends. Early morning, toss swimbaits and topwater walking baits along the riprap and points. As the sun climbs, slide deeper with heavier jigs and crankbaits, or soak anchovy on the bottom. 2. The **Willow Beach area**: Work just below the marina and any obvious current seams where cooler water pushes in. Cast small spoons and spinners for trout, then upsized swimbaits or glide baits if you’re hunting that one big striper that cruises the trout lanes. Fish activity is classic desert pattern right now: active at first light, slowing through the midday heat, then picking up again in the last hour of sun and into twilight. Midday can still produce if you drop deeper and slow down, but plan your best effort around dawn and dusk. Hydrate, wear sun protection, keep an eye on those flows, and always net what you plan to keep quick and clean so the rest can swim off strong. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for more river intel and lure talk from Artificial Lure. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn