Fall Bite Steady on Lake Mead, Stripers and Bass Biting Hot

Artificial Lure here with your boots-on-the-bank, lines-in-the-water fishing report for Lake Mead, Nevada, on Wednesday, November 5, 2025. The fall bite’s rolling steady against a backdrop of classic Nevada blue skies. **Weather** this morning is crisp—think low 40s at dawn—warming nicely into the mid-to-high 60s by late afternoon with light winds under 8 mph, making for smooth boating and a perfect day to hoof it along the banks. **Sunrise** hit at 6:12 AM, with **sunset** expected around 4:46 PM. Visibility’s high and the lake’s just shy of glass calm; that means you’ll spot baitfish on the surface and watch for birds to mark where the action’s hot. Lake Mead, being a reservoir, doesn’t get ocean tides, but BassForecast and FishingReminder both flag today as an excellent day, with bite windows hot between 8:40 to 10:40 AM and again from 1:22 to 3:22 PM. Bonus for night owls: we’re in a waxing crescent moon, and the full moon earlier this week turned up some good after-dark striper activity, so bring a lantern or two if you want to hunt cats or stripers past twilight. On the **catch report**, anglers the past few days have been stacking up striped bass and smallmouth bass. **Stripers** are moving in tight pods, busting shad on the surface early, then sliding deeper as the sun climbs—30-fish mornings from boats working the Boulder Basin to Gregg Basin aren’t rare right now, with plenty in the 2–5 pound class and the occasional double-digit brute mixed in, according to dockside chatter and reports from Willow Beach and Callville Bay. The **smallmouth bass** are thick along rocky points and shelves, biting best on soft plastics—green pumpkin tube jigs, Ned rigs, and drop shot rigs with natural or shad colors. Morning and late afternoon spinnerbait runs in white or chartreuse can draw solid strikes, especially if there’s a hint of chop on the surface. Locals pulling largemouth are doing best deep in the brush around Government Wash, flipping a black-blue football jig or tossing a slow-falling wacky worm. Crappie are spotty but showing along marina docks—tiny minnow-tipped jigs work best, especially late. **Catfish** are prowling the sandy flats at night near Hemenway, falling for cut anchovy, stink bait, or chicken livers. If you want to fill the cooler, **best baits** this week are: - For stripers: Live or cut anchovy, silver or white jigging spoons, and shad-patterned swimbaits. - For smallmouth and largemouth: Green pumpkin soft plastics, spinnerbaits, craw-pattern crankbaits, and Texas-rigged creature baits. - For crappie: Small chartreuse or white jigs tipped with minnow. - For catfish: Stink bait or chicken liver after dark. **Hot spots** today: - **Hemenway Harbor**: Early morning striper boils and catfish at dusk. - **Boulder Basin points**: Smallmouth action mid-morning to early afternoon—work the rocky drops. - **Callville Bay**: Reliable mixed-bag bass and potential bonus walleye just after sunset. - For those venturing farther, **G