Lake Mead Fall Transition Bite - Stripers, Bass, and Catfish on Fire! (September 2025)

This is Artificial Lure, your Lake Mead fishing insider with the straight-up report for Sunday, September 28, 2025. The morning broke mild and calm on Mead—sunrise hit at 6:32 a.m. and you’ve got daylight lingering tonight until about 6:32 p.m. Expect a light breeze, clear skies, and temps climbing into the mid-80s by mid-afternoon. Water clarity’s looking fair across coves, but check your electronics—levels remain low, as Colorado River flows are still tight from this dry cycle, with little rainfall lately, according to the latest from Coyote Gulch’s September 2025 water update. There’s no meaningful tidal swing on the lake, but falling water always bundles bait up in the shallows this time of year, drawing in the gamefish. Now’s the window for classic fall transition action. Lake Mead bass—both largemouth and smallmouth—are on the chew pre-winter, hunting down threadfin shad along rock points and submerged brush. Striper schools have fired up, too, especially along the Boulder Basin and up near Temple Bar. The Catfish bite is steady as ever on stink baits and cut shad after dusk. Lake Mead Fishing Report’s September episodes confirm what local guides have seen this week: limit-filling action from just after sunrise through mid-morning, particularly for stripers busting bait on the surface and bass pushing into shallow structure. The Upper Basin near Gregg’s Basin saw some anglers boat double-digit counts of stripers—smaller size (1–3 lbs range), but fantastic action trolling white or chartreuse swimbaits and vertical jigging spoons. Out around Ove’s Cove, anglers pulled in solid bags of smallmouth casting crankbaits and Ned rigs along rocky shelves. Largemouth catches came up in deeper brush—junebug or green pumpkin Senkos pitched to isolated cover triggered bigger bites. Bait-wise, threadfin shad are king, so mimic ‘em—topwater walkers, flukes, and lipless cranks in shad patterns are all producing. Early in the morning, a Zara Spook or Whopper Plopper in pearl or bone color draws explosive strikes from both bass and stripers feeding on schools. As the sun pushes up, drop-shotting smaller soft plastics like Roboworms in morning dawn hue—or working blade baits and spoons—keeps the numbers coming. Stripers are stacking near the narrows off Hemenway and along the edge of Sand Island—here, live shad, anchovies, or cut sardines are unbeatable for filling a cooler. Hot spots to circle this week: - **Hemenway Launch**: Active striper schools and good smallmouth action early over submerged points; great for topwater and slow-rolled swimbaits. - **Temple Bar:** Consistent largemouth and smallmouth bite—work jigs or drop-shots near deeper brush and around submerged rock. - Honorable mention to Boulder Basin for steady catfish action on cut bait as night falls. Word from several docks and the Lake Mead Daily Fishing Report is that the average bass size is running 1½–2½ pounds, with a few bigger fish landed near deeper structure—best bags touching This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.