Late Fall Fishing on the Colorado River Near Vegas

Artificial Lure reporting from the banks of the Colorado River near Las Vegas on Friday, November 14, 2025. Sunrise painted the flats at 6:22 a.m. and sunset will drop the curtain at 4:38 p.m. today. We woke to another crisp Nevada morning, low 50s at dawn and, according to NOAA, the forecast calls for calm winds early, partly cloudy skies, and temps pushing upper 60s by mid afternoon. Mild but distinctly autumn air—a killer combo for chasing river bass, stripers, and cats. There’s no tidal influence here, just steady flows below Hoover Dam, with the river running a bit below normal due to ongoing drought conditions—Coyote Gulch reports persistent dryness across southern Nevada and the lower Colorado Basin, so the water’s low and clear. This means boaters and bank anglers will need to seek deeper channels and pay attention to the pools, riffles, and submerged structure for actively feeding fish. Fish activity has been solid all week, with stripers leading the tally. Locals and kayakers working the upper river near Willow Beach reported consistent action at sunrise and dusk, with most lines pulling in 1–3 lb schoolies and the occasional whopper above 5 lbs. Lake Mead Fishing Report Today says stripers are running strong on cut anchovies, shad, and occasionally chicken liver early, switching to artificial lures—white swimbaits, flukes, and jerkbaits—in the middle hours. Smallmouth bass have picked up with the cooling weather, especially around rocky points up by Cottonwood Cove and down near Eldorado Canyon. Anglers working Ned rigs, soft plastic craws, and small tubes are seeing steady bites, with most fish in the 1–2 lb range. Topwater was hot earlier in the week at dawn when wind was dead calm, but by 8 a.m. switching to finesse tactics produces more consistently. Catfish remain active after dark. Night fishers near the old marina and backwater pockets report fat channel cats to 7 lbs pulled on stink baits and shrimp. Lake Mead updates note that chicken liver also works in slower eddy water, while the big blues have been elusive lately in the main channel. If you’re out after sunset, rig up heavy and fish deep troughs. Not much talk of crappie or panfish lately—most local reports focused on bass and stripers, with drought slowing minnow and shad spawns. A couple of seasoned river rats near the Big Bend found a pocket of crappies using live minnows last Monday, but action’s sporadic. Best bets for catching are anchovy chunks and live shad for stripers by daybreak and sunset. For bass, stick to natural plastics—browns and greens—on light line, and don’t overlook reaction baits (chrome jerkbaits, spinnerbaits) if cloud cover rolls in. Catfish: heavy weights, strong hooks, lots of stink. Hot Spots: - **Willow Beach:** Consistent striper and bass bites in the morning. Fish deep ledges and the cold spring outlets. - **Cottonwood Cove:** Smallmouth action around rock piles, and catfish prowling just east at dusk. - **Eldorado Canyon:** Good for This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.