Late Summer Largemouths and Stripers on Lake Mead

Good morning, this is Artificial Lure with your September 17, 2025 Lake Mead fishing report, coming to you straight from the southern Nevada desert. It’s a classic late-summer morning on the big lake—the sun just breaking free at 6:32 AM and set to tuck away at 6:50 PM. Temperatures at dawn are cool, hovering in the upper 70s, but expect the mercury to jump up into the mid-90s under clear skies today. Winds are forecast to stay light, so it should be a smooth one out on the water, with no rain predicted. Lake Mead’s water level is still low, sitting at about 31% of capacity according to recent Reclamation numbers, and you’ll want to keep an eye out for exposed hazards along the shoreline. No tides here of course, just the slow pulse of managed reservoir water—so focus on sun position, wind, and structure instead of any saltwater rhythm. Fishing activity is on the upswing with the cooling nights. This past weekend’s WON Bass Lake Mead Open saw some exciting action. Fresh off the tournament, Dylan Denny from Dewey, Arizona bagged a stellar 28 pounds over two days, anchored by bruiser largemouths pulled both shallow and deep “up the river.” Second-place Joe Uribe Jr. landed a monster—an 8-pound largemouth, caught shallow on a power shot rig with a 6-inch Roboworm in Fuego color on fluorocarbon. Most top limits hovered in the 13-17 pound range, with lots of solid keepers being reported. The bite has been best with a mix of techniques. Lipless crankbaits like the Lucky Craft LV 500 and 6th Sense Curve 55 are getting reaction strikes ripped through the grass and along drop-offs. Evergreen Jackhammers in B Hite color with a matching trailer—chatterbaits—scored big in the cooler early hours and again as the sun dropped. Carolina rigs and football head jigs dressed with Yamamoto Hula Grubs in green pumpkin/red have been especially productive, fished on rocky points and deeper shelves. Ned rigs are pulling bonus fish when things get tough and finesse is needed. If you’re gunning for smallmouth, deep-water structure and jigs are your ticket, while striped bass are busting shad schools early—you can toss swimbaits, topwaters or shad-pattern spoons for real action. Live bait remains consistent for those targeting stripers or catfish. Chicken liver and anchovies fished on the bottom after dark produce steady action on chunky cats and the occasional largemouth as well. For panfish and bluegill, nightcrawlers and pieces of shrimp under a float are hard to beat, especially in coves shaded during the afternoon. A heads-up on the invasive front—quagga and zebra mussels are infesting Lake Mead and the entire Colorado River chain, so please, as folks at Colorado Parks and Wildlife remind us: clean, drain, and dry your gear at the end of the day. Hot spots right now: - The upper reaches of the Overton Arm and up the river past Temple Bar, where tournament champs did the most damage on both numbers and big bass. - Fish the rocky points in Boulder Basin and the na