5 days on Lake Powell (May 2014)

I know that this report doesn't really fit here but in case anyone is considering making a similar trip, I hope that this information will help answer some questions.  We had a ton of questions prior to the trip and information seems to be limited for kayak-specific camping.  We later found out why.
Our original plan was to pack all of our gear in our yaks and travel out 5-10 miles to camp.  Due to a number of issues (wind mostly) we ended up camping at Stanton Creek campground and just making day trips.  The afternoon winds were forecasted to reach ~15mph.  Reality was more like 20-25 mph with day 2 closer to 35-40 mph. 
Due to the water level changing, the camp that you may have stayed at last year might not be accessible (under water or up a cliff) this year.  We fished and scouted for camp sites as we plan to do this trip again in the future.  My buddy brought a Gopro but had no remote or mount so, to be honest, the pics kinda suck.  Live and learn I guess.  Here’s a summary of our trip:

Day 1: Arrive mid/late afternoon and rig kayaks.  Attempt to sail my yak but the ama’s that I made aren’t working very well for the winds (~20 mph).  Decided that I should have tested them out before driving this far with the stuff and put the sailing stuff away for the rest of the trip (I’ll provide more detail later).


Day 2 (Red Path):  Travelled to Moqui (sometimes called Moki) canyon.  We had planned to camp here for a day or so but there was nowhere to exit the kayak.  Caught a few stripers on a clouser (me) or a small plastic swimbait (buddy).  Hit brutal headwinds peddling back. Decided to head south for the remaining days.


Day 3:  Tried to paddle out but met brutal headwinds again right as we left the cove.  I stopped on a small island and kept trying to catch the surface fish that we saw.  We were later able to determine that the carp in the lake float on the surface (Sometimes catfish too) and the stripers cruise around under them.  After picking up a couple stripers, we retreated into the cove a bit and fished from shore the rest of the day.  I think we caught ~12 catfish (aggressive little guys) and 30+ stripers, and one carp all using anchovies (the typical bait on the lake). 
Typical Striper

Catfish.  Good thing it is not very windy…haha


Day 4 (Blue Path):  Travelled to Lost Eden canyon.  Awesome canyon to visit.  It had a huge cave, bass habitat, and a decent beach to rest at.  I was using a smoke-colored tube trying for bass and picked up my first crappie (never targeted them before).  It was between 12 to 14” long. 
Huge Cave


Crappie


Day 5 (Green Path): We left a little earlier and heading fairly far south to explore Lake Canyon.  We found some decent places along the main lake but none in the canyon.  We did find the cool cave with a skylight though.


View of potential camping area


Me using improvised sail to get back

Kevin using his improvised sail


Probably my favorite picture for the comedy of it.  I told my buddy to get some scenic photos of the area.  He does and captures his pole bent.  He didn’t know his bait had dropped at some point and he had a fish on for some unknown amount of time.

If someone else goes or you go again there is a company out there named Adventure Partners. They should have a decent amount of info regarding most things outdoors. I met them when I was out there setting up Amangiri.

Awesome!  Sucks about the fierce winds, but still--what a beautiful place.  Those caves are amazing.  Thanks for the report and the photos!

Powell is on my to do list. Has been for some time now. Thanks for posting.

I did lake powell about 5 years ago with my (now) wife.  We kayak camped and fished and had a blast.  Sucks about those winds - that would really make it tough out there.  Even though we had great conditions, we didn't do as good on the fish as you . . but, like I said, we were not yet married.  If I went back I'd probably do a lot better fishing . .and there's no way in hell she'd be willing to go with me   

Thanks for the report and pics.  I hope to get another crack at Lake Powell someday.