Crawdad Cove

 

Every once in a while, an angler will experience one of those days where it seems that the moon and stars all lineup, and the fishing is just on par. This can be a session where each cast results in a fish, or simply the right fish will show up at the right time. This particular day was by no means perfect, yet I remember it as if it was one of these smooth days with no problems. The reality of it was actually quite different.

This is Crawdad Cove, late in the afternoon on my first visit to this location. My wife and I made our way out there on an early morning for some bass fishing. There are very few spots at Lake Mead where you can drive to the waters edge for fishing if you do not have an off-road vehicle. To drive to this particular cove can be quite scary with lots of loose sand on the route there, but the last 200 meters, we had to walk.

Being the first time at this location, you have to figure out where to go to find the good spots. The spot where this photo was taken from was occupied when we arrived, as was the entire west-side of the cove. The east cove was wide open and that’s where we started. Swapping between rods and lures, I made probably close to 50 casts before catching the first largemouth bass of the day. A small quarter pounder, but it was a start.

A few hours later a spot opened on the west side. We made our way there and I landed another small bass. But the water on this side was teaming with small baitfish that schooled together. Every 40 to 50 minutes there would be a flutter of baitfish on the lake’s surface as they would try to escape some predator. But this only seemed to happen at the very tip of the cove where the photo was taken from.

When the fisherman occupying that spot left, we moved again to find that the tip of the cove had a shallow rock shelf with baitfish on both sides. Right place, the right time for the next fish of the day. Suddenly there was a boil of baitfish to my right, just as I was preparing to cast. This is how I landed my first striped bass. We then spent hours trying to replicate this, and I eventually got a small smallmouth bass as well. That was my first trifecta at Lake Mead getting all three bass species in one day.

In my mind it was a great day out there, even finding some howling coyotes for the first time at dusk. Having caught those fish made me forget the fact that we had to carry loads of gear and equipment around. Yet, there is a different side to this coin. I caught multiple fish, but my wife had no luck, despite using the same lures in the same waters. She still had a good time out there, and the scenery and the experience cemented it as one of her favorite coves. But that’s the thing about fishing, nothing is guaranteed. You can do everything right, but it is still all up to chance at the end of the day. So, ensure you treasure these moments when luck is on your side.