Artificial Lure coming to you with your Lake Mead fishing report for Monday, November 17, 2025. We’re counting on another classic late-fall desert morning—air temps at launch sitting in the upper 40s, climbing into the mid-60s by midafternoon, with winds staying just light enough to keep those late-season whitecaps at bay. Sky’s mostly clear, and you can expect that golden desert sunrise at 6:19 a.m., with sunset rolling in at 4:37 p.m.

Lake Mead doesn’t experience true tides, but with river negotiations and long-term drought still impacting the Colorado, the lake level is lower than average. That’s pushed a lot of bait and gamefish off the flats and around the new edges and rock piles—makes for some solid fishing but also keep an eye out for snags and shallow runs.

According to the Colorado River Las Vegas Fishing Report, stripers have been the main show. Surface temps are steady in the mid-50s, and the shad balls are super concentrated, drawing the predators in tight. Striper action has been hot, especially from dawn to about 10 a.m. and again just before sunset. Anglers are reporting limits by noon if they’re working the channel edges or main lake points—Boulder Basin down to Government Wash is giving up plenty of two- to four-pound fish, with a lucky few hooking up on big ones tipping seven pounds when they stay on moving schools and follow the diving birds.

For bait, can’t beat chunked anchovy or cut shad tight-lined off rocky points or drifted in the boils. Prefer casting? White or chrome jigging spoons in the one- to two-ounce class dropped vertical into deep marks are dynamite, and don’t sleep on big topwater walkers like the Zara Spook or the Sammy 115 at first light along the bluffs—if you catch a school pushing shad to the top, it gets wild.

Smallmouth and largemouth bass action is solid, too. Look for smallies on deep, rocky points near Temple Bar and Hemenway—those finesse baits like Ned rigs in green pumpkin or watermelon are money. Bigger largemouth are holding shallow just after sunrise in the brushy coves, hitting deep-diving crankbaits in shad or craw colors and soft plastic creature baits pitched to cover. A few decent three- to four-pounders have hit the deck this week, so patience pays.

If you want something different, catfish are still poking around after dark—try chunk baits near Las Vegas Wash or shallow, sandy coves. There are rare reports of walleye caught slow-trolling nightcrawler rigs on gravel bars, so it might be worth a shot if you like to experiment.

Hot spots for this week:
- The humps and flats outside of Hemenway Harbor, where striper schools are feeding aggressively at first and last light.
- The coves north of Echo Bay, especially along the windblown points, giving up mixed bags of smallmouth, largemouth, and the odd bonus striper.

Safety heads-up: with dropping water levels, new hazards are popping up all over—watch those channel markers and be wary of submerged rock piles, especially if you’re running unfamiliar water. Fish are concentrated but scattered, so move often and follow the birds to find the hot bite. Action definitely slows down in the afternoons, so stack your effort around sunrise and sunset for the best shot.

Thanks for tuning in to the Lake Mead fishing report with Artificial Lure, your local line-wetter and fish finder. Don’t forget to subscribe for the latest patterns and pro tips—prime season’s just getting started, and you don’t want to miss that big bite when the crowds have thinned and the fish are fattening up for winter.

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