Lake Mead fishing: Striped Bass, Largemouth Bass, Channel Catfish

Target species: Striped Bass, Largemouth Bass, Channel Catfish, Bluegill, Rainbow Trout
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Callville Bay Marina.

The reservoir

Lake Mead covers 82,589 acres in Nevada, across Clark County. It is a reservoir: the deepest point measured is ≈517 feet (157.7 m). Our records hold 22 species for this water. 33% of the water lies in Arizona.

Lake Mead and its marina in Boulder Basin seen from above, Nevada.jpg
Christian David · CC BY-SA 4.0

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: ≈517 ft (157.7 m).

A scenic view from Lake View Trail (1c1bfbb9-4dcc-40ca-a3f5-9998aeef410f).jpg
Andrew Cattoir (Lake Mead National Recreation Area) · Public domain

5 target fish, led by Striped Bass

  • Striped Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Channel Catfish — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Bluegill — Feeding water: 70–85°F.
  • Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.

Also recorded here: Cutthroat Trout, Walleye, Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Black Bullhead, Black Crappie, White Crappie, Green Sunfish, Common Carp, Red Shiner, Blue Tilapia, Goldfish, Gizzard Shad, Golden Shiner, Fathead Minnow, Threadfin Shad, Western Mosquitofish.

Boat at Lake Mead (3468489644).jpg
Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia · CC BY 2.0

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 boat ramp.

  • Callville Bay Marina phone +1-702-565-8958 · website callvillebay.com

The place listed has no fee or opening hours on file: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 71°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 8.2. These readings span 2017–2026.

What is hard here

Wind is the limit, not the fish: 82,589 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle. Only 1 public ramp is on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

  • US Bureau of Reclamation — USBR reservoir sedimentation surveys: class A, a survey of the bottom, 2001.
  • USGS RESSED — USGS RESSED reservoir sedimentation database: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
  • EPA NLA — EPA National Lakes Assessment: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.

Part of these depths rest on an averaged water level, so they are approximate (≈).