'In the Boat'
February 16, 2026

February 16, 2026 - Low Water, Big Fish: What the Drought Means for Navajo Lake

Water Temp: 42°F

Conditions: Air temp lows in the 20s to highs in the 40s, calm and cloudy

Species caught: Crappie, Northern Pike, Brown Trout 

Winter in the Four Corners has been more suggestion than season this year. The snowpack across the San Juan Mountains is running well below average, and if you spend any time watching the forecasts or the lake levels, you already know what that means come late spring and summer — Navajo won't come up much this year.

For anglers, drought years at Navajo are a double-edged phenomenon. On one hand, dropping lake levels concentrate forage and compress fish into tighter zones, which can make for a red-hot bite. The lack of rising water makes for a more stable and predictable spawn. On the other hand, the water will eventually be pulled out to irrigate NAPI fields and make a sorry attempt at filling Lake Powell. That drawdown pushes warmer temperatures earlier into the season, stresses fish in the shallows, and short-circuits the nutrient cycling that feeds the whole food chain. The big coves that hold fish through a normal spring might be sitting high and dry this June.

But for now, the cold water is here, and the bite has been reminding us why winter on Navajo deserves more respect than it gets.

We put another giant northern pike in the net. These fish are a force of nature, and Navajo's pike fishery continues to produce some of the most explosive topwater and subsurface strikes an angler can get. The crappie are still around — we've been finding good numbers suspended over deeper structure, and they're eating. If you've never put a limit of crappie in the cooler on a cold February morning, that's a fine reason to book a trip.

And then there's this German brown trout. It weighed in at six pounds despite looking a little skinny in the rear. This fish is likely a recently spawned female. On a lake that doesn't always get credit for its brown trout fishery, this fish is a reminder that there are some serious predators roaming the deeper structure right now. With baitfish schools still recovering from the disruption we saw after October's flooding, the big browns are doing exactly what big browns do - roaming for a meal.

The takeaway for the next few months: get on the water while the lake is still cold and the big fish are active. If the snowpack forecast holds, summer will bring challenges. February and March, though? This is a great window if you can stay out of the wind.