'In the Boat'
January 24, 2026

January 24, 2026 - Current Winter Patterns on Navajo Lake

Water Temps: 42-48°F

Conditions: Mostly calm, sunny days. Unusually warm. Occasional fronts moving through with some wind, but minimal precipitation. Water is dirty to stained throughout the lake due to large rain event in October.

Species Active: Crappie, Northern Pike, Bass

Winter fishing on Navajo has been slow, with crappie providing consistent action and northern pike showing up in numbers.

Crappie seem to be everywhere. Most fish are in the 6-10 inch range, though I have caught several fish that were over 12 inches and just over 1 pound each. We're finding limits regularly in 0-30 feet over deeper water in the middle of the canyons, with only the shallower fish (0-15 feet) willing to bite. Cold fronts and wind move them deeper, and these deeper fish have been the key target on windy days. They're stacked tight, and your jig may only entice 1/1000 fish to bite, but that is enough for steady action. There are tens of thousands of crappie in certain canyons. The hard part is keeping your bait down in the strike zone and feeling the bite.

The northern pike population at Navajo is impressive. Catch a crappie and a pike may well try to steal it from you. They're aggressive, huge, and active throughout the water column. I have always hated using steel leader because it ruined the action of my baits, and I could never get bit when using one. And, besides, I always landed 9 out of 10 pike that bit anyway. No leader, no problem. But just in the last month, I have only landed 3 out of 9 pike that bit, and I have lost more baits than I lost in all of 2025. If you're targeting pike, a steel or heavy fluorocarbon leader is essential. A fisherman must always adapt and evolve.

Bass are available for anglers willing to grind. Winter is trophy season, but it's not for everyone. The fishing is extremely slow and technical - light baits, bottom contact, long pauses, slow sweeps on the retrieve. You're making many dozens of casts and staying laser-focused to detect subtle bites while working through snaggy cover in stained water. It's patience fishing at its most demanding, but the payoff can be a personal best. If you're the type who enjoys the mental game and working for one or two quality fish rather than steady action, winter bass fishing can be incredibly rewarding.

- CR

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