At Lake Pleasant, the top-water bite seems to be improving, as it will at many desert lakes as summer creeps to its muggy conclusion. Boils have been sporadic at sunrise and sunset, followed by good striper action in 35-45 feet of water 2-3 hours after sunset. One angler reported having luck on white bass, stripers and even largemouth bass by bouncing large, silver KastMasters in this depth.

Jeremy Hoffman, fishing manager at the north Phoenix Sportsman's Warehouse, said he had a report of a 10 pound striper caught this last week on a Zara Spook. Previously, he reported that top-water action in the morning is sporadic for stripers. He said some mornings you'll be on them for hours, others you're lucky to find a bite. He's hearing there's not much for size, except for a few reports of 4-6 pounders, and the occasional largemouth, coming out of the large boils.

Angler's reports: Barry W. has had great action at Lake Pleasant the past two Saturdays: Hope life is treating you well. I have been fishing the northern coves at first sunrise the last two Saturdays. The top water action has been amazing. Boils are lasting 30 minutes to 2 hours long depending on the spots. You have to try different top water lures to see what they will go for. Two to three hours after sunset when the boils have slowed down I have been bouncing ?? (larger silver KastMasters) in about 35-45 feet and just hooking the white bass and stripers like crazy. The wonderful thing about doing this is you can also hook some nice largemouth bass. We caught a few nice largemouth with this technique as well. Other boats around us were trying anchovies, which seemed to work but was much slower. The closest boat to us asked us what our secret was. Once I told him what we were doing, he offered to buy our tackle from us. Lol Great time to be on Pleasant and I hope this report helps others catch these great fish. Happy Fishing.