Fishing Lake Mead, NV

Boat and bank fishing

Last updated on February 8, 2026.

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Popular Fish Species

Striped Bass

Anglers enjoy hooking into a giant striped bass. Stripers are a favorite of many locals and visiting anglers here, although big specimens are few and far between. They are plentiful, run in schools, and can grow to bragging size. During the day stripers hang out in deeper water and feed close to the bottom. Morning draw the stripers to the shallower water, as they feed on shallow-running schools of bait. The lake is filled with plenty of baitfish and sunfish to to keep the fishery thriving. Being successful at fishing for stripers is a matter of locating schools of bait, and the wolf packs of stripers are likely to be nearby. Fish finders, and forward facing sonar, are a big help. Live bait is very effective here.

Largemouth Bass

Currently, largemouth bass are thriving in Lake Mead due to fertile water, and plenty of cover for both baitfish and bass. Fishing for largemouth bass is good virtually any time they are shallow - in spring, mornings in summer and during warmer fall afternoons. Use shallow crankbaits around rip rap, and around grass use worms, jigs, topwater and spinnerbaits. In deeper water, big worms, jigs and spoons are three good weapons. In winter, spend your time on deeper structure. Once the lake ices over, it's a good time to pursue other species.

Black Crappie

Lake Mead maintains a plentiful population of black crappie, which are fat and healthy this year. Crappie fishing is easy and requires simple, basic gear. Any fishing pole, reasonably small line and crappie jigs or small hooks baited with live bait, creates the ideal setup. Add a bobber and you can set the depth you prefer the bait to maintain. The best time of day to catch crappie tends to be at dawn and dusk. Live bait and small jigs are the most common method for crappie here. Crappie always like cover and structure, so seek out brush and vegetation. Using a fish finder can help locate schools of crappie, which tend to stack vertically around cover. In spring and fall focus on the shallow to mid depths. As the crappie move deep in summer and winter, follow points out deep, as well as find ledges near channels in deeper water.

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Fish species to fish for...

Guide to fishing for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, channel catfish, black crappie, white crappie, rainbow trout, bluegill, green sunfish and striped bass at Lake Mead in Nevada.