Western Nevada Fish Reports

Washoe Lake has benefitted from the historic winter of 2016-2017 and has reached levels not seen in over a decade. Stocking of several thousand channel catfish and white crappie has occurred in both Little Washoe Lake and Washoe Lake during the 2017 season. Some larger carp are starting to show up again and the fishing this June should be epic for them.   

Fishing has been slow with the majority of the catch being channel catfish.  The recent stocking event has improved the fishing for trout and should continue to be good on the dam end of the lake. The largemouth bass are showing up in solid numbers in the shallows. Spin fisherman have been tossing small spinners and spoons from shore for trout, and larger rapalas for

Fishing has been exceptional for some larger browns and carryover rainbows have been reported in the 14-18 inch range. Smallmouth bass in the 10-12 inch range are also being caught in good numbers.  The reservoir is currently full. Spin fisherman have been successful with small spinners for the trout and small bright rapalas for the bass, bright jigs are also a pretty good bet at

Runoff is full swing at the moment but we should see it start to taper off soon. In town the flows are around 1200 cfs and the water clarity is perfect for this time of year. With the higher flows, very few consistent hatches have been reported.  With a couple years of higher water, we should see great hatches of little yellow stones and green

Topaz trout fishing has remained good. In spite of warmer air temps the water temp has stayed cool due to flow through from the river, most fish are of the recent hatchery origin but some up to 16-18” have been reported in April. A few reports of smallmouth being caught already but nothing to write home about…yet. Fly fisherman in boats can look forward to

Snow runoff has raised the flow of the East Fork of the Carson. Fishing over the weekend was slow. Low water temperatures combined with high flows make for tough conditions.  There were reports of a few rainbows caught in the 2 to 4 lb. range. Most were caught on lures with a few on salmon eggs. With warmer temperatures the fishing will be good and

The few reports coming in seem to be a little inconsistent, primarily due to the ice present until a few weeks ago. Bait fisherman have reported some rainbow holdovers to 15”. Morning mayfly and midge hatches have been a little inconsistent but fish seem to still be on the surface till the sun comes up. Even with the recent ice off, some vegetation is definitely

After losing majority of the fishery in the drought, Lahontan reservoir is really starting to fish well. Last year’s stocking and transplanting efforts are already starting to show.  White bass from shore are popular now and anglers have reported catching Wipers up to 5 lbs recently, mostly from boats. Spin fisherman using chartreuse and white jigs are finding good bass numbers. Fly fisherman are finding

Flows are prime and fishing continues to be good on the East Walker from Rosachi Ranch to Sportsmen’s Beach. Flows have been pretty consistently around 150-200 cfs making for prime spring conditions.  As we slide into late spring conditions, the skwala stonefly hatch should continue to slow down. As water temperatures rise, the caddis will likely be out in full force. Nymph fishing has slowed

Hinkson Slough – The trout have been active sporadically on the surface in the late morning till dark. Fluctuating temperatures has had little effect on the trout fishing but the bass have slowed down with the cool temps. The warmer weather has really help to improve the bass fishing in the late afternoon to evenings. Spin fisherman have reported bass up to 6 pounds using

Fishing for both trout and bass has been good.  Spinner baits and top water plugs are the best bet for bass.  For trout powerbait, small spinners, and cast masters are working well.  Fly anglers are catching fish on bead headed nymph and leach patterns. Bluegill fishing had been good.  Anglers are catching bluegill near flooded vegetation using rubber jigs and small spinners.

Fishing is fair to slow for walleye, crappie, wiper and catfish. A few walleye are being caught slowly trolling minnow imitations or worm harnesses. Trolling faster with rapala minnow imitations is a good method for walleye as well. For crappie use bright colored jigs in the flooded vegetation. The few that fly fish Chimney, tend to stick with the chartreuse and yellow Clouser minnows. Note

Fishing has been slow.  Some wipers are being caught below the dam.  Fishing will just continue to improve with good water conditions. Spin Fisherman are finding that Rapala minnow imitations are working well. Fly Fisherman are picking up the occasional bass on chartreuse woolly buggers and clouser minnows.  

The Truckee River is flowing around 900 CFS at the Reno gauge. This is just about average for this time of year, but that will change soon as a cool end to April has slowed down snow melt. Runoff will continue to ramp up as temperatures rise and the overnight temperature in the Sierra Nevadas is above freezing. We will see an increase in flow on