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.  

Very little change here as fishing for trout has been fair to good at Zunino. The water level is low, which should have the fish concentrated, though anglers may have to walk through some mud in areas to reach the shoreline.  PowerBait, nightcrawlers, and dark spinners with some red or yellow accents seem to be working.  Brown or olive nymphs as well as red copper

Fishing continues to be good at the collection ditch.  The water is clear and levels are good.  Small spinners and minnow imitations were producing some fish for spin fishermen, but fly rodders were doing better.  Fly rodders should be using hare’s ears, pheasant tails, prince nymphs, midge patterns, leeches, and wooly buggers. On the warmer afternoons, there have been some small mayfly and midge hatches

Fishing continues to be good at Wildhorse, with fish averaging 14 to 18 inches with the occasional 20+ inch fish coming in.  Anglers report success all along the state park shoreline, Hendricks arm, Penrod and north to the last cove before the canyon to the dam.  On the west side, fishing has been good near the warm springs.  Sherbet and rainbow PowerBait seems to be

Due to a damaged outflow structure, the lake has completely drained.  Barrick Gold is in the process of wrapping up the work on the dam.  Unfortunately, with a mild winter, the snow pack isn’t enough to allow the capture of water this summer.  NDOW will be performing some habitat improvements to the bottom of the lake later this summer while the lake is empty to

The road to Wilson is very rough, so take it slow.  The lake is spilling, barely, but it is spilling. There is not much snow pack in the mountains, so don’t expect it to spill very long and there won’t be many fish going over to the pools below the spillway.  The surface water temperature is in the mid to high 50’s, clearing up, and

The lake is ice covered and the road to Angel Lake is closed.  NDOT plans to start working on clearing the road next week, but workers may be pulled off for other jobs depending upon priority.  Their goal is to have it open by Memorial Day Weekend. 

Fishing has slowed once again at South Fork, though those fish being caught are nice fish.  Fly rodders seem to be doing better than bait or gear fishermen.  While fishing is slow to fair, anglers report catching some trout along the northeast side of the lake between the campground and the dam.­ The south end of the lake is also starting to produce wipers and

Cave Lake has been fishing good for 9 to 11inch trout.  The usual PowerBait or worms as well as small spinners, panther Martins or rooster tails should all work.  Approximately 8000 trout were  stocked here in April.   

Cold Creek is ice free and fishing should be good.  Anglers should do well on Power Bait, Mepps, Panther Martins, and nightcrawlers.  Flyfishers will do well on nymphs and emerger patterns.  Cold Creek has been stocked with approximately 2100 trout this spring.