Fish Report for 2-2-2016

The 2016 Winter News

2-2-2016
Liz Weirauch

The River of Storms continues to hit the mountains and we're thankful for the relief and looking forward to the rivers being fishable throughout the Summer and into the Fall.  With the cold evenings and even some cold days, we might have a later ice off on the lakes/reservoirs like Indian Creek and Spooner.

Until the ice off, the East Walker in California is at Winter rate flows and it's a pleasant fishable experience with small midges, like the Frank, rainbow warrior, WD-40's and Bubbleback midges.  The East Walker in Nevada though, had large weed bed growth with 2 years of low flows and some beaver infestation.  Speaking with NDOW, they are expecting and hoping for a flushing flow as soon as the irrigation season start, because at this time, the SnoTels point to a full allotment of irrigation. The Upper Owens river is a good day trip, and has been fishing well, with simple midge patterns and dry BWO in a size 18.  The West Walker river, is open, but you'll need to pick your spots and work diligently to catch fish. On the West Walker, walk away from the parking areas and slow down your rig by adding some extra split shot.  Keep the bugs small.

Reports from NDOW shocking surveys on the Truckee and East Walker Rivers, were both a pleasant surprise.  The survey's confirmed that the rivers did lose a high percentage of the larger fish, though some larger fish were measured.  The pleasant surprise was the amount of the newer generations that did survive the warm waters.  Knowing that brown trout survive slightly higher water temperatures, they see a slight increase in the numbers of brown trout.  This is all good news, when it could of been worse.

Pyramid Lake is in it's doldrums ...  this does not mean fish aren't being caught, it just means you work a bit longer.  Spawn will be starting in about 6 - 8 weeks and the fish will come in close to the shore, cruising like a wolf pack.  We've gotten several calls from people wanting to float tube Pyramid...  a word of warning float tubing Pyramid Lake:  Be Careful!  Know the weather forecast before you go, and respect the wind and get off the lake.  It's just a good idea on Pyramid to WEAR a life jacket in any type of water craft, sadly, we've lost 5 fishermen already this year and have had a few rescues that could of easily turned out tragically.

Flows have been so good on the Western side of the Sierra, that Steelheading has been excellent.  The Trinity, Yuba, American rivers have a lot of fish in them and with these storms calling the fish in, if you haven't ever gone after the steelies, now is a good time to go and beat the saying "A fish of a thousand casts"


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More Reports

The Angler's Edge Reports
for Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016

East Walker River (CA): Winter Rate Flows
Owens River - Section 3 - Upper (above Crowley): Good Day Trip
West Walker River (CA): West Walker Update
Truckee River: Truckee River Update
Pyramid Lake: Pyramid Lake Fish Report

The Angler's Edge Reports
for Thursday, October 8th, 2015

East Carson River Update
West Carson River (CA): West Carson River Report
East Walker River (CA): East Walker River Update
West Walker River (Section 2): West Walker RIver Update
Heenan Lake : Heenan Lake Fish Report
Pyramid Lake: Pyramid Lake Fish Report
Topaz Lake: Topaz Closed
Spooner Lake: Spooner Lake Fish Report
Hobart Reservoir: Hobart is Closed
Indian Creek Reservoir: Full Sink is the Ticket!
Kirman Lake: Kirman Lake Update
Bridgeport Reservoir: Bridgeport Reservoir Fish Report
Truckee River: Truckee River Update