With the warmer temperatures, the snow is melting fast and our small streams are roaring in eastern Nevada.  That doesn’t mean that you can’t fish them, you just have to know how and realize that fishing may be slow.

These heavy flows may move fish a bit but for  the most part, they will move into protected areas and hold in the same stretch of stream that they will be found in during the summer when flows have abated.  They hold near the bottom of the deeper pools where the flow is slowed by the bottom of the river as well as in slack water and eddies found along the edges of the stream.

This actually makes it easier to find the fish, but with the heavy flows and the turbid water, getting your presentation to them is another issue.  This means heavy flies and sinking lines for fly fishermen and extra weights for bait and spin fishermen. 

The final obstacle is how turbid the water is with the high flows.  That means the fish won’t see the presentation unless it is almost right on top of them.  Since they are holding tight and not moving much, this means that anglers need to move more looking for the fish.
Since the areas they will be holding in have been identified, the angler needs to move from holding area to holding area and fish each holding area thoroughly.

Steelhead fishermen do what is called the steelhead two step.  They swing their fly or lure through a run or hole, take two steps downstream and do it again. This allows them to cover the whole run or pool.  When fishing the heavy spring flows, this type of fishing will allow you to hopefully get your presentation right in front of some fish at some point.