Hello fellow anglers, yes I have been away for awhile. But my excuse is I’ve been fishing from here to Oregon. I fished the Rogue River with my nephew and we were very successful on the salmon end of things.
But I have to tell you, reeling in a salmon in white water is like hooking your line to the front of your truck — put it in neutral and start reeling. I was using 120-pound nylon braid casting a 2-ounce weight with beads and I had a few on that I was not able to get in.
In fact one broke my line. That is some awesome power and little bit of a rush to feel such power. When I got home, I ventured out in our local waters and had a great time as you will read in this week’s report. And it was nice to get back to cooler temperatures. When we left Oregon it was 104 with 39% humidity.
Beware of rattlesnakes
Meanwhile, one thing very dear to my heart is — beware of rattlesnakes. Some may say oh it’s just a young one, they can’t hurt you. You would be dead wrong. The younger snakes have not learned how to control their venom sacs and when they bite, you get a full dose. I talk from experience. I was bitten while fishing at Lake Havasu, Ariz., by a Mohave Green rattler. Luckily I was rushed to the hospital where I was given four vials of anti venom. To this day I have very little use of one of my fingers.
Trailer chains dragging on pavement can start fires
And remember, not all rattlesnakes rattle. Now another thing I have been noticing while driving around is that so many people do not know how to put on their trailer chains. I have seen a few dragging the ground. And now that we are in extreme fire season, we have to correct that. In doing so, just give each chain a 180 twist that will shorten the length enough to keep them from dragging and causing sparks and still give you the safety you need to pull your RV or boat trailer.
Now speaking of trailers. As I was fishing the West Fork of the Carson River this week. I met a family that were on their first RV trip in their new trailer. They were dry camping, (self contained). But later in the day I saw the owner of the trailer dump his gray water tank right on the ground close to the river. That to me is unacceptable. There are plenty of places you can dump your tanks. Just 5 miles down the road was the Carson River Resort where you pay a small fee, but please do not dump your tanks on the ground.
It’s hazardous to the environment and water ways, plus it could get you a hefty fine. It is nice to be back, and I have a lot of catching up to do on fishing as many areas as I can. I already have a good start.
Here’s this week’s report.
LAKE TAHOE: The macs have been scattered all over the water column. One day they are deep, the next they are suspended. Keep an eye on your sonar to get you presentation in the right area and depth. Cave Rock on the southwest side of the rocks and knolls have been producing good fish. The Camp Richardson area is an early morning bite With jigs or trolling a dodger and a live minnow. I personally like to use a 3/4-ounce weight with an 18 to 24″ leader and drift the big schools with a live minnow with medium tackle. For more information go to rubyjeancharters.com or call 775-233-5055.
CAPLES LAKE: Renee and I ventured up for a day this week. There was a lot of pine pollen on the lake, We trolled F5 and F7 Rapalas deep for the mac’s with no action. We also toplined with Kastmasters and various colors of Rapalas with no action. I talked to a few guys that had started before us, they said they were headed to Silver Lake. I did see one lucky angler hook up with a good sized brown while trolling a Kastmaster along the far side.
I attempted to fish purgatory cove with toplines, but the boat eating rocks changed my mind. After trolling for a few hours we anchored up and started to do some jigging with spoons and a gold Kastmaster with no hits. I could see plenty of big and small schools of fish on my sonar. But no one was opening their mouths. By 1 pm we got off the lake and headed to Hope Valley. As a note, the public launch ramp is open and has a $20 launch fee. The Caples Lake Resort is open with a $25 launch fee. For more information call the Caples lake Resort at 209-258-8888.
WOODS LAKE: The entrance is open for day use. I have not had any reports from the lake recently.
RED LAKE: The lake is open with fishing reported as fair for rainbows and brook trout. Spinners or small gold Kastmasters are usually good off the shore. Or throwing salmon eggs on the bottom. Limited room on the entrance, meaning do not pull a large trailer in there or you may have a hard time turning around.
INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR: Our last trip was uneventful. We fished with various methods and only got a few small hits. But as a reminder, they did put a couple hundred of the cutthroat trout from Heenan Reservoir in there a few weeks back. If you are a fly angler and have a tube, I like to use a whooly bugger or a copper jon over by the flats opposite of the campground area.
WEST CARSON RIVER ALPINE COUNTY: I fished with Geary and Deanna Ness from Minden this week. We each caught and released over a dozen pan sized trout. The county had planted the river a few weeks ago with 1 to 3-pound trout. We were not lucky enough to hook into one of those. The river has come down to very fishable water levels. Now if your planning a 4th of July outing, the Carson River Resort is the place to be next week. They will be having a fishing contest, live bands and a big BBQ during Saturday and Sunday throughout the day and into the evening. Plus the whole town of Markleeville will be celebrating as well. For more information call the CRR at 530-694-2229.
EAST FORK CARSON RIVER ALPINE COUNTY: The water flows are down and the fish have schooled up in the deeper holes. You will have to take a walk out in Hope Valley to find these areas, but go slow as you approach the deeper waters. The fish spook very easily. When I fish it I take wide turns away from the bank just to sneak up on them. If you just walk the bank, you luck will go from 96% to 30% catch rate.
TOPAZ LAKE: The fishing has picked up a little in the early morning hours. After that, the water and jet skiers show up and the bite rate goes down. Remember to remember the rules of boating. You need to slow your speed to “no wake” if you are within 100 to 200 feet of a swimming area beach or a moored vessel. If you cause damage by your wake, you can and will be liable for any damages you cause. Lets just all be safe on the water.
BLUE LAKES: The road is open up to lower Blue Lake. The road to the upper lake is still closed.
HIGHLAND LAKE-BURNSIDE LAKE: The roads are still closed as of this week.
THE NDOW FISH PLANTS: East Walker River brown trout at the elbow and East Carson River brown trout off the Ruenstroth bridge.
BRIDGEPORT RESERVOIR: The reservoir is having some good days and some days that are not quite as good. Most of the successful anglers are fishing out of boats however we did have a 7 pound, 7 ounce rainbow come in from the shore this week down near the “Bathtub.” Lots of fish making a showing that are in the 3 to 5 pound range lately. They’re still getting some fish trolling with Thomas Bouyants, Rapalas and crawlers and the bait fishing has picked up over in Buckeye Bay with inflated crawlers, mice tails, pinched crawlers and power bait. The Bridgeport Marina is open for RV and tent camping. Boat launching boat rentals and mooring.
UPPER OWENS RIVER ABOVE BENTONS CROSSING: The Cutthroats have left the building and we’re now seeing some nice size, mostly Browns taking their place. The past few years have seen a pretty good run of larger Browns in July so this could be some early arrivals showing up. So far we’ve gotten into a few up to 18 inches with Yellow Spot nymphs, Olive Wooly Buggers, and size 12 EC Caddis flies fished similar to the Buggers.
We also got some grabs throwing a Stonefly pattern called “Trina’s Dog Puke” (ya gotta love that name) so that and Hoppers are a good bet for those Browns. The flow is in the 120 CFS range and cool enough so the hot weather should not affect the fishing at least for the time being. Since the Big Winter of ‘23 there have been absolutely no Hoppers during the Summer and it looks to be the same this year. So what does that mean?Even without the Hoppers about that’s still a good pattern to use for those Browns and Rainbows too. Depending on how hot July and August get and the flow level the fishing could remain good or hit the Summer Doldrums until mid September when it typically picks up again for Fall. So, we shall see, what we shall see.
GULL AND JUNE LAKES: According to the CDFW’s Trout Planting Schedule online they have stocked both lakes only twice since the season opener so the fishing has been good but not great. If they get into a rhythm of stocking at least every other week the lakes should hit their stride come July. Gull Lake Marina is planning on bringing in Oregon Rainbows more often this summer so, along with the June Lake Loop Monster Trout Fund and Mono County stockings prior to the July 4th weekend, it’ll be getting better out there. Good luck on your next fishing adventure.
I hope to see you on the waters soon. If you get a picture of your catch, send it to editor@carsonnow.org. Good fishing and tight lines.
