Fishing report for week of 02/20

Ice fishing is rated as "slow" at Caples Lake, Calif.

LAKE ALMANOR, CALIF: No report.

LAKE ALPINE, CALIF: No report.

BLUE LAKES, CALIF. AREA: No report.

BOCA RESERVOIR, CALIF: No report.

BRIDGEPORT RESERVOIR, CALIF: Closed.

BURNSIDE LAKE, CALIF: No report.

CAPLES LAKE, CALIF: There were three feet of very hard ice on the lake on Saturday.

A group of nine anglers fished from 9:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

They included Norm Budden, Don Hettrick, Tracy Hettrick and Don Quilici of Carson City, Doug Busey of Douglas County, Rex Slinkard and Si Savoy of Gardnerville and Norm and Loura Mowat of South Lake Tahoe.

They reported that fishing was "slow," which actually translated into everyone got "skunked."

In addition, Dave Kirby of the Woodfords General Store (530-694-2930) checked in and said, "It was also slow for all of the other fishermen who have checked in with me. One angler caught a 17 inch Mackinaw in the first 10 minutes, fished the rest of the day and that was all he caught."

CARSON RIVERS, CALIF: Closed.

CARSON RIVERS, NEV: No report.

CONVICT LAKE, CALIF: Closed.

CRATER LAKE, CALIF. (Near Kit Carson Pass): No report.

CROWLEY LAKE, CALIF: Closed.

DAVIS LAKE, CALIF: Same as last week. Mostly open water. There was ice in the dam area and a thin covering of ice around the edge. The ice was too thin to venture out on. Grizzly Road was plowed all the way to Mallard Cove.

EAGLE LAKE, CALIF: Closed to trout fishing.

FEATHER RIVER, CALIF: Closed.

FORT CHURCHILL COOLING PONDS, NEV: No report.

FRENCHMAN RESERVOIR, CALIF: Wiggin's Trading Post at Chilcoot, Calif. (530-993-4683) reported quite a bit of open water -- good news for the bank fishermen. There is open water from Lunker Point all the way up to the north end. One angler caught his limit of 5 rainbows (16-18 inches) in about one hour. There is still some ice at the dam. It is very unstable -- not safe for ice fishing.

FROG LAKE, CALIF. (On the hiking trail into Winnemucca Lake): No report.

GREEN LAKE, CALIF: Closed.

HINKSON SLOUGH, NEV. (On the Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area): No report.

HOBART RESERVOIR, NEV: Closed until May 1.

HOOVER WILDERNESS AREA, CALIF: Closed.

INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR. CALIF: Dave Kirby reported lots of fishermen over the three-day holiday weekend. Pretty fair fishing but not a lot of limits. The fishermen were doing best on the east shore with worms or Power Bait. Alpine County will make its first trout plant of the year in several weeks.

Summit Lake (above Indian Creek Reservoir): Ice free and also slow fishing. Two anglers reported catching one trout.

JUNE LAKE LOOP AREA, CALIF: Closed.

KINNEY RESERVOIR, CALIF: No report.

LOWER KINNEY LAKE, CALIF: No report.

KIRMAN (CARMEN) LAKE: Closed.

LAHONTAN RESERVOIR, NEV: No report.

LUNDY LAKE, CALIF: Closed.

MAMMOTH LAKES AREA, CALIF: Closed.

MARKLEEVILLE CREEK, CALIF: Closed.

NORTH POND, NEV. (On the Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area): No report.

PYRAMID LAKE, NEV: The Gilly Sporting Goods Store in Sparks (358-6113) reported that the guys getting the fish are the boaters, especially while trolling with a Lyman lure. That lure is made of wood, had very bright colors and is like a J-Plug lure. The fish are suspended in a zone about 5-25 feet deep in deep water. Other trollers were using Flatfish, TOR-P-DO, Rapala or Rebel lures.

The Gilly also reported that the shore fishermen were mostly getting nothing but sore arms from casting.

RAYMOND LAKE, CALIF: No report.

RED LAKE, CALIF: No report.

Red Lake Creek: No report.

ROOSEVELT-LANE LAKES, CALIF: Closed.

SACRAMENTO RIVER. CALIF: Kirk Portocarrero of Outdoor Adventures Sport Fishing in Redding (800-670-4448) said:

Redding to Anderson: Flows at 9,000 C.F.S. Rainbow trout fishing is fair. Up and down. Pretty tough fishing with the weather we have had the last few days. Using spinning gear with Glo-Bugs. Fly fishing with Nymphs, PT's, and egg pattern flies.

SILVER LAKE, CALIF: No report.

SHASTA LAKE, CALIF: Kirk Portocarrero said water is great. Bass fishing is excellent. Jones Valley and Silverthorn areas. Plastic worms, live minnows and grubs producing 1-3 pound Spotted Bass. Some rainbow trout being caught on the surface using Rapala and Rebel lures.

STAMPEDE RESERVOIR, CALIF: No report.

LAKE TAHOE -- North Shore:

Mickey Daniels of Mickey's Big Mack Charters (800-877-1462) said: "The fishing remains excellent for Mackinaw Trout. Some of the larger Macks are going up to 8-9 pounds. I've been tagging and releasing the smaller ones. We've been trolling 250-550 feet deep in the area in front of Carnelian Bay and King's Beach. We are using silver, Herring Dodger flasher blades with live minnows or large Apex lures."

Gene St. Denis of Tahoe Trophy Trout at South Lake Tahoe, Calif. (530-544-6552) said "The Mackinaw fishing continues to be very good in front of Dollar Point and Cal-Neva Point. We've been trolling 200-280 feet deep with large, silver, Herring Dodger flasher blades and live minnows. Our biggest last week was 9-pounds (28 1/2 inches) and we are catching 6-15 fish per trip."

LAKE TAHOE -- South Shore: No report.

LAKE TAHOE -- East Shore: Gene St. Denis said: "The fish are smaller than on the North Shorte but we are consistently catching Macks in the 2-5 pound class on the Cave Rock Shelf.

We have been trolling 180-260 feet deep with silver, Herring Dodger flasher blades and live minnows.

Jigging has also been successful with white, Crippled Herring jigs, tipped with a live minnow."

TOPAZ LAKE, CALIF. AND NEV.:

Chuck Fields of the Topaz Lake Marina (775-266-3550) reported: "On Feb. 11, Mark Serchio of the Topaz Ranch Estates caught a 4-pound, 13-ounce trout. It was also a tagged fish, worth $500! He was trolling along the southwest bank with a Chartreuse Rapala lure. Other trollers are reporting limits in about a half day, with Rapala lures doing the best in the top 10 feet of water. Shore fishing has picked up on worms and Power Bait. The fish have moved back closer to shore. We had a great crowd over the weekend."

Topaz Canal, Nev: No report.

TRUCKEE RIVER:

Little Truckee River, Calif: Closed.

Truckee River, Calif: Closed.

Truckee River, Nev: No report.

TWIN LAKES, CALIF. AREA: Closed.

VIRGINIA LAKES, CALIF. AREA: Closed.

WALKER LAKE, NEV: Don and Elaine Quilici fished there last Thursday. The weather was cool and partly cloudy with no wind. The fishing was much slower than the previous week when they caught a total of 32 cutthroat trout. On this trip they caught a total of 11 trout (up to 18 inches) and the hot lure was a white/black dot No. 2 TOR-P-DO. They were spincasting, in their chest waders, south of Sportsman Beach.

WALKER RIVERS:

East Walker (Calif.): Closed.

West Walker (Calif.): Closed.

East Walker (Nev.): No report.

West Walker (Nev.): No report.

Little Walker (Calif.): Closed.

WASHOE LAKE, NEV: No report.

WEBER RESERVOIR, NEV: No report.

WILDHORSE RESERVOIR NEV: Steve Epling of the Wild Horse Resort (775-758-6472) reported: "We had a good turn out for our three-day trout derby. The ice fishermen caught some very nice trout and they all seemed to be having a good time. We got a little snow on Sunday but it was all gone by the next day. We now have about two feet of hard ice. The fishing has been great for lots of perch and for rainbow and cuttbow trout. Most of the fishermen are jigging with white jigs and a piece of mealworm. The most productive area continues to be on the west side of the island in front of the State Park boat ramp."

WINNEMUCCA LAKE, CALIF: No report.

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CALIF: Closed.