A 6-pound, 3-ounce 'Mack'through the ice at Caples

By Don Quilici

LAKE ALMANOR, CALIF: No report.

LAKE ALPINE, CALIF: No report.

BIG SPRINGS RESERVOIR, NEV: Will open May 8.

BISHOP CREEK AREA, CALIF: Closed.

BLUE LAKES, CALIF. AREA: No report.

BLUE LAKES, NEV: Will open June 12.

BOCA RESERVOIR, CALIF: No report.

BOULDER RESERVOIR IN NORTHERN WASHOE COUNTY: No report.

BRIDGEPORT RESERVOIR, CALIF: Closed.

BURNSIDE LAKE, CALIF: No report.

CAPLES LAKE, CALIF: Dave Kirby of the Woodfords Station (530-694-2930) said, "We've got about six inches of "Partly Cloudy" here at the store, this morning (Tuesday). So much for weather forecasting.

I've got a great report for you for Caples:

Carl Inman of Carson City caught a 6-pound, 3-ounce Mackinaw trout on Sunday.

He was using a yellow Crappie jig and was fishing over by the dam.

He reported at least 2 1/2 feet of ice on the lake."

CARSON RIVERS, CALIF: Closed.

CARSON RIVERS, NEV: No report.

CATNIP RESERVOIR IN NORTHERN WASHOE COUNTY: Will open Sept. 1.

CONVICT LAKE, CALIF: Closed.

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

CROWLEY LAKE, CALIF: Closed.

DAVIS CREEK POND AT DAVIS CREEK PARK IN WASHOE VALLEY: No report.

DAVIS LAKE, CALIF: No report.

DONNER LAKE, CALIF: No report.

EAGLE LAKE, CALIF: No report.

FEATHER RIVER AT ORVILLE, CALIF: Closed.

FORT CHURCHILL COOLING PONDS, NEV: Will open Feb. 14.

FRENCHMAN RESERVOIR, CALIF: Wiggin's trading Post at Chilcoot, Calif. (530) 993-4683 said, "Frenchman is frozen. There is at least 5 inches of ice at the dam. A few fisherman have been trying their luck, ice fishing there.

They reported getting lots of strong bites and catching an 18-inch rainbow.

No word on conditions around the rest of Frenchman.

You still need a 4WD and chains if you want to get past the dam."

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

GREEN LAKE, CALIF: Closed.

HEENAN LAKE, CALIF: Closed.

HINKSON SLOUGH, NEV. (On the Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area): Will open Feb. 14.

HOBART RESERVOIR, NEV: Will open May 1.

HOOVER WILDERNESS AREA, CALIF: Closed.

INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR. CALIF: No report.

Summit Lake (above Indian Creek Reservoir): No report.

JUNE LAKE LOOP AREA, CALIF: Closed.

KINNEY RESERVOIR, CALIF: No report.

KNOTT CREEK RESERVOIR, NEV: Will open June 12.

LOWER KINNEY LAKE: No report.

KIRMAN (CARMEN) LAKE: Closed.

LAHONTAN RESERVOIR, NEV: MIssy Swain of Burke's Market at Silver Springs (775-577-2750) said, "The weather today (Monday morning) is absolutely beautiful. It's still very chilly in the mornings so be sure to bundle up, if you're coming out here.

The water level at the reservoir is still coming up and it is looking real good.

We had people going fishing all weekend but no one has reported back on how they did.

We also had lots of duck and goose hunters over the weekend.

The two best places to fish at the present time are either at the mouth of the river or by the dam."

LEAVITT LAKE, CALIF: Closed.

LIBERTY POND IN CHURCHILL COUNTY: No report.

LUNDY LAKE, CALIF: Closed.

MAMMOTH LAKES AREA, CALIF: Closed.

MARKLEEVILLE CREEK, CALIF: Closed.

MT. VIEW PARK POND IN YERINGTON: No report.

NORTH POND, NEV. (On the Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area): Will open Feb. 14.

ONION VALLEY RESERVOIR, NEV: Will open June 12.

OWENS RIVER, CALIF: Closed.

PARADISE PONDS ON NORTH EDGE OF RENO/SPARKS: No report.

PYRAMID LAKE, NEV: Carla Molino of the Pyramid Lake Store (775-476-0555) said, "Fishing has been pretty slow but it got a little better last week. Even though the weather is nice, the cold water has really slowed things down.

Shore fishermen are catching about 2-6 fish per fisherman.

The boaters are doing a little better and catching up to about a dozen fish per trip.

Saturday was pretty good fishing and Sunday was even better.

George (Pyramid Lake Charters) was out yesterday (Sunday) and they caught a dozen fish."

RAYMOND LAKE, CALIF: No report.

RANCHO SAN RAFAEL POND IN RENO: No report.

RED LAKE, CALIF: No report.

ROOSEVELT-LANE LAKES, CALIF: Closed.

SACRAMENTO RIVER, CALIF: Kirk Portocarrero of Outdoor Adventures Sport Fishing in Redding (800-670-4448) said: "The water release is 5,200 CFS.

Fishing for rainbow trout in the Redding area, good from Redding to Anderson, with 10-20 fish days.

Water level is dropping, perfect for drifting.

Using PT No. 16's, Mayfly Nymph Nos. 14-16.

Egg patterns working well.

Note: The king salmon season closed on Jan. 14 and will reopen on July 16.

SCOTT'S LAKE: No report.

SILVER LAKE, CALIF: No report.

SHASTA LAKE, CALIF: No report.

SMITH RIVER, CALIF: Kirk Portocarrero reported, The same as last week,

We are catching Steelhead trout with 2-4 fish days.

Bouncing roe, drifting from Hiouchi to J.S. Park.

The prime time for big Steelhead is Feb. and March."

SOUTH FORK RESERVOIR, NEV: No report.

SPARKS MARINA (in Sparks): No report.

SPOONER LAKE, NEV: No report.

SQUAW CREEK RESERVOIR (north of Gerlach in Washoe County): No report.

STAMPEDE RESERVOIR, CALIF: No report.

LAKE TAHOE - North Shore:

Mickey Daniels of Mickey's Big Mack Charters (800-877-1462) said: "No fishing report this week. We had a great Sportsmen's show at Sacramento and we will be at the San Francisco sports show until late Sunday night."

LAKE TAHOE - North Shore:

Gene St. Denis of Blue Ribbon Charters and Tahoe Trophy Trout at South Lake Tahoe, Calif. (530-544-6552) reported: "Fishing at Cal-Neva Point has been off and on, from day to today.

Dollar Point is really slow.

The Macks (3-5 pounds) are stacked at about 180 feet.

When we fish, we troll at 160-220 deep with silver flasher blades and live minnows."

LAKE TAHOE - South Shore:

Gene St. Denis said, "This is still the best place for Mackinaw trout fishing at all of Lake Tahoe, day in and day out.

The best locations are in front of Camp Richardson and Ski Run Blvd.

The Macks are running 3-5 pounds, with 1-2 over 6 pounds per trip.

We've been getting 6-25 fish per outing.

I'm trolling at a depth of 170-240 feet with silver flasher blades and live minnows.

Our largest was three days ago, when an angler from China Lake caught a 12-pound (34 inch) Mack."

TAHOE - East Shore:

Gene St. Denis said, "The boat ramp at Cave Rock is the best place on the entire lake to launch your boat at the present time.

Make sure that you have 4WD with snow tires when launching your boat because of icy conditions on that ramp.

Fishing in this area has been fairly slow for the Macks.

The best areas are Skyland Point and near the Cave Rock Buoy.

You'll get Macks, 2-4 pounds.

Troll that area at a depth of 170-200 with silver flasher blades and live minnows.

You can pick up rainbows and browns in 15-20 feet of water along the rocky shores, trolling with a No. 11, black/silver Floating Rapala lure."

TOPAZ LAKE: Chuck Fields of the Topaz Lake Marina (775-266-3550) said, "The weather is great, no wind, no nothing.

They have been doing real good, mostly out of the boats. It really picked up yesterday (Sunday).

The best trolling action has been with Rapala lures rather than with flashers and worms.

They are toplining in the top 10 feet of water with either Perch-colored or Rainbow-colored, Broken-Back Rapala lures.

They have been catching limits from the center of the lake to the west shore.

Some of the rainbows running up to 3 pounds.

The shore fishing has been best on the west shore with rainbow-colored Power Bait.

On the 8th, a $100 tagged fish was caught, and on the 11th another $100 fish was taken.

There was a tagged fish caught yesterday but I don't know what it was worth."

TRUCKEE RIVER:

Little Truckee River, Calif: Closed.

Truckee River, Calif: Closed.

Truckee River, Nev: No report.

Truckee Canal, Nev: No report.

TWIN LAKES, CALIF. AREA: Closed.

VIRGINIA LAKES, CALIF. AREA: Closed.

VIRGINIA LAKE IN RENO: No report.

WALKER LAKE, NEV: No report.

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: Dennis Dunn at the Wild Horse Resort (775-758-6472) said, "It's beautiful, but clouding up like it is going to snow. We only got down to 10 degrees last night (Sunday).

We had a super busy weekend with all of our rooms booked and lots of vehicles in the RV park.

It was a combination of snowmobilers and ice fishermen.

The snowmobilers has a Rendezvous with about 65 snowmobiles, and they were running all over the place, including Jack Creek, Jarbidge and Jarritt Mountain,

The ice on reservoir is anywhere from 18 to 24 inches thick.

On Saturday and Sunday, we had over 100 ice fishermen, each day.

The best access to the reservoir is at the State Park and then go toward the Indian Campground for larger Perch, up to 12 inches and Trout, up to 18 inches).

The fish in front of the State Park are much smaller.

The fishermen have been jigging, as usual, with white, yellow or Chartreuse, plastic jigs with the hook tipped with either a piece of worm or a piece of corn.

We also had a report of great Chukar hunting in the Wilson Reservoir area."

Don Quilici is the Outdoors editor for the Nevada Appeal.

Contact Don Quilici at editor@nevadaappeal.com