Large Mackinaws at South Lake Tahoe
LAKE ALMANOR: No report.
LAKE ALPINE: According to Dave Kirby of the Woodford's General Station, "Ron Harris of Dayton caught a 4-pound, 3-ounce rainbow on Saturday."
BLUE LAKES (UPPER AND LOWER): Dave Kirby of the Woodfords General Store said that the fishing was only fair due to the weather. Some limits on inflated worms or Power Bait.
BOCA RESERVOIR: Dick "Father" Murphy of Fishing with Father Murphy advised fishermen to troll for Kokanee salmon in the middle of the reservoir at a depth of 25-35 feet. The best area is between the white cliffs and the east bank for Kokanee salmon.
BRIDGEPORT RESERVOIR: Rick of Ken's Sporting Goods Store reported, "The reservoir has been hit or miss. The best fishing has been for boaters stillfishing in the bottom. The water level has dropped and the marinas are unusable. There is one auxiliary boat ramp that is still usable."
CAPLES LAKE: No report.
CARSON RIVERS (EAST AND WEST) IN CALIF.: Dave Kirby of the Woodford's Station reported, "The West Carson was excellent. One angler caught a 5-pound, 2-ounce rainbow on orange Power Bait. Another angler limited out with no fish smaller than 2-pounds, 4-ounces."
CRATER LAKE (Near Kit Carson Pass): No report.
CONVICT LAKE AND CONVICT CREEK: David DeSurra of the Convict Lake Resort reported that they had a great Labor Day week. Lots of fish were caught and there were many happy fishermen.
Convict Lake: The largest trout were a 5.70 pound Alper's rainbow taken on a Mepps lure from the south shore, a 5.05 pound Alper's caught on green Power Bait at the inlet and a 5 pound Alper's on a Thomas Buoyant lure from a float tube near the north shore.
Convict Creek: The largest was a 2.75 rainbow on rainbow Power Bait by an angler from Gabbs.
CROWLEY LAKE: No report.
DAVIS LAKE: No report.
EAGLE LAKE: Dave Meserve of the Eagle Lake Marina said, "After a couple of slower days this past week, fishing has again picked up. Excellent conditions exist with fish averaging 2-4 pounds. Several 4-6 pound Eagle Lake Trout were caught over the holiday weekend."
Feather River: No report.
FRENCHMAN RESERVOIR: According to Wiggin's Trading Post at Chilcoot, Calif., "Nick Spencer, visiting from Australia, caught a 5-pound, 20-inch rainbow near the boat ramp. He was trolling with a gold/pink Dick Nite lure.
FROG LAKE: Near Winnemucca Lake at Kit Carson Pass, produced two 7-pound and one 4 -pound rainbow trout for one angler.
HEENAN LAKE: Closed until the Friday before Labor Day.
HOBART RESERVOIR: No report.
HOOVER WILDERNESS AREA: West of Bridgeport: West Lake was reporting good fishing for mostly Eastern brook and an occasional German brown from shore with Power Bait or from float tubes or inflatable rafts with assorted flies or small lures. East Lake was also reporting good fishing. Mostly small rainbows and Eastern brook from shore with Power Bait or from float tubes or inflatable rafts with assorted flies or small lures.
INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR: No report.
JUNE LAKE LOOP (GRANT-GULL-JUNE-SILVER LAKES-RUSH CREEK):
Grant Lake: No report.
Gull Lake: No report.
June Lake: No report.
Silver Lake: No report.
Rush Creek: No report.
KIRMAN (CARMEN) LAKE: No report.
LAHONTAN RESERVOIR: No report.
LUNDY LAKE: No report.
MAMMOTH LAKES AREA:
George Lake: No report.
Mamie Lake: No report.
Mary Lake: No report.
Twin Lakes: No report.
Mammoth Creek: No report.
MARKLEEVILLE CREEK: No report.
NORTH POND: No report.
OWENS RIVER:
Benton Crossing (Up): No report.
Benton Crossing (Down): No report.
POORE-SECRET-ROOSEVELT-LANE LAKES: No report.
PYRAMID LAKE: Is now closed until Oct. 1.
RED LAKE: No report.
SACRAMENTO RIVER: According to Kirk Portocarrero of Redding. Calif.,
"Anderson: Seeing about a fish per rod on a good day. Working hard to bring in a catch. Salmon ranging in size from 12 to 30 pounds, averaging 20 pounds.
Redding to Anderson: Fishing for rainbow trout is good, 15-20 fish days. Spin and fly gear being used."
SILVER LAKE: No report.
SHASTA LAKE: No report.
SOUTH-NORTH-INTAKE 2-BISHOP CREEK (WEST OF BISHOP): Gary Olson of the Bishop Creek Resorts checked in with this report: "The weather is beginning to get cold. We even had a little snow at Parchers and South Lake. We should get a nice Indian summer in about a week."
South Lake: Fishing has been excellent. Rainbow or green Power Bait or worms are still doing well. A lot of German browns are beginning to show. Also quite a few of the Eastern brook trout that Calif. Dept. of Fish & Game planted. A lot of rainbows are coming out by the dam or over near the rockslide. Behind the island in the creeks has been great.
North Lake and Intake No. 2: Fishing continues to be great at both lakes. Best bait was green Power Bait. Several anglers reported good action with white Trout Trap lures. Intake No. 2 was stocked again which led to lots of limits.
Sabrina Lake: Lots of action with Rapala lures or olive, bead-headed Woolly Bugger flies. Bait fishermen are doing well with rainbow or green Power Bait. Some action on Velveeta cheese.
Bishop Creek: The largest trout of the week were a 4-pound Alper's rainbow caught on red salmon eggs and a 3-pound, 3-ounce rainbow on a Roostertail lure. Green Power Bait and red salmon eggs have remained the best. Reports of good fishing with Velveeta cheese.
Back Country: The cold weather and snow have cleared the backcountry out. There are still some hearty souls back there, but very few. The conditions remain nice but it is very cold above the 10,000 ft. level.
STAMPEDE RESERVOIR: Dick "Father" Murphy of "Fishing with Father Murphy" advised fishermen to troll at a depth of 40-50 feet from the boat ramp to the "big island" early in the morning and then later, to move to the front of the dam. The Kokanee salmon are running 1-1.5 pounds in the 15-16 inch class.
LAKE TAHOE - North Shore: Mickey Daniels of Mickey's Big Mack Charters reported, "We're catching mostly Mackinaw trout with an occasional rainbow. The Macks are running up to about 10 pounds. We are 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 Herring Dodger flasher blades with either live minnows or pearl Apex lures."
LAKE TAHOE - SOUTH SHORE: Mike Nielsen of Tahoe Topliners at South Lake Tahoe checked in and said, "We just ended our Big Fish Derby and the winning fisherman was Bob Reynolds of South Lake Tahoe. He won $1,000 with a 10-pound Mackinaw. Fishing is great right now for Kokanee salmon all the way from Elk Point on the Nevada side to the mouth of Emerald Bay on the California side. Lots of limits. We are trolling with Buzz Bomb lures or jigging with different types of jigs. The best action is at a depth of 80 feet. Some of the Kokanee are beginning to turn red in color.
Mackinaw fishing has been hot and we've caught some really big fish. We caught a 17-pounder on Aug. 15, a 16-pounder on Aug. 19 and a 14-pounder on Aug. 24."
TOPAZ LAKE: Chuck Fields of the Topaz Marina gave this report, "It was not a good weekend, weather-wise, for fishing. A few fishermen went out but did not report any action. There were lots of speed boats, jet skis and water skiers."
LOWER TWIN LAKE: No report.
UPPER TWIN LAKE: Jim Wilkins reported, "With the cooler temperatures, the fishing has really heated up. Many limits are being taken. One angler caught 5 rainbow trout (4-6.75 pounds) from shore with a silver Kastmaster lure. Three other rainbows (3-6 pounds) were caught by one family on Thomas Buoyant or Roostertail lures. A fly fisherman nailed a 4.75 pound rainbow with a black Woolly Bugger fly."
VIRGINIA LAKES AND VIRGINIA CREEK:
Virginia Lakes: No report.
Virginia Creek: No report.
WALKER LAKE: Bob Tompkins of the Walker Lake Guide Services said, "They are catching quite a few fish right now between Rock Point and The Cliffs. The boaters are either trolling or jigging with minnows. Reports of a number of limits. Shore fishermen are scoring with minnows in The Cliffs area.
WALKER RIVERS (EAST-WEST-LITTLE):
East Walker River (Nev.): Bob Tompkins of the Walker Lake Guide Services reported, "The "Elbow" area continues to be good for rainbows and an occasional German brown on Panther-Martin or Roostertail lures or with Power Eggs or nightcrawlers. The water is low and clear."
East Walker River (Calif.): Best for "Fly Guys" using tiny Midges for German browns, up to 25 inches.
West Walker River (Nev.): No report.
West Walker River (Calif.): Low and clear. Continues to be good for bait fishermen and spincasters. Lots of average sized trout. Best with salmon eggs, nightcrawlers or small spinners.
Little Walker River: Low and clear. Good fishing for limits of small rainbows and brookies on worms near the U.S.F.S. Obsidian Campground. The surrounding mountain peaks received their first snow of the season on Friday evening.
WEBER RESERVOIR: Bob Tompkins of the Walker Lake Guide Services reported, "Access to the reservoir is still closed due to the low water level and the thousands of dead fish."
WILDHORSE RESERVOIR: Dennis Dunn of the Wildhorse Resort said, "We have snow on the upper peaks and the temperature was 26 degrees this morning. Fishing is excellent. We had a 12-pound Channel Catfish caught on a bass lure. The winning entry in our smallmouth bass derby was 4 bass that weighed a total of 14.27 pounds. They were caught by two anglers from Spring Creek."
WINNEMUCCA LAKE: No report.
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK: No report.