Note: The new Nevada fishing license year begins on March 1.
BIG SPRINGS RESERVOIR, NEV: No report. Closes Feb. 28.
BLUE LAKES AREA, CALIF: Dave Kirby of the Woodfords Station (530-694-2930): "We had a few humans over the weekend, but overall, it was pretty quiet. We had a total of 12-14 inches of fluffy snow here at the store."
DAVIS LAKE, CALIF: Andy at The Gilly Sporting Goods Store in Sparks (358-6113): The last few days, it has been getting more ice, but I would be very cautious and not walk out on it.
INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR, CALIF: Dave Kirby reported the road was closed with snow and probably would not be plowed open until about mid-week.
LAHONTAN RESERVOIR, NEV: Missy Swain at Burke's Market (Closed on Mondays) at Silver Springs (775-577-2750): "We are now running a weekly contest for the biggest fish. Catch a nice fish, bring it in, tell us some fish stories, and we'll take your picture. If yours is the biggest of the week, it will win a nice prize.
PYRAMID LAKE, NEV: George Molino of the Pyramid Lake Store and Pyramid Lake Charters (775-476-0555) reported: "The fishing has been up and down. Day before yesterday (Monday), we (Pyramid Lake Charters) caught 6 fish. Yesterday, 4 guys got over 40 fish. The biggest was about 22-23 inches. We've been trolling at the north end with the usual colors of Apex lures.
PYRAMID LAKE, NEV: Andy at the Gilly, "Pyramid was doing very well with the bad weather but will be slowing down with the high pressure that we have now.
The fly fishermen have been doing good at places like Indian Head, the Block House and the Cattleguard. They are catching some nice fish (8-9-10 pounds).
Joe Winchester of Reno, who goes out almost every day, caught a 8.5 pound Cutt at the Nets with a Popcorn Beetle fly.
The boats are doing fairly well with Chub-colored Flatfish lures.
The shore fishing is not quite as good as the trolling."
SACRAMENTO RIVER: Kirk Portocarrero of Outdoor Adventures Sport Fishing, Redding, Calif. (800-670-4448: Water flows are currently at 6,000 CFS. Have been drifting the Redding to Anderson stretch for wild rainbows. Practicing all "catch and release.
Fly fishing is fair to good, using No. 14 or No 16 Prince nymphs, No. 16 Micro Mayfly nymphs and Fox's Poopahs.
SILVER LAKE, CALIF: Mona at Kay's Silver Lake Resort (209-258-8598): We got about a foot of snow from that last storm. One night, it got down to -5 degrees. I still wouldn't trust walking on the ice in the cove."
SHASTA LAKE, CALIF: Kirk Portocarrero: Still a little cold for productive trout fishing or salmon. Picking up a few trout near the surface to 30 ft. McCloud Arm is best bet.
Tolling, using bright colored lures, pinks and greens, on these overcast days.
SMITH RIVER, CALIF: Kirk Portocarrero: "Drifting for Steelhead. Fishing is slowing down a bit , but still picking up 2-4 Steelhead on a good day. Using roe. Fishing from the Forks to Ruby.
SMITH RIVER, CALIF: Hank Mautz of Professional Guide Services (800) 355-3113: Steelhead anglers looking to pursue winter Steelhead can expect extremely low and clear fishing conditions with cold water temperatures.
Drift fishing a small piece of roe and a Quickie both from the bank and from a boat has been producing Steelhead averaging 3 to 8 pounds with catch rates reported at 1-2 fish per boat.
LAKE TAHOE - North Shore:
Mickey Daniels of Mickey's Big Mack Charters (800-877-1462): "The fishing has been good. We have been getting our Mackinaw trout early in the morning, and tagging and releasing the smaller ones. We have been catching lots of fish, but nothing big. I've been trolling the deep-water area in front of Carnelian Bay and King's Beach with Herring Dodger flasher blades with minnows or large Apex lures."
LAKE TAHOE - South Shore: Gene St. Denis: "Fishing has been slow to excellent. I've been trolling at Ski Run Mound, Ski Run Shelf and Camp Richardson. We have been trolling 180-300 feet deep with silver Herring Dodger flasher blades and live mi
TOPAZ LAKE: Chuck Fields of the Topaz Lake Marina (775) 266-3550 reported: "The sun is shining today (Monday morning) and there is a teeny breeze.
No one is out on the water and I've only seen one shore fisherman, so far.
The last 4-5 days, there has been nothing, because of the rain, snow, wind and bitter cold.
There was one big boat out yesterday (Sunday) for a short while, but he came back, because of the cold.
TRUCKEE RIVER, NEV: Andy at the Gilly: "The Truckee is still flowing pretty fast. You've got to fish it, tight up against the banks in the slack water."
WALKER LAKE, NEV: A group of five fishermen were at the south end of the lake on Monday. One of them caught 4 fish, the other four got skunked. There is quite a bit of moss in the water.
WILDHORSE RESERVOIR, NEV: Dennis Dunn at the Wild Horse Resort (775) 758-6472: "It was -33 degrees on Monday morning and only got up to 18 degrees that day. The ice is at least 2 feet thick. We've got all kinds of people, either snowmobiling or ice fishing.
The snowmobiling is the best its been in the last 10 years.
Perch fishing is good and trout fishing is fair.
The trout are about 6-8 feet below the ice and the perch are down about 20-30 feet, on the bottom.
Fish for the trout with lures like Kastmaster or with nightcrawler and slowly jig, up and down.
Fish for the perch with small, white-colored, lead-head jigs with a plastic tail, together with a mealworm or party-sized marshmallow on the hook. Drop that combination down to the bottom, bring it up about 1-2 turns on the reel handle and slowly jig, up and down."