CAPLES LAKE, CALIF: Doug Busey of Douglas County reported he was told it had over 6 feet of snow on the ice on Saturday.
CARSON RIVERS, CALIF:
East Carson River: Dave Kirby reported the Trophy Section from Hangman's Bridge downstream to the Nevada stateline, opened year-round, on March 1. One local angler fished it last Saturday. He needed snowshoes but caught and released 3 rainbows and 1 brown, up to 22 inches.
DAVIS LAKE, CALIF: Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association reported: The ice is breaking up now, with about 70 percent of the lake showing open water, with a line of ice running from east to west in the area of Honker Cove boat ramp.
The east side road is plowed as far as Honker Cove entrance, with a 2-track, 4x4 trail beyond there.
FRENCHMAN RESERVOIR, CALIF: Wiggin's Trading Post at Chilcoot, Calif. (530-993-4683): Fishing continues to be good despite last week's heavy snow.
The road to the dam is plowed so most anglers are fishing there. Use nightcrawlers and marshmallows for best results. Fish are close to shore.
You can not get past the dam without a snowmobile or a 4WD.
FT. CHURCHILL COOLING PONDS (on the Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area): Elmer Bull of Yerington reported the fishing is rated as poor, right now. The fishermen are not catching any bass, so far.
HINKSON SLOUGH, NEV (on the Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area): Elmer Bull: Two fly fishermen in float tubes were catching and releasing lots of fish on Tuesday morning.
INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR, CALIF: Doug Busey drove in by way of the dirt road on Friday. The road was very muddy. The reservoir was open but there was no action. He returned on Sunday and the reservoir was about 50 percent frozen with 1/4 inch ice. There was no action.
LAHONTAN RESERVOIR, NEV: Missy at Burke's Market (Closed on Mondays) at Silver Springs (775-577-2750): It is a picture perfect day and the temp is 55 degrees (Tuesday at 10 a.m.).
The reservoir is full but it is still just a little early to fish until the water warms up a little more.
PYRAMID LAKE, NEV: Valerie or Linda or Patsy at Crosby's Lodge at (775) 476-0400 reported: They are catching fish. It has been a little slow, although we have had some 9-10 pounders checked in here at the lodge. They were caught by both shore fishermen and boaters. I was out the other day and caught and released 5 very nice fish. There have been lots of fly fishermen at "The Nets."
PYRAMID LAKE, NEV: Andy at the Gilly Sporting Goods Store in Sparks at 358-6113: Fishing has been on again and off again. The guys are moving around, all over the place. If you are a fly fisherman, you need to keep your fly off the bottom because of all the weeds, right now. The best fly colors have been white, yellow and beetle.
PYRAMID LAKE, NEV: Carla Molino of the Pyramid Lake Store at (775) 476-0555: Fishing has been fair. Some spots have been excellent for fly fishermen from time to time. Boat fishing is OK, with an occasional quality fish.
The shore fishermen are doing the least. Their best fishing has been at "The Block House."
PYRAMID LAKE, NEV: Jeri Grellman of Hog Charters of Sparks (358-5199): Chris was out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday was good with lots of fish caught and released. The biggest was 23 inches.
Saturday, the lake was rough. They caught and released 25 fish. The biggest was 22 inches.
Sunday, the lake was rough for a long time. They caught and released 20 fish. Nothing big.
RED LAKE, CALIF: Dave Kirby reported they are catching fish, right under the ice due to the additional deep snow cover on the lake. Best success has been with salad shrimp or worms.
LAKE TAHOE - North Shore:
Gene St. Denis of Blue Ribbon Charters and Tahoe Trophy Trout at South Lake Tahoe, Calif. (530-544-6552): Fishing has been excellent with limits for all. It's the best it has been for a long, long time. We have been trolling at 150-300 feet with silver Herring Dodger flasher blades and live minnows in a "Figure Eight" pattern. I've been fishing at Cal-Neva Point and Dollar Point.
Herb Ellis of Carson City caught a 17-pound Mack at Dollar Point with Dodgers and a minnow at a depth of 260 feet.
LAKE TAHOE - South Shore: Gene St. Denis: Fishing has been slow to good. I've been trolling at Ski Run Shelf at 150-280 feet with silver Herring Dodger flasher blades and live minnows. The jiggers are jigging in water 160 feet deep with Crippled Herring Jigs, tipped with a live minnow. The Macks are running 2-7 pounds.
LAKE TAHOE - East Shore: Gene St. Denis: I've plowed out one side of the Cave Rock Ramp. If you want to use the other side, you will have to plow it out yourself. Toplining with Rapala lures in 15-25 feet of water has been slow to good for rainbows, Macks and browns at Deadman's Point, Logal Shoals and Sand Harbor.
TOPAZ LAKE: Chuck Fields at the Topaz Lake Marina (775) 266-3550 reported: It was a good weekend, but no big fish nor any tagged fish were caught.
The fish are averaging about 1.25 pounds.
The boaters are catching their limits out in the middle of the lake. They are trolling about 15 feet deep with flasher blades and nightcrawlers.
The shore fishing has been a little slow. A shore fisherman casting a blue/pink spoon caught his limit but nothing big.
TRUCKEE RIVER, NEV: Andy at The Gilly Sporting Goods Store: I has a report of a big, 11-pound brown caught in deep water in the Sparks area.
I don't know any of the details on that fish.
WALKER RIVERS, CALIF:
East Walker: The trophy section from the dam downstream to the Nevada stateline, opened year-round, on March 1.
WILDHORSE RESERVOIR, NEV: Mark at the Wild Horse Resort (775) 758-6472: The weather was gorgeous over the weekend, it was warm and sunny. We still have a good 2 feet of ice on the reservoir. Saturday, 3 fishermen caught a bucketful of perch and 4 big trout in only 1.5 hours. Sunday morning, 4 other fishermen caught over 100 fish. Ray Frederick and Richard Bell of Carson City and their 13-member fishing party were here for the entire weekend. They caught lots of fish, and I cooked a whole bunch of their filleted perch and trout for their dinner on Saturday night. The best bet for catching trout, right now, is a party-sized marshmallow about 1-1.5 feet down from your sinker. Drop it to the bottom and just wait for the trout to bite. The perch are down on the bottom and the trout are shallow (in about 3-10 feet of water, along the shoreline). The biggest Perch have been 11 inches, and the rainbows are running up to 20-21 inches. You can also fish with small Kastmaster lures or small, white-colored, lead-head jigs with a plastic tail, together with a tiny piece of worm, mealworm or cocktail shrimp 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.