The drought and fuel prices put a whammy on fishing trips

Now that the month of November is roaring up over the horizon (it's the day after tomorrow!), most local anglers are either already done fishing for the year or they are in the process of wrapping things up and calling it quits for 2008.

In conjunction with that, there are a whole bunch of fishing waters already closed including: The Fort Churchill Cooling Ponds, Hinkson Slough, North Pond, The Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area, Hobart Reservoir, Marlette Lake and Topaz Lake.

Last Sunday, Heenan Lake in Alpine County, California also closed for the year.

In addition, on Nov. 15, way up in Humboldt County, Blue Lakes, Knott Creek Reservoir and Onion Valley reservoir will close.

So, quite frankly, even for those still wanting to fish, there aren't a large number of fishing waters still open in this area, as we head toward the holiday seasons.

Hmmm, as a matter of interest, can you name some of the waters that are currently open?

Well, here's a partial list to help you out, if you're not sure:

Still open in this part of Nevada:

The Carson River, the East Carson River, the West Carson River, the East Walker River, the West Walker River, Lake Tahoe, Spooner Lake, the Topaz Canal, the Truckee River, Pyramid Lake, Lahontan Reservoir (good luck on finding water!) and Walker Lake.

Still open in nearby California:

The East Carson River, the West Carson River, the East Walker River, the West Walker River, Indian Creek Reservoir, Red Lake, Caples Lake (good luck on finding water!), Silver Lake, Silver Creek, Wolf Creek, Kinney Reservoir, Upper and Lower Kinney Lakes, Bridgeport Reservoir, Upper and Lower Twin Lakes, Kirman Lake and Big and Little Virginia Lakes.

And, bear in mind that November 15 (in about two weeks) is the closing date for many of those same California waters.

To say that this has been an unusual fishing year would have be one of the biggest understatements of the year. That's because the combination of drought-like conditions and sky-rocketing fuel prices really put a whammy on many, many fishing trips (including a lot of ours).

Speaking for my own fishing group, places where we never thought twice about going fishing before, all of a sudden, became a bit too far and way too expensive to give a try.

As an example, my little red 4X4 pickup gets 22 miles to the gallon, which I think is great. However, when gasoline was $4.00+ a gallon earlier this year, if I had wanted to drive to Wildhorse Reservoir in Northern Elko County, it would have been a very expensive outing.

Wildhorse is 364 miles from Carson City (one-way). So, for a round-trip mileage of 728 miles at 22 miles to the gallon at $4 a gallon, the trip would have cost me $132 just for the gas for my little pickup.

Then when you factor in the cost of the motel room, meals, drinks, etc., it became more economical to stay home and either fish or not fish at nearby waters.

And, if you think that is expensive, Don Hettrick's big pickup only gets 10 miles to the gallon.

That Wildhorse trip would have cost him a staggering $291 for gasoline. Ouch!

If he had gone in his gas-guzzling motorhome at six miles to the gallon, it would have been a mind-boggling $484. Yipes! Almost $500 to go fishing in Nevada!

Based on my conversations with many other anglers, sport fishing guides, owners of resorts, operators of marinas, etc., a whole bunch of other fishermen also stopped traveling very far this year.

Almost without exception, every one of my contacts for the Outdoors Page weekly fishing reports said that their business was way down, compared to last year.

And, to a person, they blamed the loss of business on the horrific gas prices.

Then, if you elected to stay close to home to fish, your choices of where to go, locally, were also adversely affected, such as:

Caples Lake water was drawn way down to repair the water gates at the base of the dam.

Lahontan Reservoir was drawn way, way down for irrigation demands from downstream water-right users.

Ditto for Bridgeport Reservoir.

Walker Lake's water level continued its never-ending dropping and fishing success at that lake was at a bare minimum at best.

For example, not too long ago, one group of four fishermen fished at Walker all day and caught just one fish between the five of them.

Geez, at 22 miles to the gallon and $4 a gallon that 220 mile round-trip to Walker Lake in my pickup would have cost $40 to get skunked. No thank you!

Then, several weeks ago, when Lake Tahoe fishing was rated as slow, and Red Lake, Indian Creek Reservoir and Pyramid Lake were all "Yucky" from the gunk in their waters, and the water levels had dropped to bare minimums in our rivers and creeks, it became more fun (and a whole lot cheaper) to say "to heck with it," and stay home to just putter around in the yard or garden.

So, what's ahead for the folks in the angling world?

Well, quite frankly, after November 15, if you don't like to fish at Lake Tahoe (primarily from a boat with special equipment) or Pyramid Lake (once the gunk gets out of the water) or Walker Lake (if there are any fish left) or some of our Nevada rivers, you just might want to join a bridge or poker playing group or a hiking club.

Finally:

Before I forget, be sure to have a Happy Nevada Day and a Happy Halloween this weekend!

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon

Bet your favorite pigeon that he can't tell you what is one of the few bright spots for fishing in this area at the present time.

If he grins and says, "That's easy. It's Davis Lake, seven miles north of Portola, Calif., and it stays open year-round," he could have just returned from there.

Hmmm, at 22 miles a gallon and at $4 a gallon for a round-trip of 160 miles, that trip in my pickup will cost $30 to fish there. I think I would rather go on my computer and try to win at Solitaire.