hey powermaker and I are going to make the run to walker lake to catch some lahontans ! January 28-30, 2005 - go up friday, fish sat and sun morning, come back sun afternoon - anybody up for it? you could drive after work, sleep at the el capitan . . its near hawthorne, nevada
c'mon one and all! no ice at this sucker....
[url "http://www.walkerlakenevada.com/"]http://www.walkerlakenevada.com/[/url]
[url "http://web0.greatbasin.net/~frankly/linksr.html"]http://web0.greatbasin.net/~frankly/linksr.html[/url]
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[cool]That's a fun lake to fish, and really used to be a heck of a Trout fishery, but
ly the last 5 drought years in Northern Nevada have really taken a toll on this lake. There's not any more lunkers left in there as the alkalai(sp?) levels have been too high, and most of the big ones are gone. However, there are still fish about 3 pounds left in there and surprisingly lots of smaller ones. Quite honestly, the Nevada fish and game dept. didn't think there'd be any fish left this season after how low the lake got last summer, but the fish have surprised the biologists with their resiliency. With the massive snowpack up in the Sierras right now, Walker should fill very nicely this next summer to levels not seen in a long time, which will bring down the alkalai levels, thus saving this fishery.
The reason I know this stuff is I grew up in Northern Nevada and used to fish it a lot, and my step dad still lives there, and keeps me updated. If you want a shot at 12+ pounder Lahontan Cutthroats, go an hour and a half north of there to Pyramid Lake. They haven't been affected as much by the drought. The Pyramid Lake Indian tribes get more water due to federal regs in their favor. Don't believe me about how good Pyramid is, then go to my stepdad's fishing site:
[url "http://www.wescraigs.net"]www.wescraigs.net[/url] and click on the Pyramid Lake page. He also has one for Walker. Good luck, Southernman!
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Out4Trout, you're really putting a downer on this trip. LOL
Take care,
David
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[cool]Hey there's still plenty of 3lb and unders in there, so go out and have a great time! I'm just saying that the 10lbers that used to be so common aren't in there anymore, but you guys should do well. Are you planning on fishing from a boat, or shore? If you are just shore fishing, I know where you can do well, so let me know if you aren't that familiar with the lake. If you are trolling, use flatfish in the frog pattern, or sometimes flourescent red, or silver, or something that looks like a chub. Also spoons do very well there. If you have any daredevels, or the Blue Fox Tor-P-Do (which are no longer made) or the blue fox pixie spoon, use them! They kill it there! They don't have Jakes spin-a-lures in Nevada, but if you have any, I'd try them as well. Good luck.
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[size 2][font "comic sans ms"]Well first off, the only size I'll let take the bait are the 10lbers+.
We are going to be shorebound, so any location tips would help.
Take care,
David
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[cool]There's two great shore fishing places that instantly come to mind. Over on the west side of the lake there is a boat launching site called Sportsman's Beach. Over to the south of the ramp is good shore fishing, but my favorite place is a little north of there maybe a mile or so called Sandy Point. I don't think there's any signs that say Sandy Point, but you'll see a nice little point with a very sandy beach, and this is my favorite place to shore fish. The water drops off nicely there, and there's always fish right off of there. I don't think I've ever been skunked there. Like I said earlier, you want to use spoons. Another thing is a flatfish or quickfish, but if you use one of these from shore you'll want to put a good sinker about a foot or two above it to help you cast out further, and also to get the lure down deeper. If you don't have many spoons, there's a bait shop/gas station right there on the west side of the lake just off the little two lane highway called the Buffalo Shop (I think). You'll pay a bit more there, but they have lots of spoons that work well there. My favorite there is white with black spots, rainbow trout, chartruese with black dots, red/white daredevil pattern, and a frog pattern works well to. Also a hammered gold pixie type spoon works great there too. You just have to try a few different patterns, and you'll soon know which color they crave that day. Good luck, and have fun!
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[size 2] [font "comic sans ms"] Out4Trout, thanks for the tips. This will be my first trip to the lake. From what I have read so far it probable won't be the last. Well unless Southernman get too annoyed with me and throws me in the deep end. lol
Take care,
David
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