Tag: East Carson River

This Monday dawned bright and early for me.  I was meeting my friend Dave at hangman’s bridge for a quick outing at 7am.  That means I am out of the house by 6:15 so that I can get some gas and a cup of coffee…you have to be crazy to be a fisherman.

Our plan is to hit the trail at Hangman’s, hightail it to the Creek hole, fish for an hour or so, and hike back out.  Dave and I both have work, but I know that the boss is out of the office, so I figure that if I check in around 9:45-10:00, no worries.  Anyone that has done this hike knows that it is an easy hike after the first hill, and a great time to catch up so that you do not waste time chatting while actually in the water.

We arrive at the Creek hole and I notice rising fish in the big pool below the hole.  Question is – what are they taking.  Not being able to identify the bug that is hatching, I take the safe route and tie on a #20 Parachute Adams to try to match what I see.  No takers.

Continue reading “East Carson River – 08/25/08 Early AM”

Today is the Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year in the Northern latitudes. This day also marks the official first day of summer. Starting today, the days will start to get shorter as we slowly head back towards winter. I decided to celebrate the solstice by hitting the water very early this morning.

Although flows are still a tad high on the East Carson, I decided to fish the section of river that is literally minutes from my doorstep.  There was also a rumor floating around yesterday that NDOW had planted a few thousand fish in the river at the old boat launch above the dam.  The same rumor also stated that NDOW was going to plant a few thousand more fish below the dam next week.

Continue reading “East Carson River (NV) – 06/20/08 Early AM”

I headed out to the river after work for my usual hour or so.  Instead of heading to the West Carson, I turned left at the Markleville junction and headed to the East Carson.  I will be the first to admit that I lazied out today and headed upstream of my usual starting point at Hangman’s Bridge.  I was just not in the mood to do any serious wading or hiking, so I sought out an easy roadside spot.  I started and ended my evening in the vicinity of the Carson River Resort.  Even thought this area is heavily stocked and heavily fished,  I found my self alone on this stretch this evening….sweet!

I wader up and head to the river to have a gander before I rig up.  I immediately notice that there are bugs on the water, if I had to guess I would say MAYFLIES, and judging by the size, color and time of year, I guess March Browns.  I note that flows are still on the high side, but just barely.  Water clarity is really good considering the flows.

I chose to start with one of Andy Burk’s Indicaddis (a caddis dry tied as an indicator) that I got from the Reno fly Shop, dropping to a #14 soft-hackle Hare’s Ear, and dropping from that to a #18 Green Copper John.  I went pretty light on the split shot as the Indicaddis does not support a ton of weight without having to redress it frequently.  To clarify, the Indicaddis comes in several sizes and I have not had a chance to grab the bigger sizes.  I have to remember to grab a handful of the bigger sizes next time I am in Reno.

On my first drift, a small fish hits the Indicaddis but can’t do much more than sink the fly.  Now I am excited.  The next few drifts offer more of the same – small fish hitting a huge dry fly and sinking the fly.  So far, lots of interest in my dry from the small fish, but wait….a nice 12″ rainbow actually comes up and takes a look at my dry before doing the refusal roll.  That was all the encouragement that I needed to snip off all the nymphs and tie on a much better dry fly.  I made the decision that I was “gonna catch then on dries or none at all” tonight.  I have been nymphing for what feels like months (actually it has been months) and I am ready for the graceful casting and exciting action of dry fly fishing.  Yahoo!!!!

Continue reading “East Carson Dry Fly Fishing – 06/09/08”

Yesterday after work, I spent a few hours on the East Carson. What a difference 10 degrees makes. I cannot use words like tinted or off-color to describe the muddy, roiling mess that I saw. yes folks, we are well on our way to a blown-out run-off river. At least these warmer temps will start the process of spring run-off and hopefully it will end sooner, versus later.

So what does a trout bum do when a river is blown out? Grab the float tube and head to a lake? Not this one. I continued to drive higher up looking for clearer water. As I approached the turnoff for Wolf Creek, the river did look *less* muddy and I decided to rig up and dredge a wholly bugger through some likely runs. A hours worth of trying and I was able to pound up but one lowly 10″ stocker. An interesting note, I only saw one other angler during what is normally prime fishing time. I must be part of a group crazy enough to fish chocolate milk….mmmmm…yummy!