Hello fellow anglers!

Oh am I ready to do some camping. We have a little over a month until the California opening fishing season on rivers and streams. This year the rivers are going to be running a little higher than usual. Now as a note, all the little pools and hot spots you learned last year. You are going to have to change that thinking this year. Reason, some sections of the East Carson River in Alpine County has changed its course from last year. Yes many areas will remain the same, but we will have more oportunities to fish new areas this year that were high and dry last season. Also a reminded that the Kids Fishing derbies will be coming up in the first two weekends in June. This would include the Sawmill Pond Kids derby in South Lake Tahoe CA and the Lampe Park Kids Derby in Gardnerville NV. I will give you more information as we grow closer to that time.

LAKE TAHOE: Fishing has been rated as excellent. Anglers have been fishing the Tahoe City area to Carnelian Bay or the Cal Neva area. anglers have started in at 120 feet of water and moving out as the sun come s up to 250 feet. You need to get your presentation right on the bottom with in a couple feet. Flashers or a dodger with live minnow has been most productive. Many limits have come in from 3-8 pounds, with a few in the 9 to 19 pound class. The Cave Rock launch ramp is open from 6 am to 4 pm. Toplining has been fair near the Logan Shoals area. One angler reported catching a 5 lb brown and a 3 pound rainbow with an F11 rainbow pattern Rapala. That to me would be a good day. Other toplining areas have been Eagle, Rubicon and Deadmans point, The Emerald Bay area has also been productive. For more information or to set up a fishing charter on Lake Tahoe, call Blue Ribbon Fishing Charters at 530-544-6552.

CAPLES LAKE: The snow is melting but there is still to much Ice on the lake to do any ice fishing. Last report was over 5 feet of ice.

RED LAKE: I have not received any report form any anglers fishing or attempt to ice fish the lake in the last few weeks. Last report I have was 2 feet of snow with 6 feet of ice.

INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR: The lake level has come down a little, the water has cleared up. I received a report from a couple anglers that fished last Monday. They used green and orange Gulp and caught 11 small rainbows. They were fishing on the dam side from shore. I spoke with fellow angler Lew Souder that fished the lake this week. Lew was using spoons on the camp side of the lake with not much action. For those that are familiar with the lake, the fallen tree that is near the tent camping area, the water level is with in foot or so from that tree. There is ample room to shore fish on the dam side. If you plan on fishing by the dam, you will have to walk in as the water is to high to drive to as of last week. The paved road is now open to vehicle traffic or you can use the dirt road off Diamond Valley Road. It is a little rough but passable.

TOPAZ LAKE DERBY: Week 10 results, Terry Ryan from Fallon NV took first place with a 4.8 lb 23 inche long rainbow. Terry also took second place with a 3.15 lb 21 inch long rainbow. Week 11 fisrt place went to Sergei Anufiev from Milpitas CA with a 4 lb 22 inch rainbow. Second place went to Jeff Porras from Gardernille NV with a 4 lb 22 inch rainbow. The difference between 1st and 2nd place was decided on who brought in thier catch the earliest in the week. 7 tagged fish have been brought in during the derby. For more information on the derby contact the Topaz Lodge at 775-266-3338. The derby will end on April 16th at 6pm.

TOPAZ LAKE FISHING REPORT: I fished with Tom Blotter from Minden NV a couple weeks ago and we had good success with Rapala's or needle fish. I tried a Dick Slammer in a green and red pattern and had very good success for the smaller 10 to 17 inch class rainbows. I was also blessed with a 2.2 lb tagged rainbow. Fished this week with Geary Ness from Minden Nv. We started out with geary 4 fish and Doug zero fish. We were toplining Rapalas on the north end. After eight hours of fishing we had caught and released many fish and kept two that weighed in at 2.10 lbs and 3.8 lbs. With the full moon and the warmer weather the fishing has slowed down a little. Many anglers were using flashers and night crawler with good success. The best area was on the north end of the lake. One angler I spoke to at the ramp told me they fished right down the middle of the lake and had very good luck, They were using flashers.

NDOW FISH PLANTS: Sparks Marina, Rye Patch reservoir and Hinkson Slough.