Columnist Paula DelGiudice: More record catches possible

Paula DelGiudice

Wednesday, March 7, 2001 | 9:32 a.m.

Paula DelGiudice's outdoors notebook appears Wednesday. Reach her at desertdenizens@aol.com.

When the clouds roll in and the rain comes down, it's hard to get excited about fishing. It's March, though, and some of the best fishing of the year is right around the corner. Striped bass fishing improves as the fish move to spawn. The warmer temperatures begin to warm the water and spring spawners become more active. Warmer water also increases fish appetites so generally that also increases interest in feeding.

While the rain may dampen our spirits, it's great news for our parched landscape. At higher elevations, the rain turns to snow, helping the level of creek water when runoff begins. The drought in the late '90s impacted Nevada's fisheries dramatically, but the improved water picture created better fishing conditions last year. Those who have been patiently waiting were rewarded with four new state records last year and nearly 100 trophy fish were caught and entered in the trophy fish program.

According to the Nevada Division of Wildlife, one of the more interesting records that was set last year was a five-pound, one-ounce smallmouth bass caught at South Fork Reservoir near Elko.

A record two-pound, 13-ounce white crappie was caught at Weber Reservoir south of Hawthorne. That record may stand for awhile because the reservoir dried up in the fall due to problems with the dam.

Another state record that was set in 2000 was for the "wiper," a hybrid between a white bass and a striped bass. That record was 13 pounds, 10 ounces and was caught at Lahontan Reservoir near Fallon.

"We put these in several years ago at Lahontan and Rye Patch reservoirs. Every year there's a new state record as these fish keep growing. Eventually we hope to see them max out at about 20 pounds," said Mark Warren, NDOW staff biologist.

Another unusual fish that has been introduced in the state is the spotted bass. NDOW has been working for several years to bring in spotted bass from Shasta Lake in Northern California. A record was set in 2000 for spotted bass weighing four pounds, two ounces. Warren expects to see fish in the 7-8 pound range caught in the future.

Northeastern Nevada produced some pretty awesome catches of channel catfish last year. Elko County reservoirs -- South Fork, Wildhorse and Willow Creek -- produced 14 trophy fish entries with catfish weighing from 10 to 20 pounds.

Anglers throughout Nevada like to catch big largemouth bass. While there were no records broken in 2000 for largemouth bass, a very nice fish was caught at Wayne E. Kirch Wildlife Management Area south of Lund. This lunker weighed in at 10 pounds, nine ounces. Because this fishery, commonly called "Sunnyside," is fished heavily by Las Vegas anglers, I'm sure there will be continued interest in bettering that impressive catch.

There were no state record trout taken in 2000, but anglers may wish to take note (and plan vacations accordingly): There were 10 entries from the Ruby Lake area for rainbow trout that ranged from 6-9 pounds.

Comins Lake south of Ely, part of the CCC property purchased by the state, is also producing nice catches of rainbow trout. There were seven trophy fish entries in the 6-7 pound range.

In addition to the nice channel catfish and smallmouth bass caught at South Fork Reservoir just south of Elko, some nice rainbow and bowcut trout from 5-7 pounds were caught. Bowcut trout are hybrid fish that are a cross between rainbow and cutthroat trout.

Large striped bass are still being caught at Lake Mead and Lake Mohave closer to home. The largest striper caught last year was a 53-pound fish that came from Lake Mohave, the same lake that produced a 60-pound, 14-ounce state record striper in 1998.

Hunters and anglers are urged to purchase licenses early to avoid the rush that will occur in mid April just before the big game hunting application deadline.

This year there has been a big increase in number of locations where licenses can be purchased, because 18 Raley's Supermarkets in Clark County are now license agents. There are 53 locations in Clark County and three in Nye County where licenses may be purchased.

License costs and locations where they can be purchased are listed on NDOW's web site at www.nevadadivisionofwildlife.org.