spectr17
01-16-2003, 06:14 PM
Elko County’s South Fork Reservoir–An Angler’s Paradise
Dave Rice, RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
10/15/2002
“What the hell’s wrong with that?” That was Bob’s question, (actually more of a statement now that I think about it). He seemed astonished and maybe a little incensed that someone would be bold enough to call him and complain that in 21/2 days of fishing at South Fork Reservoir, all of the trout this particular duo caught was equal to or greater than 19 inches. Layton’s a long term Division of Wildlife employee who has worked in the Fisheries Bureau his entire career. He is now the fisheries supervisor in the northeastern part of the state. South Fork Reservoir, just about 15 miles south of Elko, is one of many waters he is ultimately responsible for in that part of the state.
My intent was not to irritate Bob but to see if something had changed at SFR. Last year, when Danny Fox and I fished this magnificent water for the first time, we caught rainbow, cutbow (cutthroat-rainbow trout hybrids) and brown trout in a variety of sizes, and the time between fish was quite a bit shorter. It was exactly the same time of year this year, and we used the same lures. I was curious if something had changed or happened to cause a decline in the trout population. Bob assured me that stocking levels are the same and that in his own fishing at SFR with lures, he rarely catches fish less than 15 inches in length.
Although it was a long time between fish hooked and brought to the boat this year, those we did catch were really nice fish. Fox did best this year, catching a 19-inch smallmouth bass and a 19-inch rainbow trout that was about as pretty as fish get. We also took a couple other big trout and another smallmouth that was about 16 inches. Both bass were taken on a gold Rapala trolled off the downrigger at about 20 feet below the surface. The trout were hooked near the surface on Z-Ray lures, flourescent green with red spots.
Toward the end of our fishing adventure this year, Fox and I had pretty much decided to go elsewhere next fall for our annual trip. That was until I talked with Layton. Again, he assured me that the annual stocking of approximately 80,000 trout will continue and fishing success for these has and should remain good in the future. But the really exciting news was the large variety of other fish species found in this relatively small impoundment on the south fork of the Humboldt River.
SFR, built just for recreational purposes in 1988, is termed a “flow-in, flow out” concept reservoir, which impounds approximately 40,000 acre feet of water at it’s maximum elevation. Only water in excess of water rights and wildlife needs downstream is held in the lake. For the past two years that we have visited, the level was about five to six feet below maximum, so even during relatively dry times in Elko Co., it continues to maintain a good water level, providing great fishing potential. It covers 1,650 acres, measuring roughly three miles long by one to one and one half miles wide. The maximum depth we found was 60 feet off the face of the dam.
Layton tells me that the lake is the home of about the widest variety of trophy-sized fish found in any water in the state. Besides the three species of trout and smallmouth, it also has a booming population of largemouth bass, and channel catfish up to 24 pounds. The most recent new species added to this angler’s paradise is the wiper, a hybrid of the striped bass and the white bass.
Since the wiper is supposed to be incapable of reproduction, it does not pose the threat of over population in the reservoir that the very prolific white and striped bass do. The wiper has reached weights over 10 pounds at Lahontan Reservoir so big things are expected in SFR for this species. Then Layton put the frosting on my cake by disclosing that there is a huge population of crayfish in the reservoir. Besides being a delicacy in their own right, smaller ones serve as good bait for the bass. Past columns have delved into my passion for crayfish and a Louisiana dish known as crawfish etouffee.
Nevada Division of State Parks manages the land encompassing the reservoir and has built a great camping area with 25 sites, with a few overlooking the lake. They have heated bathrooms with flush toilets, and even heated showers, real luxuries so far from civilization. This is a high desert environment so bring your own tree. Although the land is somewhat barren, the view to the east is spectacular, consisting of the 11,000 feet in elevation Ruby Mountain Range. If you have never been there, a side trip to Lamoille Canyon and the Ruby Marsh are well worth missing a few hours of fishing. More information on the park is available at NDSP’s web site: state.nv.us/stparks.
At one time, Wildhorse Reservoir was my favorite Nevada reservoir, and although it still rates pretty high on my list, SFR is definitely number one and a place I will be spending a lot of time at in the future.
Dave Rice retired in 2001 after 30 years with the Nevada Division of Wildlife, including 25 years as chief conservation officer. He can be reached at thomascreek@@worldnett.att.net.
Dave Rice, RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
10/15/2002
“What the hell’s wrong with that?” That was Bob’s question, (actually more of a statement now that I think about it). He seemed astonished and maybe a little incensed that someone would be bold enough to call him and complain that in 21/2 days of fishing at South Fork Reservoir, all of the trout this particular duo caught was equal to or greater than 19 inches. Layton’s a long term Division of Wildlife employee who has worked in the Fisheries Bureau his entire career. He is now the fisheries supervisor in the northeastern part of the state. South Fork Reservoir, just about 15 miles south of Elko, is one of many waters he is ultimately responsible for in that part of the state.
My intent was not to irritate Bob but to see if something had changed at SFR. Last year, when Danny Fox and I fished this magnificent water for the first time, we caught rainbow, cutbow (cutthroat-rainbow trout hybrids) and brown trout in a variety of sizes, and the time between fish was quite a bit shorter. It was exactly the same time of year this year, and we used the same lures. I was curious if something had changed or happened to cause a decline in the trout population. Bob assured me that stocking levels are the same and that in his own fishing at SFR with lures, he rarely catches fish less than 15 inches in length.
Although it was a long time between fish hooked and brought to the boat this year, those we did catch were really nice fish. Fox did best this year, catching a 19-inch smallmouth bass and a 19-inch rainbow trout that was about as pretty as fish get. We also took a couple other big trout and another smallmouth that was about 16 inches. Both bass were taken on a gold Rapala trolled off the downrigger at about 20 feet below the surface. The trout were hooked near the surface on Z-Ray lures, flourescent green with red spots.
Toward the end of our fishing adventure this year, Fox and I had pretty much decided to go elsewhere next fall for our annual trip. That was until I talked with Layton. Again, he assured me that the annual stocking of approximately 80,000 trout will continue and fishing success for these has and should remain good in the future. But the really exciting news was the large variety of other fish species found in this relatively small impoundment on the south fork of the Humboldt River.
SFR, built just for recreational purposes in 1988, is termed a “flow-in, flow out” concept reservoir, which impounds approximately 40,000 acre feet of water at it’s maximum elevation. Only water in excess of water rights and wildlife needs downstream is held in the lake. For the past two years that we have visited, the level was about five to six feet below maximum, so even during relatively dry times in Elko Co., it continues to maintain a good water level, providing great fishing potential. It covers 1,650 acres, measuring roughly three miles long by one to one and one half miles wide. The maximum depth we found was 60 feet off the face of the dam.
Layton tells me that the lake is the home of about the widest variety of trophy-sized fish found in any water in the state. Besides the three species of trout and smallmouth, it also has a booming population of largemouth bass, and channel catfish up to 24 pounds. The most recent new species added to this angler’s paradise is the wiper, a hybrid of the striped bass and the white bass.
Since the wiper is supposed to be incapable of reproduction, it does not pose the threat of over population in the reservoir that the very prolific white and striped bass do. The wiper has reached weights over 10 pounds at Lahontan Reservoir so big things are expected in SFR for this species. Then Layton put the frosting on my cake by disclosing that there is a huge population of crayfish in the reservoir. Besides being a delicacy in their own right, smaller ones serve as good bait for the bass. Past columns have delved into my passion for crayfish and a Louisiana dish known as crawfish etouffee.
Nevada Division of State Parks manages the land encompassing the reservoir and has built a great camping area with 25 sites, with a few overlooking the lake. They have heated bathrooms with flush toilets, and even heated showers, real luxuries so far from civilization. This is a high desert environment so bring your own tree. Although the land is somewhat barren, the view to the east is spectacular, consisting of the 11,000 feet in elevation Ruby Mountain Range. If you have never been there, a side trip to Lamoille Canyon and the Ruby Marsh are well worth missing a few hours of fishing. More information on the park is available at NDSP’s web site: state.nv.us/stparks.
At one time, Wildhorse Reservoir was my favorite Nevada reservoir, and although it still rates pretty high on my list, SFR is definitely number one and a place I will be spending a lot of time at in the future.
Dave Rice retired in 2001 after 30 years with the Nevada Division of Wildlife, including 25 years as chief conservation officer. He can be reached at thomascreek@@worldnett.att.net.