News / Media Press Releases

NV DOW

05/20/03

NESBITT LAKE’S FISHERY DAMAGED, BUT NOT LOST

A recently completed biological survey of Nesbitt Lake in Lincoln County has revealed that the largemouth bass fishery has been severely damaged, but not totally lost, according to the Nevada Division of Wildlife (NDOW).

John Hutchings, NDOW fisheries biologist, said that he had feared that the fishery was lost because it was nearly dry from late summer through the fall of 2002. But surveys that he conducted revealed that some largemouth bass survived, despite the extremely adverse water conditions.

Nesbitt Lake is located on NDOW’s Key Pittman Wildlife Management Area north of the town of Hiko. It is approximately 110 miles north of Las Vegas adjacent to State Route 318. The lake is a popular fishery for largemouth bass and black bullhead catfish.
Hutchings said that fishing will be poor for anyone who tries to fish the lake this spring and summer. This is because so few bass and catfish survived through the summer and fall.

While some bass survived the low water levels, Nesbitt is far from being out of the woods as far as its fishery is concerned. Most years it is full or nearly full by spring. That isn’t the case again this year as the lake is currently more than three feet low due to drought and a second consecutive winter of mild weather conditions.

Plans to stock largemouth bass to enhance the fishery are in a holding pattern until water conditions improve, according to Jon Sjoberg, NDOW supervising fisheries biologist. He fears that lake may suffer from extremely low water levels again this year.

NDOW is currently looking at potential ways to stabilize the water level and maintain the fishery. However, the agency has a limited amount of water shares available to it and is dependant upon the generosity of private landowners who provide their water during the winter months. During years of mild winter weather, landowners irrigate their fields later into the year, so they have less water to give to NDOW.