Sierra area fishing report: Kids fishing day at Caples, Heenan Lake to open Sept. 1

Hello fellow anglers. The weather is cooling down and the sun setting earlier as fishing picks up. Also, with this time of year, there's a couple noteworthy things before I get to the local report.

A bit of news for the young anglers. On Sept. 14 Caples Lake Resort and Alpine County Fish and Game are holding a kids fishing day at the Caples Lake Resort main marina from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.. All bait and tackle will be provided for anglers.

The only request is that anglers must provide their own fishing rod. Being that this is the first year of the event, loaner poles are not available yet.

For more information call 209-258-8888 and ask for Mike at the Caples Lake Resort. As a small note, the Alpine County Fish and Game will be planting the lake just prior to the event and they are asking that no adults fish in the area during the event hours.

No pre-registration required. You can sign up when you arrive. Now also a reminder that August 31st is a free fishing day in California. You need to abide by all rules and regulations for any bodies of water you fish. But a license is not required on that day.

Here's this week's report.

CAPLES LAKE: The lake level has dropped a little. The fishing has started to pick up in the mornings and evenings. Mr Truman from Kirkwood caught a nice cutthroat near Immigrant cove last week. Shore fishing has been fair around the dam and Woods Creek area. The CDFW has scheduled a plant of catchable rainbows this week. For more information, stop by the Caples Lake Resort.

RED LAKE: No reports coming in this week and I have not fished the lake lately.

BLUE LAKES: The lake level is still holding for anglers to launch small boats. Fishing has been good to fair for trollers using flashers and a worm. A recommendation when the blades are not producing.I would use a faster speed and troll a gold kastmaster by itself. Both upper and lower blue lake roads are open.

TAYLOR CREEK, UPPER TRUCKEE RIVER, TROUT CREEK: All located on the south end of Lake Tahoe. They are open to catch and release with artificial lures or flies only with barbless hooks until Sept. 30.

WEST FORK CARSON RIVER ALPINE COUNTY: The river flows have been down to 49 CFS this week. The CDFW has scheduled a plant of catchable rainbows. You need to do a little walking to find those deeper holes. The Alpine County Fish and Game is scheduling a plant of rainbows within the next week if they get enough rain above this weekend to raise the flows. For more information stop by the Creekside Lodge.

EAST FORK CARSON RIVER ALPINE COUNTY: The flows are down to 98 CFS. Which makes fishing very enjoyable. They are hoping not to get too much rain this weekend to blow out the river from the areas above. The CDFW is scheduled to plant this week with catchable trout. The Alpine County Fish and Game is scheduled to plant sometime before labor day weekend. Fishing has been good for those that walk the river to find those deeper holes and stretches of faster waters with a few eddies or snags. For more information, stop by the Carson River Resort.

MARKLEEVILLE CREEK: If the flows come up this weekend. The CDFW is scheduled to plant the river with Catchable rainbow trout.

SILVER CREEK: The fishing has been slow to fair for anglers drifting salmon eggs of power eggs into the deeper holes. The CDFW has scheduled a plant of catchable rainbows this week.

HEENAN LAKE: The lake will open to catch and release fishing with artificial lures or flies only with barbless hooks starting on Sept. 1 to Oct. 31. I do have a call into the CDFW for the reason, the lake has alway been open during September and October but in their regulations it states the season is Sept. 1 to Nov. 30.

PYRAMID LAKE: Opens for fishing on October 1st . To get information on tribal permits and regulations. Go to pyramidlake.us.

EAST FORK WALKER RIVER; I received a special report from Ken's Sporting Goods. "It sounds like the reservoir is in the process of "turning over" and this created a huge amount of carbon dioxide from the decaying weeds and as the carbon dioxide pushed through the dam at the "Big Hole" it caused a significant fish kill. We've had reports and photos of many fish, hundreds if not thousands of fish of all species, dead along the "Mile."

It's too soon to really know the extent of the die off but it appears to be significant. Some of these fish may have actually come from the Reservoir but it seems likely that most of them are from the river. We've only had a few reports from anglers fishing the Mile after the event and all have reported not getting any fish or even any takes.

My understanding is that this situation occurs every year as the weeds and algae in the Reservoir start to die off and decay but typically it is not anywhere as intense as it was this time, we often see a die off of small perch in the river around this time of the year which is likely caused by the same thing, it's usually just not as huge an event as it was this time."

TOPAZ LAKE: Renee and I fished the lake starting at 6 a.m. and finished around 11:30 a.m., as the heat was getting mighty arid in an open boat. We fished the westside with two hits. Then tried the south end with one snag. We fished the deep east side with one or two hits. All in all a total fish catch of zero.

Unless I count the small 3-inch bass I scooped with my hand and released at the dock. We did notice thousands of small bass fry all along the rocky areas. I saw no shore anglers to converse with to see how they were doing. The lake level has been dropping significantly over the last two weeks and is down about 15 feet from my last outing. The real estate on the east shore is starting to open up a little to camper and shore anglers.

Good luck on your next fishing adventure. If you get a photo of your catch, send it to editor@carsonnow.org. I hope to see you on the waters soon. Good fishin' and tight lines.