Topaz Lake opens for fishing season on New Year's Day
This is a reminder that Topaz Lake, which is located along U.S. 395 at the Nevada-California state line, opens its 2014 fishing season on January 01. Here's some information that might entice you to travel there to fish.
How to get there:
It's simple, just take U.S. 395 south from Carson City for about 40 miles. Topaz Lake will be that big blue thing on your left side.
Where to fish from shore:
1. Along the beach at the north end of the lake. If in doubt as where to fish, just look for the big crowd of parked vehicles and all the shore fishermen. You can’t miss them!
2. On the far shore, past the Douglas County campground. Again, look for lots of parked vehicles and shore fishermen. Be advised that you will have to pay a fee to travel across the campground.
3. On the California side, along U.S. 395. Try anywhere in the rocky area just under the highway.
Where to troll from a boat:
1. Along the shoreline on the far side (east) of the lake.
2. Near the rocky point at the Douglas County Campground.
3. At the south end of the lake, where the West Walker River enters the lake.
Note: This area is very shallow, so don’t troll deep or you could snag up your downrigger ball or favorite lure or both.
4. Right down the middle of the lake.
Boat launching facilities:
The Douglas County Campground.
The Topaz Lake Marina.
What to fish with from shore:
Almost all shore fishermen will be using different colors of Power Bait, red Salmon eggs or nightcrawlers.
If you use Power Bait, try orange, Chartreuse or Captain America.
If you use red Salmon eggs, you might want to try them with mini-marshmallows to float them off the bottom.
If you use nightcrawlers, be sneaky and inflate them, to also float them off the bottom. And, also give the nightcrawlers a squirt of liquid fish scent to try to entice the trout to bite.
If you are a spincaster, try tossing a lure like a Daredevil, TOR-P-DO, Kastmaster, Super Duper or Thomas Buoyant.
If you are a "Fly Guy," try a black Woolly Bugger or try a black Woolly Worm, retrieved slowly along a sandy bottom.
What you'll catch:
If you're super lucky, you can catch a nice rainbow up to about 5 pounds.
However, you will most probably catch Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) planter-sized rainbow trout (about 10-13 inches in length) or an occasional larger hold-over rainbow up to about 1-2 pounds.
With luck, you might catch a brown trout with a size of 1-2 pounds.
With lots of luck, you could catch a Tiger Trout (a sterile, NDOW cross breed between a brook trout and a brown trout).
You might even catch a black bass, but don't count on it. They are very few and far between.
Fishing regulations:
You will need to have either a Nevada or California fishing license, which are both good anywhere around or on the surface of the lake.
If you fish with a Nevada license, you must have a Nevada Trout Stamp.
If you fish with a California license, you must have the new one that is effective on January 01. The lake limit is five trout, 10 Mountain Whitefish and 15 warmwater game fish, of which not more than five may be Black Bass.
Closed area:
The area within a 100 yard radius of the Topaz Marina is closed to fishing. So, don’t fish there! That’s a big “No-No.”
Game wardens:
On Opening Weekend, there will be lots of NDOW and California game wardens in uniform or in "civvies." So, don't do something illegal. If you get caught and fined, it’s going to cost you a lot of money.
For information:
Call either the Topaz Lake Marina at (775) 266-3550 or the Topaz General Store at (775) 266-3337.
— Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now. He can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com.
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