Nick McConnell, from Nevada Department fo Wildlife’s Gallagher Fish Hatchery, stocks fish into Zunino Reservoir on April 15. NDOW stocked approximately 2,000 fish that day including some larger fish from surplus brood stock. This is the first time in a de

 
ELKO -- Thanks to a winter that brought a lot of moisture to eastern Nevada, Elko County’s waters are in the best shape we have seen for several years. Above average moisture has many of our reservoirs at or near capacity and the streams flowing above average, getting the scouring they need to clean them out.
 
However, the effects of the drought will be felt for at least this summer, if not into next year as the fisheries rebound from low water conditions. Some of the waters, such as Wild Horse Reservoir, were not stocked for a couple of years and even had the limits lifted, allowing anglers to take fish that might have been lost due to low water conditions.
 
The trout in our high desert streams have adapted to just surviving and not growing or procreating during the severe drought conditions that Nevada has experienced over the past several years. Thus, they will spend this year producing fish and growing, so next year should be much better for stream fishing with the exception of a few streams.
 
Expectations for Lamoille Creek are good. Anglers can expect to catch brook trout in the usual 6- to 9-inch range with tiger trout ranging between 8 and 14 inches. The best fishing later in the summer will be the middle section, especially for those anglers willing to beat the brush and get away from the beaten path. Just be careful of snakes.
 
The West Fork of the Jarbidge should also provide quality fishing, though with the snowpack in the area, anglers will find the best conditions starting toward the end of June to early July, through the fall, due to high flows.
 
While these will be two of the better streams, angling should still be fair to good at most of the other streams in the county.
 
The northern Elko County reservoirs appear to have benefited the most from the good winter, with almost all of them filled to capacity and spilling. The exception is Wild Horse, which as of the writing of this article, has rebounded from only 13 percent of capacity in January to approximately 55 percent of capacity.
 
Wild Horse has received more than 80,000 stocked trout this year and there are holdover trout from last fall and a few from several years ago. Expect slow fishing for trophy-sized trout (larger than 15 inches) this summer and fair to good fishing for 8- to 14-inch trout. Catfish and wiper fishing will be slow, smallmouth fishing should be fair, and perch fishing poor.
 
Wilson was spilling this spring and fishing in the reservoir should be good for trout with carryover fish reaching 13 to 18 inches. Bass fishing will probably be slow to fair with few keeper-sized fish expected. Shore fishing should be good late spring into early summer and then boaters will have the advantage as the trout move to deeper, cooler water.
 
South Fork has been the recipient of all the trout that couldn’t be stocked in other lakes due to the drought over the last couple of years. Expect good fishing for trout 14 to 23 inches. Largemouth bass have come on strong the last couple of years and anglers can expect both good numbers and decent size. Fishing for catfish, wipers and smallmouth bass should be fair to good. Best time to fish this reservoir for trout is from March to the end of June and then again from September to December.
 
Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge relies on water from the previous winter, not the winter just ending. Anglers can expect low water conditions this year, but largemouth bass numbers are good and anglers should be able to catch a fair number of 10-inch keeper fish. Bass fishing doesn’t really get good here until mid to late July when the water temperatures warm up. Trout fishing will be good in the spring before the water warms up and then again in the fall.
 
Jiggs Reservoir has water and fish for the first time in nine years! With the completion of the improvements to the reservoir, including a new dam and spillway, the lake is holding water and NDOW has stocked it with a couple thousand trout. These included approximately 1,000 surplus brood stock averaging a pound and a half each and measuring up to 18 inches. This spring the fishing here has been good and should continue to be good for trout until about July 4th. Trout fishing will pick up again in September through ice over. Expect lots of algae and weed growth in the lake due to lots of nutrients from decaying plants from when it was empty. Largemouth bass and bluegill will be stocked sometime this year, though anglers are being asked to return them to the lake to allow the population of these species to get established.
 
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