NV Native Trout Hunt (1 Viewer)

[CV Kurt]

Today I'll pack my FJC up in prep for my solo NV Native Trout Hunt, heading out early Sunday morning, by 4AM.

The target trout list includes:
* Bonneville Cutthroat, found in creeks in and near Great Basin N.P. in White Pine county.
* Yellowstone Cutthroat, found in a Goose Creek and its tributaries in very northeast corner of state, in Elko county.
* Bull, found in headwaters of the Jarbidge River. I'll be fishing in the Jarbidge Wilderness south of Jarbidge, NV in Elko county.
* Inland Redband (aka Columbia Redband), found in most any NV stream which drains into Snake. Will probably pick this one up while fishing for the Bull.

If I get all 4, I will have completed my NV Fish Slam.

My hope is to catch them in 3.5 days of fishing, covering most of the highway miles at night, sleeping whereever/whenever next to the FJC on a cot. No tent, no stove... just a couple of ice chests (one for drinks, one for food). The basic driving loop is over 1200 miles, taking me into Utah and Idaho at times. I expect I'll do 1300-1400 miles in the end.

I've done a lot of research on fishing locations... including chatting with local NDOW biologists and other local experts. So I got high probability primary and secondary fishing location pre-planned, as well as a few fall back locations. I'll be using MotionX GPS and Garmin Earthmate for OHV mapping chores, and Google Maps for on-highway. All are setup with offline maps. Overview Map.

For comms, I'll be relying on my Garmin InReach Mini (paired with my iPhone for easy texting). It is unlikely that I'd be able to raise a 2M repeater of the OHV portions.

I'll be Elko on Wednesday evening for the Ruby Mountain Fly Fishers meeting where I'll be giving a presentation on chasing native trout (will actual focus on CA trout and they recently had a different presentation on NV natives). I'll be dead on Thursday, so unlikely to attend our club meeting. Chiroprator scheduled for Friday.

 

[Krusty Krab]

Wow, nice trip planned. The country you will see should be spectacular! Have a good time. If you get into trouble with anything give me a call. I know of some people out in those areas or we can organize a rescue-not that you'll need one. Be safe and take some pictures for us(and proof).

 

[gregnash]

That is awesome and jealous of the fishing expedition. Been a couple years since I last went fishing and keep meaning to get out but just have not had time with other hobbies and life. They finally opened the road to Hobart again so I may take a ride up there one day to see what things are looking like, haven't been up since fall of 2015 before we had the big winter in 2016 that took out most of the road.

 

[MagmaFJ]

Nice! We just got back from our big trip over to the North Rim and the Grand Staircase area.

 

[CV Kurt]

Got back yesterday from the fish hunt... which was quite successful. Caught all four of the wild, native trout I was after.

Got on the road a bit later than planned... but drive out on US 50 to the Utah border was uneventful... hot with clouds building in. After a quick stop for six pack of beer, I hit the dirt for the first time. Just 12 miles or so into the Hendry's Creek trailhead. 30 minutes after parking, I had already caught two Bonneville Cutthroats. Was getting hot so I decided best to move on next target, the Yellowstone Cutthrout.

 

[CV Kurt]

I was fortunate that I got to Wells on US 93... apparently it was closed for a bit due to the Echo fire. At 4:30, I was back on dirt for the 45 miles up to Little Goose Creek crossing. Got there around 6pm. After scouting out the area mostly on foot, I decided that much bush whacking would be required to get to where I really needed to be to fish. And I'd have to cross posted land. I decided to head to my secondary fishing spot while I had some light left. It was now 7:30pm. I hit ran into a locked gate 30 minutes later. Fortunately I had anticipated this... and headed off to my fallback fishing spot. By 8:30, I was welcomed onto Trout Creek by a sign that said something like "Private Property, Sportmens Welcomed, Environmental not". There was even a nice camping spot with a picnic table for my use. That night was HOT... and buggy. Could have used some bug netting... but a shirt over the head kept me from getting eaten alive.

I was up at 4am or so... heading up the creek, fishing as I went. By 6am, I decided I needed to gain some altitude quickly. So I went back to the camp, jumped in the FJC and drove up about 4 miles... and then again started heading upstream, fishing as I went. A mile up I caught my first Yellowstone, at 9am. I fished for another hour or so, catching a few more. I was less than a mile from the ID border when I turned back to to the FJ.

A little after 10am, I was my way out. I ran into the rancher. Really nice guy. I thanked him for allowing sportmens in. He ragged on his new neighbors who weren't. Also ran into a group of fly fisherman from Reno also chasing the NV slam. I showed off my photos and instructed them on how to get theirs. I was back on pavement just after noon, just south of Jackpot. Stopped there for breakfast before heading into ID to get into Jackpot from the north.

 

[CV Kurt]

A little after 3pm I arrived at the Jarbidge wilderness trailhead south of the Pine Creek C.G. I set up camp and at 4pm or so, head up to do a bit of fishing. Caught many Inland Redbands but no Bulls, but I knew they would generally be up a lot higher. I went back to camp where I prepared for an early AM hike up high into the wilderness and then hit the sack early.

 

[CV Kurt]

At 4am, I was up and moving... getting into decent fishing area at 5am. Fished upstream until nearly 8am without even seeing a Bull... but landed more Inland Redbands. I decided I better go even higher while it was still cool. So I climbed all the up to 8,000ft and then started fishing downstream.

I started seeing Bulls almost immediately... and landed a small one fairly soon. Getting in and out of the fishing holes was quite hard in this area, steep terrain, lots of fallen trees, etc. So I decided to just fish just the holes which I could fairly easily get into. At 7600ft, I spotted a large hole and watched it for a bit. There were a few bull trout hanging out in the back end of it, including one really nice one. I decided on where I really needed to be to get a fly down to where they were... and then moved slowly into the spot. A good 10 minutes later, I was there. Taking my time, I worked out how to mend the line so I could get the fly down where it needed to be. I was fearing that one of the two small bulls would go after the fly first, spooking of the big bull... but the big guy decided it wanted the meal, swam up between the two small ones to grab my fly first. To myself, I said, wait for the fish to turn, wait some more, no set. And I had it well hooked... and quickly in the net!

It was a really nice looking Bull. I took a few photos. I drank a celebration beer while I made sure the Bull was well recovered before releasing it.

It was 1am now and getting warm... and I had not much left to drink in my pack. So time to head down the hill. Ran into the Reno gang on the way down... they said they caught a bull... but when they showed me the photo I had to dash their tales... it was an Inland Redband. I explained to them how to tell them apart... and gave them advice on how to catch a Bull. But as they didn't follow my advice on how to get a Yellowstone the day before, I figured they probably didn't end up getting a Bull either.

I made it back to camp at 2pm and was heading down the hill by 30 minutes later to the town of Jarbidge where I got myself an ice cream bar and a bag of ice for the replenished drink cooler. I probably should have fished some on the lower Jarbidge while I was there... but I thought I'd do some exploring. I drove out via Charleston to Mountain City Highway, which I got onto at 5pm. I was able to pick up cell coverage soon there after and called a buddy of mine who lives in Elko. He suggested a few places I might be able to get a Lahontan CT in stream form (as opposed to the lake form I've previously caught in NV). But I was hungry... and so was the FJ. So I went into Elko for food and gas. By the time I was back up the mountain city highway it was too dark to try to make it into the LCT fishing locations. So I decided to head up to Wildhorse to grab a campsite under the stars. I camped just off Good Creek Road in the first reasonably flat spot I could find.

 

[CV Kurt]

At 4:30am, I was up and heading off to try to get an LCT or two. I had a few on the hook, but none to the net. Then I broke my 1wt in the heavy brush. I decided that was an signal to call it quits. I headed into Elko for breakfast and a early check-in to a hotel.

I had a nice time visiting friends at the Elko Fly Shop and the Ruby Mountain Fly Fishers general meeting. Unfortunately, being July, there wasn't a good turn out for the meeting. Thursday morning I headed home... stopping at Orvis to drop the broken rod off for repair.

Some more random photos:

 

[Krusty Krab]

Nice report Kurt! Man I wish I would take the time to do stuuff like this. The pictures make me want to get out and explore! Nice fish! Did you get the grand slam? Nice hat. Looks like the Cruiser got you were you needeg to go.

 

[Squirrel cage]

I think i saw you setting on the side of HWY50 (looked like you just came off the dirt) as i was turning towards Baker on Sunday afternoon! I was in a tan Tacoma with RTT on the back. We were headed for the cool temps of Wheeler Peak campground. Nice job on the fish!!

 

[herf]

Hello CV Kurt

I just found this post and what a great trip and congrads on all of the catches.

This upcoming summer (July/August 2021) I am planning on doing a trip to Nevada and complete the Nevada Native Fish Slam. I really could use some help with catching the Yellowstone Cutthroat. If possible, could you email me @ ty_herf@yahoo.com I have a few questions that I really hope that you could answer.

Thanks