Fishing on Walker Lake

By Field Editor Jim Benson

 

Spring is the time to fish for Lahontan cutthroat trout at Walker Lake. Located along side highway 95, north of Hawthorne Nevada, Walker Lake suffered low water levels during the seven-year drought from 1987 to 1993. With a few wet winters in the past years the lake level has risen over 14 feet thus helping make walker lake one of the best fisheries in the west for cutthroat trout.
The end of March, first of April the cutthroat will start their spawning runs. The fish will move from the west side of the lake where the water level is much deeper to the east side of the lake into the shallows. The average fish being caught will run around 18.5 inches and weigh around 3 lbs., with a few fish going upwards of 5 to 10 lbs.
There are four different strains of Lahontan cutthroat stocked in Walker Lake. They are the Pilot Peak, Independence, Catnip and Pyramid strains. The Nevada Dept. of Wildlife annually stocks Walker Lake with around 200,000 cutthroat trout. This is the only trout species that can survive in the lake.
For those of you interested there is an annual fishing derby at Walker Lake scheduled for April 1st, and featuring more than $5000 in cash and prizes. For information call Colvin's Sport Fishing at 775-423-0522.
Good luck and don't forget to send us your pictures and stories so we can put them on the net for others to see. Our e-mail address is na@nevadadventures.com

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