fly fishing near LV

[NWFF]

Hey guys! just moved to LV for school. I was doing some research on fly fishing in the area and found a few places on the Colorado river, i.e. willow beach and white rock canyon trail. Has anyone tried fly fishing here? what kind of fish could I expect? any info would be appreciated, thanks.
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[fishrdan]

I'd forget anything around Willow Beach as the Feds closed the trout section of the hatchery in 2013, no trout on Lake Mohave and the river anymore,,, or until they get the hatchery running again. I've hike White Rock Canyon Trail and I wouldn't do it to go fishing, even when there were trout around. Cool hike and I might drag a rod along, but I wouldn't consider this a hike-in fishing spot.

The only place close you'll find trout is at urban ponds, Floyd Lamb park, Sunset, Boulder CIty. Or switch it up and try catching LMB, SMB or stripers out at Mead and Mohave. There are a couple of lakes 3 hours north of here that have trout, then over to Utah. When I want to take the kids trout fishing, I head on over to UT.
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[wolfs4evr]

Utah...

Navajo, Panguitch, Minersville, etc (I have done great on all of those flyfishing from a boat.) Shore based... Navajo would be the best bet and it is the closer of the three from Vegas. (The water levels were way down last year and I never went up there, doubting it is any better this year but TBD on the snow pack). Minersville right after ice off would be second. Panguitch is a bear from shore. I have caught them from shore with a flyrod but one really needs to be able to get out there a little further than what one can do from land/waders. All three are very float tube friendly lakes.

If one is set on Southern'ish Nevada then the Wayne E. Kirch Wildlife Management Area. I've done ok off the Hay Meadow Dam area.

IMO I'd make the drive to any of the Utah Reservoirs I mentioned over Kirch everytime.
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[fishrdan]

How has Minersville been lately Wolf?

I used to go up there 20 years ago and it was great, big fat trout and lots of them. I took the family up there 5-6 years ago and it was a bust, nice camping area, but the fishing was non-existent.
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[wolfs4evr]

It is coming up on 2 years since we were there. It was decent fishing but I have a feeling on a decline over how it had been the previous couple years. In general the catches in size were better than the average at Panguitch but the quantities of catches were much lower.

Camping spots where nice but it did bother me that I couldn't bring the boat into the campground and had to leave it out in the lot. Fortunately we snagged camp spot 1 so the boat was as close as it could be from camp. June camping wasn't me. Too warm to be in a tent. The higher altitude lakes are so much more comfy to sleep in and enjoy the tent/outdoors.

Digging back here is my post from being at Minersville.

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=829344;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/...d;page=unread#unread[/url]
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[fishrdan]

Thanks for the old post link, looks like a good trip. I've only camped at Minersville once, we got a spot lakeside right by a cove and I just beached the boat. There wasn't much to worry about (boat wise) for us as it was early season and we had the entire campground to ourselves, the entrance station was vacant too, I'm guessing mid April?


Getting back to the OP, there are a couple lakes up by Pioche too, Echo and Eagle Valley. Though I would head over to UT if driving that far.
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[wolfs4evr]

I can say zero nice things about Eagle or Echo. Better off heading to one of the cities community ponds IMO over either of them.

Hit Eagle 4-5+ years ago w/o boat and caught nada. Drove by Echo and not impressed.

Tried Eagle with a boat this past summer and zero on slimers (Trout). I did catch several very small large mouths after giving up on catching a trout for something to do. Drove by Echo as we left and essentially it was dry. It had water but it was sooooo low and just had the smell/feel of death to it. Everything was dieing or on the way to it there.

If I ever hit Minersville again I would certainly just shore camp 100% for sure. It was our first trip there so learning as we went. Why I made the drive after camping at Panguitch. To get the lay of the land so if there was a next time I would know the ropes.

Digging back... (Eagle/Echo post)

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=892083;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=892083;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread[/url]
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[fishrdan]

Good to know about Eagle and Echo, I haven't been there in 10+ years. (Utah!) I think Nevada hates fishermen.

I wasn't clear about Minersville. We camped in their campground right next to the shore, and beached the boat close to the camp site, probably 25 yards away. It was one of the only campsites with a cove (protected) that I remember, so I wouldn't do this at all of their camp sites. Heck, I don't even know if they allow beaching at the campsites there, but there was no one to tell us otherwise... LOL

I'm with you on boat/shore camping, that's all we do at Mead and Mohave. I've never stayed at the "campsites" out at Mead and Mohave as I like getting away from everything/everyone.
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[toadie_79]

I would also recommend Quail Creek Reservoir just north of St. George. I've done decent for trout from the shore in November. Just drive to the north end of the lake and hike down to the shore. I fished off the rocky shore with a bubble and fly and had some pretty good action. (i.e.; I caught blue gill, trout, and small LM bass).
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[NWFF]

Thanks for the help everyone, looks like I'll need to take more trips up to Utah.
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[ihuntforfish]

There are giant tilapia in the Las Vegas Wash that will readily snap flies. They spawn within the month here, and will be post-spawn around April. I can't remember who it was, but some brilliant and commendable fisherman on here created a post of his day annihilating the tilapia, I was really impressed. Those tilapia are fierce, and beautiful.

Do you throw streamers much? You might have a life changing experience throwing shad pattern streamers on striper and bass on Lake Mead and Mohave

Where did you move from? And where are you going to school? I'm at Nevada State, Biology Major (working to be a fisheries Biologist [angelic] )
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[NWFF]

I am starting school in the Fall at UNLV dental school, I moved from Provo Utah where I did my undergrad. I am interested in these tilapia you speak of, if you have any more info on this I would appreciate it. Also I do like throwing streamers, are stripers commonly caught near the shore?
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[2nakiller]

There are a few more spots not too far away, you can head up to the California Eastern Sierra, Bishop, Mammoth June Lake, all within a 5 hour drive to the north and west, tons of flyfishing there.
also Cave Lake Near Ely, about a 3 hour drive from Vegas, and Sunnyside, Haymeadow, and Kirch all on the way to Ely.
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[vegasback2id]

I flyfish Minersville every spring. If you catch it right and they are in the spawning mode they are hanging around the dock in the gravel. You will kill them from shore(may be combat fishing shoulder to shoulder)(Same with Otter Creek). We also camp in the overflow which is on the point to the south of the ramp. We are in RVs and I don't think it would be to comfy in a tent. We would just beach the boat there.
For the distance you have to travel to the places mention in NV(I have done well at Sunnyside, Cave Lake you can catch 100 8-10inchers) I would suggest going to UT.
I just looked on the Utah site for Minersville and there is a pic of a nice fished taken.
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