A Shocking Experience

On October 15th, TRF members Doug Ouellette, Tom Smith, Terrell Ogburn and I volunteered to help NDOW shock, capture, and relocate sizable numbers of recently stranded fish located in an irrigation ditch near Verdi.

Every year about this time, for various reasons, water in this area is cut off from its source in the Truckee River, inadvertently isolating large numbers of fish: rainbow, German brown, western white fish, suckers, etc. Without this yearly salvage operation, a mass die-off would soon follow seasonable hard freezes.

In the morning we assembled at the Verdi post office parking lot where we were given a brief overview of fish salvage operations and what to expect. On arrival at the first collection area, we were shown how the fish shocking equipment works, general safety procedures that are always in effect and other pertinent information.

When we actually got going, we were amazed that so many fish could be found in such brackish, mud-filled shallow water. We were told to rescue all fish encountered — none were to be excluded. We took turns running the electrical stunners, netting, and carrying the fish-filled buckets to the holding tank. Later that afternoon, we followed NDOW to the fish release area at the Verdi Bridge. As far as we could tell, the relocation was a success, with few ‘floaters’ evident.

Because of looming budget concerns, this may be the last season for this much-needed salvage operation. Hopefully, something will change between now and next fall. If you have a chance, volunteer for this worthwhile activity. You will learn fish behavior, entomology, and generally feel good about what you accomplished.

Every other year the Department goes through changing any needed fishing regulations for the upcoming year. In 2009 we went through this process for 2010, any changed regulations going into affect March 1, 2010.

Two of the changes that are of interest to us as fly fishermen are Smith Creek Reservoir east of Fallon and Dacey Reservoir in the Kirch Wildlife Management Area southwest of Ely. Both reservoirs are now, or will be March 1, designated as Trophy Waters with a one fish trout limit. Smith Creek has a single barbless hook restriction, but at Dacey you can use a treble hook. This is because Dacey also has a summer largemouth bass fishery and we did not want to restrict the bass fishermen. At Smith Creek, we will be working with the owner to provide additional access, but for now one must access the reservoir through BLM land from the south.

Hopefully these two waters will develop into terrific Trophy Trout fisheries in the future.

Back to Current Events