East and West Carson?

ANyone heading to these rivers for the opener??? Will it even be worth going to???? thinking of it since most of the local rivers are flooded....

thanks

I fished both last year for the opener due to the same reasons you mentioned. Both were high, fast and tough. I would expect them to be similar this year with all the snow pack.

Fished them every way I knew how plus went to the Tahoe fly shop for more tips, still tough.

If you go good luck and post your success

Now you're talkin', the Carson rivers and Silver Lake are probably where you'll find me most through out the season. By the way, exactly how deep is the snow in those parts?

If you go, good luck and PLEASE post your results as I'm dying to get up there.

I was skiing at Kirkwood a week ago, the base depth @ 7900 elev was about 20 ft and closer to 30 ft near the top, 9800 elev.

Even more snow than last year.

The East Fork of the Carson near Gardnerville, is muddy and fast.
Snow is not much of an issue. I was up at the East Fork Lodge a month ago and there was little snow. I've been told that there is little snow in Hope Valley (7,000 feet). People wanting to cross country ski have had to go to Kirkwood. I went to Bridgeport this last Sunday and the pass at 7800 feet had little snow. Fished Robinson Creek right up at Twin Lake and there was little snow.

I've heard rumors of big browns in the meadow section of the West Carson. Any of you guys know if they're still in there? I'm going to be up there this weekend and might try and sneak out for a couple of hours.
Any info greatly appreciated.

I've fished up in that area for many years and have heard of few Browns being caught in the West Carson.... They're undoubtedly there but are probably small by comparison with the East Carson which does have some large Browns/Rainbows/Cutts in it. The West Carson gets some very heavy pressure during the ealry season and is pretty well beaten up by mid-season. Late season, the flows are almost too low to fish in the meadow section. Below the meadow section (hope valley), there is a steep, rocky section that has fish available in it during the summer/fall months and probably fishes better than the meadow section.

Each year, DFG takes some breeder stock from Heenan Lake and stocks them in local rivers/streams/lakes. Many of these fish exceed 5 pounds. They're tough pullers but not spectacular jumpers, etc. 8) 8) 8)

About 5 years ago, or maybe more, CF&G had a program to shock sections of both the East and West Carson, as well as Pleasant Valley before in went private.
They always shocked near Sorenson's, where they got mostly hatchery fish, and in the Meadow. To everyone's surprise, they got a large number of wild trout in the meadow. Many were browns which had not been planted above the falls on the West Carson for something like 10 years. Many were large. How they survivied with all the pressue they get in that area is amazing.
Since then, Alpine County has planted browns in the meadow, so not all browns above the falls can be considered wild fish.

I'm looking at the flows and it looks like it would be blown on the West right now but not sure. It would be a crapshoot for sure. I fished the meadow once and that's all it took to never go back again. Too many boneheads. There are a number of hike-in small creeks in the area with eager, dumb, small fish that are more fun to me. If I had a couple hours I would get out my Delorme , look for tribs w/ out too much snow and do some scouting. If I want to catch big browns I just fish the E. Carson, East Walker or the Truckee (all of which are pretty much blown right now as well). Man I can't wait for July!

Thanks for the info, guys. Not sure if I'll have time to fish, but I'll post a report if I do.