Round Lake report

[bkobrin]

Since this is my rookie year fly fishing, I want to catch as many different kinds of trout as possible. Cutthroat was (and still is ) next on the list. I heard from several different people that Round Lake, on the Big Meadow portion of the Tahoe Rim Trail was a great place to try my luck. My wife and I didn't have any plans yesterday so we drove up the mountain to give it a shot.

The hike in is very pleasant, not too difficult at all. I'd say it's a great beginners hike if you were looking to introduce somebody to the Sierras. It's just shy of 3 miles and it took us about 1 1/4 hours in and about an hour out. The weather was fantastic until.....WE GOT TO THE LAKE. It was unbelievable. The tree line goes up about 20 yards short of the lake. As soon as we step out of the treeline we are hit in the face with a 25mph wind. We were there for about 7 hours and the wind didn't stop. Just a steady, fly-cast defeating, awful wind. The lake itself was murky and green, not the clear blue that I'm used to from sierra lakes. Didn't catch anything, didn't feel a nibble, didn't even SEE a fish all day. Ran into another 3 or 4 anglers and they gave me the same report. The search goes on for my first cutthroat.

[Darian]

Hmmmm,.... If you're interested in catching large Lahonton Cutthroat in a lake before the onset of winter, I would suggest you visit Heenan Lake near Markleeville. The lake is situated off highway 89 from Highway 4. Read the reg's carefully before fishing there. It is strictly a catch/release fishery and the Cutthroat in this lake can be quite large. Lures and flies only.

Most lakes have an algae bloom in late summer. The green look doesn't mean the fish aren't biting underneath it. Usually, algae is confined to the upper layers of water. It can be quite cear under that layer; especially in a deeper lake.

If you don't mind waiting until October/November, try Pyramid Lake in Nevada (N/E of Sparks). Large and numerous fish. It's a very big lake (bigger than Tahoe) and fishable from shore.

Good fishin'

[Terry Thomas]

As Darian noted, Heenan is a special regs. lake. The special season runs from the Friday before Labor Day until the last Sunday in Oct. In addition, this lake may only be fished on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

[Ed Wahl]

You were almost on top of them. One small ridge separates Round Lake from the Upper Truckee River in Meiss Meadows. It's small water up there but there are a lot of pure Lahontan Cutts.