Being a local government employee, I benefit from the Nevada statehood holiday. Strangely, or not, it coincides with Halloween. Some, mostly those who mispronounce its name, probably think that makes Nevada a scary state. Regardless, I took advantage of the holiday to run up to Cold Creek for ninety minutes of fishing.
From my perusal of the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) website I noticed they stocked the little pond on October 23. I say Cold Creek is little because even when at capacity it can’t be over two acres in size… maybe 100,000 surface square-feet at most. Despite the cold front that blew into the valley on Wednesday I decided a quick trip to Cold Creek was needed before all the meat anglers depleted the pond of its little jewels. I tried to cajole my son Brian into going with me to “get out of Dodge” as they say. But he feared it would be cold and windy on Saturday morning. Turns out this morning was calm, but cool. The temperature upon arrival at 8:30am was about 45 degrees. But since there was no wind it was very tolerable.
There were two gents slinging hardware (i.e., metal spinning lures) into the pond when I arrived. They were from Las Vegas and were clearly harvesting fish for a meal. They had a few on a stringer that were slapping around near the shore. Unfortunately for them, they did not realize that the average size of these little stocked trout was about 9.2 inches, making it difficult for most of them to get their mouths around the metal lures, assuming they wanted to eat those things. In contrast I had the perfect weapon for these little fish… flies tied to resemble little bugs. Trout naturally feed on aquatic insects. Bugs that live their nymph stage in the water clinging to rocks and weeds. As they transform from nymph to full grown insect they emerge from the water to molt into mature winged bugs that mate and drop their fertilized eggs into the water, starting the cycle of life all over again. The point is that trout eat bugs, and the closer you can resemble the bugs they are eating the more successful you will be. Of course they will eat other food that resembles or smells like something edible (e.g., worms and cheese-ball bait), but there is no debating that they eat aquatic insects.
In ninety minutes I landed well over fifteen trout, maybe even twenty. I lost count. On several occasions I caught three in a row on successive casts, much to the dismay of my fishing company. Most were as advertised on the NDOW website: about nine inches. I did land several close to eleven inches, and two plump ones close to twelve inches. What I found especially nice was that they were deeply colored, and many leaped wildly out of the water. The NDOW website indicates these Cold Creek trout were stocked from the Mason Valley Hatchery near Yerington, NV; looks like Mason Valley produces some healthy, nice looking rainbow trout. I was using my newly built seven foot, six inch fly rod with a four-weight sinking fly line. It was a blast. I was casting size twelve still-water nymphs. One of them lacked a tail and it sometimes acted as a dry fly sitting on the surface. I noticed a trout rose to the surface to strike it, and for a while I fished it as a dry fly. I took four nice trout using that tactic.
Others had arrived at the pond, and some were catching a few trout, but nothing like what I was experiencing. I caught trout in practically every corner of that little pond. The weather was cooperating nicely, as were the trout. I tried hard not to let my pride swell too much, but I admit to getting a little giddy at times. I think a couple of the other fishermen were enjoying my success in a vicarious sort of way. I heard one older gentleman talking with his wife on the cell phone. “Yes honey, I arrived just fine. I’ll call you when I leave. There are a few guys fishing, and one fly fisherman who’s catching fish on practically every cast.”
Before I got into my truck to depart, I talked with one of the fishermen who was there when I arrived. He claimed to have loaned his fly rod to his sister or daughter or someone, which made no sense to me at the time. He asked to see the flies I was using. I opened my Wheatley box and showed him the flies. I told him how I would rig up my spinning rods for my sons to fish flies. He seemed sincerely interested, and so I gave him a couple of flies. As I was driving up the dirt road I looked into my rear view mirror to witness him dragging the nymph on the end of a bobber as if it were a spinner. I reckoned that my first impression about the “loaning” of his fly rod to someone else was right on… he clearly was not a fly fisherman.
For the past twenty-five years I’ve been practicing catch and release, returning the fish to their environs, hopefully to grow larger and be caught again by another catch and release angler. I was glad to have released all those Cold Creek trout back into the pond. Maybe the fishermen I left behind caught a few of them, who knows for sure. One of them made a disdainful comment or two about my catch and release practices, especially when he saw me release the larger ones. But I always feel a sense of joy returning fish unharmed to the water. The excitement is in the casting and catching, not the killing. And with little ponds like Cold Creek, the stocked fish can be harvested out within a month if the fishing pressure is hard. Putting them back in prolongs the fishing enjoyment, for most of us anyway.
Fisherdad, I have read all your posts and am thinking of taking up fly fishing again. I have lived in Clark County for 15 years now and am about ready to retire.I gave up fly fishing years ago because I couldnt stand in the river for hours on end any more. The tube seem to have helped in that respect.What we need now is a beginers gear list. I have a number of friends tuned into your show also.Thank youJohn in LV
John —
In consideration of your request, and several others posting similar inquisitive comments, I am working on a “getting started” blog. Hopefully it will answer most of your questions about gear.
All the best.
— Mark
Fisherdad,
Great stuff! I have to make myself stop looking at your website while at work. Its too hard to cope with the butterflies of wanting to fish so bad. j/k lol Thanks for taking the time to post your pics. Maybe one of these days ill organize my countless fishing pics and put something together. Like you, Ive also been fishing the local area for years, and cant get enough. Maybe we'll run into eachother one of these days. Last week I lucked into a 21 inch rainbow out of Daisey at sunnyside. The same day I had an absolute monster break off right before landing it that was well bigger. This coming week ill be heading to Newcastle res. targeting whipers, then to enterprise res. the following morning, and hope to finish with baker on the way home.
Ill be keeping in touch, thanks again for all of your great posts.
Landon
Landon —
Wow, a 21-inch Rainbow out of Kirch is a really nice fish. I’ve been watching the T-Storm forecast for southern Utah all week. Just noticed Friday should be clear. I'm backed up at work but thinking hard about fishing Mammoth for autumn Brownies on this Friday. That “skunking” it gave me last November under freezing conditions has got me out for a little revenge… even one nice Brown in spawning colors would make up for November.
I'm glad the blog gets your fishing juices flowing.
All the best!
— Mark
is it true that they changed the water in the pond and now we cant eat the fish from the pond
Daniel –
News to me; I searched the Nevada Department of Wildlife site (see link on my blog) and found nothing regarding your comment.
Cold Creek pond is fed by an irrigation ditch constructed off the main stem of Cold Creek. The Cold Creek source is a spring. There is an overflow outlet on the pond. Your comment about changing the water is likely a misconception; no one changes the water in Cold Creek.
Sometimes the NDOW kills the “trash fish” chemically to give the sport fish a better opportunity to thrive. I don’t think this has ever been done at Cold Creek, and it’s not likely to every happen (I would think it cheaper to drain the little pond and refill it than it is to chemically treat it). I thought perhaps you were referring to that sort of treatment.
Other times folks refer to “water changing” as the natural turning over of the water in stillwater reservoirs. At certain times with the climatic seasonal changes reservoirs can turn murky, and often this might give the fish a muddy taste. Perhaps that’s what you are referring to. Not sure this happens at Cold Creek, at least not that I’ve ever noticed, and certainly not during these spring months.
So, unless you can explain your question further I’m at a loss to provide a reasonable answer. Perhaps something happened in the pond that no one has observed these past few weeks? I can say that I don’t usually eat what I catch, rather I practice catch & release so others can enjoy the sport of fishing… besides, stocked fish don’t taste that great anyway.
All the best on your fishing adventures.
– Mark
Say Fisherdad, I practice catch and release only, can I use powerbait, salmon eggs or cheese at Cold Creek? If so what size hook and line do you reccomend?
There are no bait restrictions at Cold Creek; you can use the baits you described. Here is the link to the NDOW publication on fishing regulations: http://www.ndow.org/law/regs/fishregs/index.shtm. You might read them rather than rely upon the representation of others; just an observation I’ve developed over the years.
General regulations start on p. 10 of the publication. Southern Region bait regulations start on p. 13 (Cold Creek is in the Southern Region). The limit of 3 Cold Creek fish is indicated on p. 28 of the publication. In Nevada the term “limit” applies to both the “day” and in “possession.”
Not being a bait fisherman I am not the best to answer your question about hook and line size for bait fishing, except to say the trout planed at Cold Creek are just like the trout planted at the Floyd Lamb, Lorenzi, Sunset, and Bolder City urban ponds… what works there will likely work at Cold Creek. Light tackle is what’s called for with these small trout. (BTW, I assume when you say catch & release that includes clipping off the line when bait hooks are swallowed and implanted deep rather than trying to dislodge them.)
Thanks for the info on Cold Creek pond, I wish more people would practice catch and release, like you have said before, it is just the thrill of catching the trout and not it's demise. By the way how often does the NDOW stock the pond and when? Thankyou again
They usually stock Cold Creek pond twice each year, November and March. If you’ve seen the pond you know it is small and shallow. Although it sits at about 5,800 feet in elevation, it is so far south that it gets quite warm in the summer. Although I’ve never verified it, my theory is that the trout do not survive in the Cold Creek pond through the hottest part of the summer. However, some of us have caught trout in the pond as late as mid-June (see Jared’s comments on the April 24, 2010 blog: https://www.fisherdad.com/2010/04/24/cold-creek-nevada/). Given the record heat this past August it’s hard to imagine any trout survived to September.
As you know, trout are cold water fish preferring water temperature ranging from the low 40s to high 60s Fahrenheit (5 to 20 Celsius). High mortality occurs at temps in the upper 70s Fahrenheit (25 Celsius). Also impacting trout is the level of dissolved oxygen in the water. Although I’ve never measured it and am not sure anyone else has, I would worry that the hot summer weed and algae growth in Cold Creek, a shallow little pond, would consume the oxygen necessary to support trout. It’s these two needs, temperature and oxygen levels, that make cold, running streams the natural habitat for trout.
Sorry for the science tangent; hope I answered your question.
Going to check out cold creek this weekend. Hoping to catch the fish and the fever. Thanks for your blog. Tom
Tom –
I hope you went real early, or late evening. Its warm up there this time of year.
Went to cold creek on Saturday, thought I was in the wrong place. First pond was a mudhole and the second was a bigger mudhole. Place didn't look anything like the picture on your blog. Maybe this isn't it, right behind the firehouse.?????
Tom –
I've not been up there for a few months. There are typically 3 ponds fed by a ditch that diverts water from the creek far upstream. Sometimes the ditch gets compromised and the water flow is obstructed, and on one visit in 2006 the ponds dried out (copy/paste this 2006 bog: https://www.fisherdad.com/2006/11/04/cold-creek-clark-co-nv/).
But, it sounds like you didn't make it to the correct pond. The two that sit next to each other (just west of the firehouse) are decorative. There is a dirt road that lies between the two ponds, and that takes you to the pond that holds stocked trout, north of the firehouse and downhill for about a third of a mile. Copy/paste this link and scroll to the bottom for a crude map: https://www.fisherdad.com/2016/02/12/valentine-trout-at-cold-creek-pond/
Or try this Google Map link (use satellite mode to locate the pond north of firehouse):
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cold+Creek/@36.4244631,-115.735127,2018m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c7d4b33cbf0599:0x67e0b8224df179ab!8m2!3d36.4257106!4d-115.7419868?hl=en&authuser=0
Sorry for your wasted trip.
– FisherDad
You are right I wasn't at the right place. I'll try again this Saturday. Thanks for the info.
Fisherdad, can I still catch fish in February at Cold Creek seeing it’s stocked in November?
Hey Johnathan, thanks for your question. Rainbow trout are typically stocked at Cold Creek Pond once in the February-April range and once in the October-November range. Actual dates are usually dependent on temperature and distance traveled (e.g., when the Lake Mead hatchery was down due to disease the trout were coming from the Mason Valley hatchery up near Carson City).
There are trout that survive the December angler onslaught and are present in the pond. However, it does get cold enough at 5k elevation to freeze over. My personal experience has been when the LV Valley high/low is running around 55/35 the pond is frozen over. The only way to know for sure is to drive up there to see. The ice is usually off sometime in February and you can catch trout held over from the late fall stocking. You can wait for the late-winter/early-spring stocking for more action (i.e., more fish and more fisherman). Just be aware that weather doesn’t always behave consistently, and that plus other factors will change the NDOW stocking schedule.
All the best to you with your angling adventures.
Thanks FisherDad! I think I’ll hold out for the fair weather and more enjoyable experience early spring.
I may check it out before the end of February. If I do I’ll post another reply on this post (if it’s an eventful day I may also write a new post). No guarantees, but stay tuned just in case.
First fish I ever caught was a trout in Cold Creek in the mid 1950’s. I was just a small child with my Dad, Dr. Harold Boyer. It was great fun.
Hello John, I’m so glad you posted. I see your father was one of Las Vegas’s groundbreaking doctors in the 1950s. I also see he was active in the Rotary Club. My father-in-law, Joseph “Roby” Robichaud was also active in Rotary at the same time. I bet they knew each other.
Better than that is knowing your dad was actively involved in your life. So cool to hear you caught your first trout from Cold Creek. I can tell you’re proud of you dad, and I’m sure he was proud of you as his son. If you missed them, here are two other posts on Cold Creek that you may enjoy – I’m sure they’ll bring back memories
— First Fish: https://www.fisherdad.com/2023/06/07/the-first-fish/
— Trespassing on Cold Creek: https://www.fisherdad.com/2006/11/04/cold-creek-clark-co-nv/
Do you still fish?
Blessings to you John.
– Mark