Cold Creek – Page 3

Cold Creek Coyote Gives Chase

Indian Ridge runs along the the Cold Creek Road to the west. This day it was draped in a dusting of light snowfall.

Three days of drizzly weather in late fall was producing snow-capped mountains in the Spring Mountains Range. The peaks were enticing me to try fishing Cold Creek in the snow, although I wasn’t sure how low the snow got down. Studying Red Rock Canyon and La Madre Mountain from town indicated the snow level was about 5,000 feet. Since Cold Creek Pond was at 5,900 feet I knew I would be driving in the snow. Still, it was worth an early morning adventure.

Cold Creek – Fall Stocking

A view of the town of Cold Creek in the distance (a little dusting of snow on Willow Peak in the Spring Mountains)

I had received a few inquiries on the stocking of the pond at Cold Creek – my Veterans Day visit confirmed it is so. An email from my friend Mitch this morning also said it occurred two weeks ago. Chan will be smiling because I didn’t jump the gun this year.

Can a Passion for Fishing be a Ministry?

Nice 12-inch Cold Creek rainbow on 6-foot fly rod

I fished Cold Creek Pond this morning. Set alarm for 5:30 am so I could get ninety minutes or so of fishing with my little six foot fly rod and still make it home before Emily woke up (she knows my days off and always calls for me to get her out of bed on those mornings). The weather was amazing and the short visit scratched my itch, as they say. The fishing was slow despite having the pond all to myself. I practiced double-haul casts, which were amazingly efficient with that little fly rod. There was a Great Heron that flew away upon my arrival but left telltale tracks all around in the shallows, and for the first time ever I saw a little Kingfisher working the pond, even witnessed it diving and catching one of those little goldfish that ignorant people keep dumping into the pond.

Cold Creek Contrarian

This photo looks north through a light snowfall on the trail to the Cold Creek Pond.

I have a friend in the investment business who often refers to himself as a contrarian. He observes many, if not most, investors become emotional about their decisions, and lacking the discipline to stick to their plan they succumb to the “group think” of the masses. He believes it’s important to stick with your long-term plan especially when you see the multitudes moving money between investment classes that is contrary to to your long-term plan. This usually occurs when short-term events cause emotional distress. He somewhat jokingly quips that when he witnesses this type of unjustified, emotional mass-movement it’s often fruitful to move in the other direction. I believe he is right.

Cold Creek Fall Stocking Completed

Brian and I made time Thursday afternoon for a half-day trip to Cold Creek. The last time we fished together was in May 2010. As I recall, on just his second fly-fishing excursion Brian out fished me that day. That was a very good day.

Cold Creek Pond Stocking Reconnaissance

Since it was getting deeper into fall and the weather had turned decidedly cooler I took a quick run up to the pond at Cold Creek to see if it had been stocked this week. As most of you Cold Creek followers know the Nevada Department of Wildlife stocks rainbow trout in the late fall and early spring. The short answer was: no.

Chief Financial Officers fishing Cold Creek

Mummy Mountain, 11,527 feet above sea level, from Cold Creek Road

This late winter, early spring has been frustrating as the fishing goes. There have been periods with temperatures around 70 degrees in Las Vegas, and that translates into early morning to mid-day temperatures at the 6,000-foot elevation of 40 to 60 degrees… very tolerable. But life gets busy.

The Pond at Cold Creek

This was Cold Creek pond at 7:30 AM: 35 degrees and no ice. The Sheep Mountain Range is in the background.

Chan’s winter fishing of Utah’s Santa Clara River inspired me, and I was seriously contemplating tubing Baker Reservoir this Friday. Chan was kind enough to verify the Utah Department of Wildlife reports that Baker had not yet frozen over, and I was watching the weather patterns thinking Friday would be a fine time to hit it mid-winter.

Cold Creek Ice Gone

A large high-pressure weather system has settled into the Great Basin and beyond, keeping temperatures around Nevada near record highs for this time of year. For about two weeks the Las Vegas valley temperatures have been between the high fifties and the high sixties. I began to wonder if the Cold Creek ice had melted off.

Ice Man at Cold Creek

Bright rainbow; first trout of the day on a beaded prince nymph

We had a little cold snap in Las Vegas this week, a precursor of the colder winter to come. It made me reflect upon the Cold Creek pond, wondering if the freezing overnight temperatures had sealed its fate for the season. But yesterday was a nice day for late fall standards, and the weekend forecast was good. Being an impulsive fisherman I decided to see about the ice status for myself this morning.