Fishing: Topaz opens season with large turnout

Hello fellow anglers, welcome to the new year.

The new year brings us to the Topaz Lake opener in which Topaz Marina owner Chuck Fields said it was the best opening day he'd had since before the flood of 1997.

Not one angler went home without catching fish. Shore anglers were doing well from all points of the lake.

In talking to Jack from the Sportsman of Tahoe, he said the anglers that could get out far into deeper waters were getting fish with average size from 14 to 18 inches long. Anglers that could not get to the deeper waters were catching smaller fish.

There were approximately 50 boats on the lake on Jan. 1. The most-productive anglers were using rapalas in either orange or chartreuse patterns.

Some used flashers and a crawler but were not as successful.

For more information on the Topaz Fishing Derby, call the marina at 266-3550.

The ice fishing get-together will be Saturday. All are invited to come fish with us at Red Lake on Highway 88 in California approximately 10 miles past the town of Woodfords.

This is not a derby, but a chance to try out a new sport you may not have tried before.

There is no special gear needed to ice fish, except an auger (I have a manual auger to loan out if needed).

Other basic equipment needed will be a pole, jigs, hooks, pinchie weights, worms, a folding chair, lightweight snow shovel, a ladle to keep hole clear and a five-gallon bucket or small sled to carry your gear in. Water, 45 spf

sunscreen, polarized sunglasses, warm clothing, a hat and insulated boots are necessities as well.

Fishing starts at approximately 8:30 a.m. and runs to noon.

As of last week, there was 12 inches of ice on the lake and the fishing was fair to good for brook trout 8 to 14 inches.

Also, Nevada fishing licenses run through February, but California licenses expired at the start of the year. Anglers must have a renewed license to fish at Red Lake.

For more information, call the Naw line at 267-9722. Good fishin' and tight lines.