The Ruby Marshes - An Eastern Nevada Gem

 The Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge is as beautiful and bountiful as it is isolated and unique.  Situated at 6,000 feet, this 40,000 acre collection of ditches, marshes and springs serves as the terminus for the eastern watershed of Nevada's Ruby Mountains which soar to heights in excess of 11,300 ft.  

 A 7-mile long "collection ditch" connects several dozen fresh water springs and supplies water to the various sections of the marshes.  Though man-made, the collection ditch meanders across the valley floor and is emblematic of a slow flowing spring creek...and fish behave as such.

The northern reaches of the ditch are known as "the fingers" and serve as the headwaters for this lazy river.  Being spring fed, the water clarity is amazing, affording ample sight fishing opportunities to wary Tasmanian strain rainbows whom often times will see you long before you see them.   

 The fish have little cover in the fingers.  This coupled with water as clear as gin makes them highly vulnerable and exceedingly easy to spook.  When you do finally hook up you'll discover that these fish are specimens - healthy, colorful, thickset and acrobatic.

Unless you see a hatch to the contrary, midges are good bet to get lines tight.  A pupa about 8" above a larva gives your quarry some optionality.  Depending on depth and current, a #6 shot can be useful in current/holes but in shallow/still water it will spook fish on the cast.  Also, a sticker type foam indicator is a must, that or no-cator style high sticking, but thing-a-ma-boobers and the like = fish running for cover.

 #18-20 chironomids on 4x worked well.  Even floating fly line spooks these spring dwellers so we found 12-15ft leaders to be a plus.  We clearly oversized our tippet to hold these athletic fish, and even that wasn't enough at times. Our 2 biggest fish broke us off. 

20/20's are common place and are not boast-worthy (20+" fish on #20 fly)

These fish desperately need to learn about the Jenny Craig midge pupae.  Due to their genetics coupled with the insane biomass in the marshes and springs, including epic midge hatches, water-clouding scud populations and more, these fish put on as much as 15-20 ounces per annum, reaching record shattering proportions in a very short period of time.

 After midges and scuds, October Caddis were the next item on the menu.  They hatched in good numbers all things considered, and fish did take them opportunistically, but given the midges and scuds were much more plentiful, the caddis played second fiddle.

Springs well up and feed the collection ditch, they also provide wider/deeper/safer habitat for fish and at times, fish will congregate in them, especially in the summer months where cold oxygenated water is scarce.

 Accommodations for us were Nevada-style 60's era hunting lodge.  Log cabin construction...check, hot water...check, animals hanging on the walls...check, we're good.

 Hey, it beats the heck out of tent camping, we had a stove and running water and brought with us ample guitars, whiskey and beef....I'd call it luxury living.

 This was one of the better bows we got to pose for us.  Right after this fish, Dan chose to quickly release a trophy rather than wait for me to get there to snap a pic and a few others toads were camera shy altogether.

 The scenery is inspiring and history buffs would really like appreciate this place, from its Fort Ruby origins, Cave Creek folklore, settler heritage and mining legacy.

The Bressman Cabin is pictured below (1880)

An offering to the liquor Gods pictured below

 Cave Creek claimed the life of one of its first explorers.  Its origins can be found a few hundred yards up from the valley floor where water wells up out of a cave system at the base of the Rubies.  In the late 1800's, Fort Ruby soldiers assembled a boat insides its entrance, paddled 500 yds up the cave entombed creek and ultimately hit an impassable rock wall were water welled up from beneath.  

Against the advice of his accomplices, one soldier jumped overboard and swam under the rock wall, the current brought his body back minutes later. Its believed his ghost still inhabits the cave.

PS: This fishery has mind-blowing rainbows with figures that could pass for carp, they're fickle and spooky but they're also gargantuan.  Streamers at dusk, nymphs under indicators, high stick no-cator nymphing and large dry beetle/stimulater patterns all work at different times of the day, so bring all your gear,  extra midges, several rods, perseverance and your "A" game.  Oh, and don't forget some heavy leaders, after all, the state record rainbow and tiger trout reside in these waters at 16.5 lbs and 13 lbs 13 oz respectively.

Truckee River Entomology

This last week I've been working with my my eldest son on his 1st grade science project and what better topic to choose than Entomology...its a great basis for fly fishing. Not only is it educational, its something he really enjoyed (unlike when I take him fly fishing, he's bored if he doesn't have a fish in 5 minutes). This month is a great bug month, especially with the Truckee River flows being so constant...the one good thing about a lousy water year. This may be a bit basic for some of you avid river bums (after all, it was for a 1st grader), but I thought these seine net samples did a good job at showing a typical cross section of the abundant Truckee River invertebrate biomass.

As you'll see, I quote and link to many great sites from which I pulled much of our information. Lets start with the insects which undergo a complete metamorphosis (meaning their life cycle has 4 stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult):

Midges (includes animals in several families of Nematoceran Diptera; we looked at component family Chironomidae, aka non-biting midges)

To me, these two-winged flies are the most under-appreciated insect in the Truckee and especially in the Little Truckee. Its an important staple for trout in this area and carries fish over the lean winter periods because of its prolific numbers and year round hatches. When nothing seems to be hatching, I go midge'n. "In North America there are over two thousand species; in Britain there are at least 430; while there are over 600 species in mainland Europe; over 200 in Australia; and even more the world over. Where they are found, the midges form at least 50% of the aquatic insect population. In rivers midge can outnumber the 'mayflies' by as many as four times. Since the early part of 20th Century entomologists have gained a detailed understanding of these insects; knowledge which anglers have not ignored. The midge's lifecycle includes a full metamorphosis. Starting as eggs they hatch out as larvae and then have later phases as pupae and then adult." Above is a picture of an adult and a larva; they number in the thousands on any section of water on any given day.

Caddis (Order Trichoptera, we looked larvae of "free-living" Rhyacophila family including sedges and also found "saddle-cased" or Glossosoma family)

"Commonly known as caddisflies or sedge flies, number well over 7,000 worldwide. There are 1,200 in North America, 900 in Europe, and 640 in Australia. They represent a vast group occupying niches in both still and running water. Their greatest diversity is found in and around running water. Distinguishing the species of adult or larva is very difficult and usually impractical when waterside. This situation is not lost on an angler who will find several species present in significant numbers on any given body of water. Fortunately it is relatively easy to identify a caddisfly as belonging to one of five groups: Net-Spinners, Free-Living Caddis, Tube-Case Caddis, Saddle-Case Caddis, and Purse-Case Caddis. By briefly studying these groups we can later apply fishing strategies to match them." Above are images of a sedge adult and a green sedge larva. Caddis larva are tough to seine net, they hold firm to their homes and are easiest captured by flipping rocks.

Lets not forget those insects that go through an Incomplete Metamorphosis (meaning their life cycle has only 3 stages: egg, nymph and adult (dun [subimago] and spinner [imago]) - they don't create a Chrysalis in which to Pupate)

Mayfly (Insects of the order Ephemeroptera are commonly known as Upwinged Flies or Mayflies. We primarily found Blue Winged Olives, a type of Baetis and March Browns or Rhithrogena Morrisoni)

"After hatching, the nymphs feed on algae, plant debris, and other small food particles carried in the current. They grow through several instars before reaching maturity. This takes from a few months to a couple of years, once again depending on species and prevailing conditions, and also time of year when the eggs were laid." Above is a an adult BWO Dun, a mature BWO nymph with developed wing pads indicating its ready to hatch, a BWO husk (it hatched soon after we captured it in its nymph form) and finally a March Brown Nymph.

Stonefly (members of the insect order Plecoptera. We primarily found Skwalas and Winter Stoneflies.)

"The presence of stoneflies in a river or stream has always been a good indicator of a healthy aquatic environment. These members of the insect order Plecoptera are found in cool, well oxygenated flowing waters and occasionally along the wave-swept shoals of northern latitude lakes. Stoneflies have a worldwide distribution and thus are an important fish food source in both the larval (nymphal) and adult stages. Their life cycle which can include as many as 3 years in the larval stage is a significant reason why they are of such interest to fish. The larvae are benthic dwellers, crawling amongst the rock and rubble of the faster moving parts of the stream known as the riffle and run zones. Depending on the species, stonefly larvae can be herbivorous, omnivorous or carnivorous. Smaller aquatic invertebrates such as mayfly nymphs, dipteran larvae, algae and detritus are all common food sources of stonefly larvae." Above are images of stones caught in our seine net, a Skwala nymph, an adult Winter Stonefly and an adult Skwala Stonefly. Find, shallow oxygenated water to find these nymphs, they're great clingers but poor swimmers.

Some other items on the trout menu which we found include a couple of species of annelids (segmented aquatic worms) including this good sized leech which ended up eating the aquatic worm to the right.