I've been fortunate enough to fish Lake Lenore twice in the last week. Today I went out with two friends and we joined some 6 other fisherman already fishing the north end of the lake. The gentlemen already there were flyfishermen, all fishing the standard black caronamids (sp?) that seem to be standard flyfishing fare for this lake during the springtime. None of them got any strikes while we were there from 11 AM to 1:30 PM, though one said that a single Lahontan Cutthroat trout was hooked or caught earlier in the morning by their group.

The three of us were all hardware fishermen, and we had our best luck w/ 3/16 oz Krocodile spoons with a hammered brass finish and various patterns with it. All three of us got a fish apiece of average size, 2 to 3 pounds, and I was surprised to see how dusky and rose colored they have gotten in the short time since I last caught them a couple of weeks earlier. In addition, my two friend, Keith Kellogg and Guy Miner, also hooked and lost another fish each.

Even with this success it was slow overall. The weather was mild, with clouds and little to no breeze. I have been hearing persistent rumors of a fish kill the previous summer at this lake due to heavy vegetation the previous summer. While any such kill was obviously not catastrophic, as evidenced by the fish we caught, I must admit the crowds for the lake are way down, and the success rate is also much lower than I have seen in the past.

My trip earlier in the week was on Saturday afternoon with my wife and 20 month old son, David. Needless to say, it was a short trip. What was surprising was that there were only four other fishermen fishing on this bright and sunny 65 degree day, and that in the hour we were there, we only saw one fish caught (by a float tuber using a green size 12 coranamid).

In summary, there are some very nice fish at Lake Lenore to be caught, and the crowds are definitely down this year, but you are going to have to work at it much more than in years past to get a fish or two on the end of your line.

Good luck and good fishing! If you have any questions for this amateur hardware fisherman, feel free to e-mail me!

John Kruse
[email protected]

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