Ruby Mountain Area – FisherDad

Exploring New Angling Opportunities

My sons, Douglas and Thomas, getting prepared to walk down to angle Cave Lake for trout (Rainbow and Brown) in June 2000.

Some of you know that a medical recovery period can cause you to reflect on your life events. If you were disabled by an accident or medical event, long periods of inactivity bring forward memories of past family events. The good ones can bring a smile to your face, warm your heart, or make you laugh aloud. The bad ones can bring a tear to your eye and make you wish you had handled it better. If you have cherished hobbies, like fly angling, you conjure up your past adventures and wonder how future ones will be achieved. Pondering your ability to fully participate in future events usually fosters self-pity.

Brotherly Assault on Comins Lake & Ruby Marshes

This is a scenic view of the eastern side of the Ruby Mountains, taken from the spring heads of the Ditch that feeds the Ruby Marshes. It is one of my favorite photos of the Ruby Range. (Photo by Bruce Vincent.)

When is enough, enough? How many fish does it take before you lose interest in fishing? Okay, I admit that saturation is unlikely for die hard anglers, but can your most successful day fishing (measured by count, and perhaps quality) wipe the memory of fishless trips off the board? As a long-time trout angler, I can say for me the successful trips are long remembered, and the “skunkings” are quickly forgotten. And I am grateful for that.

Elko County Waters: Ruby Marshes, South Fork Reservoir, and Wild Horse Reservoir

Viewing the Ruby Mountains from Jiggs, NV. The small, white speck on the slopes in the middle of the picture is the RCR cabin.

It had been over 11 years since I fished with my good friend and fellow pescador, Bill Bergan. In November 2003 I flew to Sacramento where Bill picked me up and whisked me off to fish the lakes at Henderson Springs in Northern California. Since then we have been scheming up new fishing adventures, but we could never connect. I was pushing the waters around the Ruby Mountains south of Elko, Nevada. It turns out the driving time to Elko from Sacramento and Las Vegas was about equal. Bill knew how beautiful the Rubies were from our 1979 backpack trip to Favre Lake on the Ruby Mountain’s Lamoille Canyon trail. We eventually settled on the Ruby Mountain area where Bill was able to meet me, ironically, driving directly from another group fishing trip at Henderson Springs.

Northeastern Nevada – Ruby Lakes, Lamoille Creek, & Illipah Reservoir

Ruby Mountain Range, Elko County, NV. Robinson, Soldier, and Hidden lakes over ridge right of center.

I may have seen more of the state of Nevada than most, but I certainly have not seen all of it. Nevada is such a vast state, over 110 thousand square miles ranking it the seventh largest state. Two New York states could fit into Nevada, or three Indiana states. One part of the state I have not visited is the lonesome northwest. I would love to see the Charles Sheldon Antelope Refuge or fish Knott Creek Reservoir, but they are 600 miles away… one way.

Ruby Mountains – Elko, NV

Bill snapped this photo as I struck a Brook trout that slurped an Adams dry fly on Favre Lake. Liberty Lake lies above and to he left of this picture.

I was just a fledgling angler in my early 20s. Just out of college and working for a certified public accounting (CPA) firm to achieve my Nevada license, my audit practice supervisor was Bill “Bergie” Bergan. Bill was a weekend climber, and we somehow agreed to exchange hobbies with each other (see Early Climbing / Mountaineering Adventures for the details of that story).