Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss eagle lake adventure

thanks AP.

i could have very easily re-wrote the whole story as "it was hot, the fishing stunk, i had to live with a bunch of goobers for a week, and i never want to go back there"..........NOT.......

i just got the pics from my nephew's camera, and thought yall might enjoy a little more eagle lake porn from late September......wishin i was there now!

mid-Sept. Rocky Pt stocker.....you can see its freeze brand on the upper rt. shoulder...



major speckles....



the large tui chub i caught, left in water and swiftly released:





for your reference on Lahontan fish IDs.....here is a Tahoe sucker i caught last year and originally thought was a tui chub......



an amazing sight!! giant baitballs of recently hatched tui chub seeking cover around the boat. each time a bird or fish attacked them, they parted like the Red Sea..



Small ELT but look at those speckles and the TAIL....



my nephew sure had a great time......





Man I love that place.
Until next year!!!!!!

Nice pics, Dave! Looks like you guys had a great time.

Do you look for the schools of chubs when you fish, or did that just kind of happen?

Dave,

Salt deposits in the background of picture number 7? Thanks for sharing!

thanks bbjr and cecil.

that was my 4th trip there and only the first time i have witnessed the "chub hatch". its well known and i had heard about it in the past.....this time i was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. they can be so thick as to set off the fishfinder's shallow water alarm.

cecil, yes in a way....not salt like table salt, but alkaline deposits left on black basaltic lava as the water recedes......check out this pic....

Eagle Lake is absolutely my favorite place to fish for trout. I've camped and fished there probably 15 times as a kid and an adult. Before our last trip I did a little googling to see what was on the internet about the fish and I came across a very informative site here: www.eaglelakefishing.info. The 'spawn' page talks in depth about the hatching technique they use and has pictures of the liquid nitrogen bucket.

Also, we seem to catch more tui chubs than Dave does. We usually troll with leaded line and night crawlers and would catch a few tui chubs every morning out. One time my uncle caught 11 in one outing. We were always there in July or August so maybe that's why.

Last time we were there two summers ago there were more people that wanted to fish than our one boat could hold comfortably. And the best fishing time, by far, is early morning. So when it was my brother's and my turn to sit out we decided to go out in a kayak that my uncle had. We had out limits and were back in camp before sunrise. I love fishing at Eagle Lake.

Here's a pic of my son's first ELT.

Thanks Dave. Any geology lessons on the lake (salt as CB1 asks or is it sand or chalk)?

glad you like the report eric,
the alkaline deposits are basically desert evaporites, full of calcium, sodium, and other major elements typical of receding arid lake conditions across the western US. probably the highlight of eagle's geologic history is that it is a natural "remnant" lake once thought connected to the great lake lahontan. much the same as utah's great salt lake, a remnant of lake bonneville. after the last ice age and through the present, as lahontan receded, landlocked basins were left creating individual lakes on the east side of the sierras and western nevada. each body of water developed unique characterstics as did their ecosystems. most became so alkaine fish could not survive with time. a select few maintained natural fisheries, eagle with her special strain of rainbow trout, and pyramid lake known for her gargantuan cutthroats.

some examples of pyramid cutthroats:




pyramid is on my BUCKET LIST. i have yet to fish it from my boat.

Hi there Nathan, great to hear from a fellow eagle lake angler. your son is holding a dandy there!!

i have only been in the fall (late sept-late october). the chub have spawned out by then and probably fed back up already. it very well could be a summer pattern you hit, and the chub are much more aggressive....interesting.....they are a cool fish, very prehistoric, and the backbone of the trouts diet in that lake. having the tules out of water has been terrible for the fishery, everyone is hoping a good wet season hits the lake this year....she needs it bad....

Those are nice fish !!

Interesting that Great Salt Lake is high in salt but Eagle is not. Is there that much difference in the watersheds ?

yeah they are nice fish. not as good a table fare though as eagle lake trout so i understand.

i am speaking off the cuff eric, but i view the great salt lake as simply being at a much more advanced stage of "dehydration".

the main difference is not so much the water shed as that Eagle lake is fed by subaqueous springs, some are high volume submerged lava tubes. so it has a steady diet of clean crisp groundwater partially offsetting the steady evaporation of surface water. despite the springs, without a really good wet season, it still declines in both water levels and water quality.......if the springs quit, it becomes just like the great salt lake (on a smaller scale).

well, another trip is in the books

for my fellow pondbossers who have enjoyed this thread, here is the latest update....a copy and paste from the report i posted on my OTHER forum

Eagle Lake 2011
Another fantastic week was had by all in our group. We fished Thursday 10/20 to Tuesday 10/25……

My oldest brother came up this year for the first time and it was fun being able show him around. It was sad all three brothers couldn’t be together, but hopefully it will be the start of new traditions. I know he had a great time and was able to experience why Eagle is special.

Compared to previous years, the fishing was pretty tough for us. For the first few days it might as well have been the middle of summer. The winds and cooler weather arrived and the bite picked up a little right toward the end of our trip. 14 degrees on our last morning brrrr......

Overall our group worked and played hard all week, and everyone went home with limits. We fished from the very south end of the lake all the way up to Bucks in the north, and used all the tactics and tackle in the box. In fact I have to confess my boat was skunked one day, the first since 2007 but nevertheless we managed fish every other day completed with gourmet dinners and great company. Hopefully the cold weather that came in on our departure day will turn things on for Eagle Lake anglers.

So without further adieu, here’s some Eagle porn for your enjoyment….

My late brother’s favorite moment…..the start of the week……coming over the hill from Susanville and looking down on Eagle.


On the water


Catching fish the first day…..it doesn’t get any better.








Toplining and Lead Core, Down rigging and Slip Bobbers, we used it all.






Mid-day bait fishing on Eagle

A few more fish. Almost all were 1.5-2 lbs…..no fat holdovers for Dave this year. My brother and a couple others in the group nailed some 3 pounders.








Genuine great group of guys to spend the week with.


The weather started to turn toward the end of the trip


My bad…….one evening (about 6 miles from Spaulding) my 6 year old cranking battery took a dump while on the lake, fortunately one of our group had jumper cables. We moored the boats together and while we were getting me started, he couldn’t start his main motor……would have been a LONG tow back to Spaulding or a LONG night on the lake, but he managed, got it started and followed us in just before dark.


OK so NOW I’m on the market for a dual battery perko set-up………….

do we really have to go home??


i love eagle, may she get the bly tunnel pipe closed and lots of water this winter.


Did I ever mention I LOVE THAT PLACE?


Until next year.

Thanks Dave !!! Those are nice eating size. What a beautiful location.

Great report, DIED!

YEA, Fluorescent Man is back!!!

Great photos Dave, looks like you had a wonderful trip!