Fly Fishing Wolf Creek
It was a short travel day. My ultimate destination would put be higher and deeper into the Walker River basin. At over 8000 feet in elevation, the forest morphed from Sierra juniper to lodgepole pine. The creek I was seeking meandered through a mini basin surrounded by mountains over 9000 feet. In early summer with a water-year of above average snowpack, the creek flowed through a lush meadow of grasses, wildflowers, sage and willow trees lining the streambacnk. It felt like an oasis.
An ideal home for life and more precisely aquatic life. As I put my hand in the to release the Lahontan cutthroat, I felt a sudden shock from the cold water. The water flowed clear and extremely cold. The continued snowmelt was slowing, but most of the creek was running fast. I slowly walked upstream looking for a deep pool or back eddy. The dark body cutthroat held in the slower seam of current. A size 18 Parachute Adams drifted down would draw attention and typically a take.
The dense growth of lodgepoles threw long shadows along the water in the morning. After hooking countless fish in a few hours, I couldn't imagine this exact location being completely fishless in the early 1990's. But I guess rotenone will do that. No arguing the effectiveness of clearing out unwelcome non-native char.
As the aquatic insects slowly came back over a couple of years, the creek flowed, the bugs hatched, and were left wondering why no long, spotted bodies were trying to eat them. Bugs came back on the menu just a year later as CDFW transplanted close to 300 Lahontans into their new home (actually thier old home). Their thousand plus year, ancient home in the Walker River basin, the transplant served as a homecoming. A federally threatened creature given more range to roam. The creek, the lush meadow, the surrounding mountains felt more complete.
Lahontan cutthroat were reintroduced to the headwaters of Wolf Creek in the early 1990's through a cooperative effort between the CDFW, US Forest Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service. Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi) are the native salmonid in the West Walker River watershed and thanks to the Federal Endangered Species Act, the above agencies are mandated to restore them. Wolf Creek flows for roughly six miles from its headwaters near Sonora Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to its confluence with the West Walker River. A natural barrier exists in Wolf Creek which isolates the headwaters from upstream invasion of non-native fish.
In 1993, 1999 and 2003, Wolf Creek was stocked with wild Lahontan cutthroat trout from nearby Slinkard Creek. During the restocking, Wolf Creek was closed to all fishing to allow time for the Lahontan cutthroat trout to establish. In 2012, based on surveys conducted by various state and federal agencies throughout the duration of the restoration project, the wild Lahontan trout population was determined to be stable and abundant enough to warrant sport fishing. The following year, the California Fish and Game Commission opened Wolf Creek for public angling. The Commission also established new regulations for Wolf Creek to be open for catch and release fishing from August 1st through November 15th with gear restricted to artificial lures with barbless hooks.
