Issue No. 15 · Week of October 12, 2026 · The Weekly Lowdown
A cold front put snow on the Rubies and rain in the gauges. Behind it: six days of sun climbing to 71, almost no wind, and cold starts. Monday night it comes back. Sleep in, fish 10 to 3, and fish it before then.
Winter knocked on Sunday night. A cold front came through
with rain and snow showers in the valley and a Winter Weather Advisory over
the Ruby Mountains through 5 PM Tuesday. Last night's forecast low in our
zone was 18 to 26. If you left a rod tube in the truck bed, check the
reel.
Then it gets out of the way. Tuesday afternoon's forecast
runs sunny every day from today through Monday: 59 today, 65 Thursday, then
70, 70, 71 across Friday and the weekend, 69 Monday. The only wind in the
product is west up to 10 today and northeast up to 10 Thursday. Friday
through Monday carry none at all.
And then it comes back. Monday night brings a 50 percent
chance of rain showers, and next Tuesday turns cooler with rain and snow
showers and a high of 54. Up high it is 60 percent with light snow
accumulations. The window is Wednesday through Monday afternoon, and the
best of it is Friday through Sunday.
The storm put water in every gauge. The Humboldt and
Lamoille Creek both jumped near midnight Sunday. Tuesday morning the
Humboldt near Elko read 2.66 cfs, more than double its
early-September flow. Lamoille Creek read 3.95 cfs, after
running 2.6 to 2.8 from mid-September into last week. The South Fork below
the dam is running about 4.5 cfs. All three are easing
back.
Lamoille Canyon Road is closed to vehicles through October
26 for construction, and Angel Lake has no access through October
31. The Ruby high country is off the table this week.
Fire danger is Moderate. The Forest Service rates both our
district and the Ely district Moderate and lists no fire restrictions on
either one.
Bottom line: sleep in, fish 10 to 3, and be off the
mountain before Monday night.
We fished it this weekend, and it was slow until about 10
AM. Expect the same this week. With nights at 18 to
33 through Thursday, the water starts cold, so there is no reason to be on the water at first light. Get there at 10
and fish through mid-afternoon.
Low and steady. Station 10320000 read about 4.5 cfs at
2.15 feet Tuesday afternoon. Since mid-September the daily average has
stayed between 4.0 and 5.3 cfs. Sunday night's front pushed Monday's
average to 5.03, and it is already settling back. At this flow, look for fish in
the deeper slots and the tailouts below them. Approach low and stay
back.
How to fish it. A small BWO or a Zebra Midge under a dry
covers the soft water once the bite starts. When the sun is high, work a
Woolly Bugger slowly along the undercut banks for browns, which are
getting territorial ahead of the spawn.
Access and limits. The state park water past the
spillway is public. Below it is a mix of BLM and private ranch land, so
know whose bank you are on. Check NDOW's current South Fork
listing for limits and gear rules before you keep a fish.
Lamoille Canyon Road is closed to motor vehicles.
Forest Service Order 04-17-26-06-03 closes the road from September 15
through October 26 for construction, unless it is rescinded sooner. The
order lists Terraces and Thomas Canyon
campgrounds as affected. Call the district at
775-738-5171 to find out which stretch is gated before
you plan anything up-canyon.
Angel Lake is closed too. NDOW's October 8 report says
"there is no access to the lake at this time" while crews build the new
dam. The campground and day use area are closed through October
31.
Up high, it is winter. The Rubies were under a Winter
Weather Advisory through Tuesday afternoon. The mountain zone warms from
38 to 50 today to 52 to 64 by Sunday, and another round of rain and snow
showers is due Monday night into Tuesday. This is not the week for a
long hike to a lake.
Bottom line: with the road gated and snow in the
forecast, put the Ruby high country away this week. The South Fork,
the Jarbidge and Cave Lake are where to go.
The mainstem is the highest it has been since at least
September.
Gauge 10318500 read 2.66 cfs at 0.96 feet Tuesday morning and eased to
2.44 by afternoon. Monday's daily average was 2.64, up from about 1.2 at
the start of September.
Why the percentage still reads low. That 2.66 is 32
percent of the October 13 median of 8.3 cfs, and above the 25th
percentile of 2.0. The median climbs quickly through October as fall
water returns. So the river can rise and still read a low percentage,
which is what is happening this week.
Lamoille Creek got its biggest bump since at least
September.
It jumped from 2.89 to 4.84 cfs near midnight Sunday. It read 3.95 at
1.69 feet Tuesday morning and about 3.6 by the afternoon. That is 71
percent of the 5.6 median, just under the 25th percentile of 4.0, and
about 60 percent above the October 13 record low of 2.47, set in
2013.
Still leave it alone. One storm does not refill a
creek that ran near record lows through the late summer. The bump is
already receding. Walk it this week, and fish it next spring.
The Jarbidge gets a good weekend. The northern Elko
zone runs 50 to 62 today, with a northwest wind gusting to around 30 in
the afternoon. After that it is sunny and calm: 57 to 67 Thursday, then
roughly 60 to 70 Friday through Sunday. Nights climb out of the 20s
into the upper 30s and low 40s by the weekend. After a hard freeze,
small-stream fish feed in the warm part of the day, so fish 10 to
3.
Change the fly with the calendar. October Caddis
should thin out after nights in the 20s. Skate one in the warm
afternoons Friday through Sunday, but carry BWOs and a beadhead nymph.
Redband and Bonneville cutthroat will still come up on a bright
afternoon. Bull trout go straight back, in the water.
Roads and orders. The Ward Fire order on the Ely
Ranger District is still posted, so call 775-289-3031
before you drive district roads. The Charleston-Jarbidge Road (CR 748)
is unpaved; Elko County Roads at 775-738-5036 has
current conditions. Forest Service Road 57390 is under a closure order
as well.
Wear orange. Rifle deer hunts are open across eastern
Nevada into early November, and canyon bottoms are where hunters and
anglers both end up.
The fall mayfly, and the main hatch after the freeze. Look for them from late morning into mid-afternoon on the slow tailouts of the South Fork and in the Jarbidge pools. With almost no wind, the surface goes flat and the rises are easy to see. Use fine tippet, and wait until the fish turns down before you set.
For the first hour after the bite starts, before anything is rising. Hang one 18 inches under a BWO or a small yarn indicator and fish it through the deeper slots below the dam.
The one fly that covers both water types this week. On the South Fork, work it slowly along the undercut banks for pre-spawn browns. At Cave Lake, it is the fly-rod answer to the PowerBait NDOW suggests for freshly stocked rainbows. Fish it slower than you would in September, because the water is colder and the fish will not chase far.
Last call. After nights in the teens and 20s, expect fewer of them, and only in the warmest part of the day. Friday through Sunday afternoons on the Jarbidge pocket water are the place to skate one more time before you put the box away.
Fresh fish. NDOW started fall stocking at Cave Lake last
week. Half the allotment is already in, with 5,054
rainbows averaging just under eight inches. The water was about
62 degrees on October 8. With Lamoille Canyon closed and snow on the
Rubies, this is the surest bet for trout we can point you to this week.
The White Pine forecast runs sunny and 54 to 67 from Friday through
Monday.
What you will catch. NDOW says to expect 8 to 11-inch
rainbows and the occasional 9-inch brown. The interesting part is that
some browns over 20 inches remain from before the lake
was drawn down for dam repairs. Those fish are about to spawn, and NDOW
says they move toward the upper end of the lake where Cave Creek comes
in.
How to fish it with a fly rod. For the stockers, use a
Woolly Bugger or a small beadhead nymph under an indicator along the
drop-offs, starting around 10. For the big browns, swing a streamer
through the water off the inlet, where pre-spawn fish stage.
Stay off them once they are on the gravel in the creek. Fish on redds
are not sport. Leave them to spawn.
Know before you go. Cave Lake is a 32-acre reservoir in
Cave Lake State Park. Day use is $5 for Nevada vehicles and $10 for
out-of-state vehicles, and boats are limited to 5 mph. Elk Flat
Campground closes in mid-October, while Lake View Campground stays open
year-round. Call the park at 775-296-1505 before you go in cold weather.
One email a week — the bite, the water, the wind, and where to point the truck.
Sleep in, wear orange, and be home before Monday night. — Great Basin Flyfisher
Questions, tips, or a report from the water? info@greatbasinflyfisher.com
Great Basin Flyfisher