Issue No. 16 · Week of October 19, 2026 · The Weekly Lowdown
Wednesday runs sunny and 69 with a light southeast breeze. Thursday a storm soaks the valley and puts snow on the Rubies and in White Pine. Behind it, a hard frost Friday night, then cool, sunny days with no wind in the forecast. Fish today, sit out Thursday, and come back Saturday.
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SubscribeToday is the day. The Elko zone forecast runs mostly sunny
with a high of 63 to 69 and a southeast wind up to 10 mph, gusting to 25 in
the afternoon, after a mild forecast low of 37 to 43 last night. If you can
get out of work, go today.
Thursday is a washout. Showers move in this evening at 50
percent, then numerous rain showers Thursday afternoon at 70 percent and
near-certain rain Thursday night. The Ruby Mountains get moderate snow
accumulations Thursday night, and White Pine County gets moderate snow
Thursday and Thursday night.
Then the frost. Friday clears by afternoon with a high of
46 to 52, and Friday night drops to 21 to 27 under clear skies. The weekend
runs sunny and cool: 48 to 54 Saturday, 53 to 59 Sunday, 54 to 60 Monday.
The forecast prints no wind at all from Thursday night through
Monday.
The water is low and steady. Tuesday morning the Humboldt
near Elko read 2.66 cfs, about a quarter of the date's
median. Lamoille Creek read 3.18 cfs, 58 percent of its
median, and the South Fork below the dam read 3.87 cfs,
45 percent of its median.
Lamoille Canyon Road is closed to vehicles until 12:01 AM Monday,
October 26, and Angel Lake is closed through October 31. The Ruby
high country is off the table this week, and Thursday's snow seals
it.
Fire danger is Moderate. The Forest Service lists no fire
restrictions for our district or the Ely district.
Bottom line: fish Wednesday, stay home Thursday, and pick
it back up Saturday at 10.
Low and steady. Station 10320000 read 3.87 cfs
at 2.13 feet Tuesday morning, after ranging 3.87 to 4.52 over the
previous 24 hours. Daily averages have held between 4.03 and 4.15 since
October 14. Tuesday's reading sits under every daily average since
September 1, when the low was 4.02.
Against the record. The October 20 median over 38
years is 8.6 cfs, so the river is running at 45 percent of it, below
the 25th percentile of 5.7 and above the record low of 2.75, set in
2016. In water this low, the fish are in the deeper slots and the
tailouts below them. Approach low and stay back.
How to fish it. Wednesday is warm enough that a small
BWO or a Zebra Midge under a dry should work from late morning on. After
Friday night's frost, do not bother before 10. When the sun is high,
work a Woolly Bugger slowly along the undercut banks for browns.
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 prohibits driving and parking on
Forest Service Road 57660 from September 15 until 12:01 AM 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 before you plan anything up-canyon,
including after the 26th.
Angel Lake is closed too. The campground and day use
area are closed through October 31 while crews build the new Angel Lake
Dam.
And the snow comes Thursday. The mountain zone runs 51
to 61 today. Thursday brings showers and thunderstorms with light snow,
then a breezy, colder Thursday night with rain and snow showers and
moderate accumulations. Friday morning brings more rain and snow
showers, with highs of 34 to 44, and Friday night drops to 22 to 28.
Bottom line: the road is gated and the lakes are about
to get snowed on. Fish the valley water and Illipah this week.
The mainstem is holding. Gauge 10318500 read 2.66 cfs
at 0.96 feet Tuesday morning, within a 2.44 to 2.66 range over the
previous day. Daily averages have run 2.26 to 2.47 since October 14,
about double the 1.19 of September 1.
Against the record. The October 20 median over 89
years is 10 cfs, so the river is at 27 percent of it, just above the
25th percentile of 2.6. The median rises through October as fall water
comes back, so even a steady river reads lower against it each
week.
Lamoille Creek is easing down. It read 3.18 cfs at
1.64 feet Tuesday morning. Its daily average peaked at 4.03 on October
12 and has slipped every day since, to 3.21 on Monday. That is 58
percent of the 5.5 cfs median, below the 25th percentile of 4.0, and
above the October 20 record low of 2.48, set in 2002.
Still leave it alone. Lamoille Creek is running near
the bottom tenth of its record for the date. Walk it this week, and fish
it next spring.
The Jarbidge has one good day before the storm. The
northern Elko zone runs mostly sunny and 60 to 68 today, with a
southeast wind up to 10 mph rising to 10 to 15 in the afternoon.
Thursday brings scattered showers and gusts around 30, and Thursday
night turns to rain showers with light snow. Friday is breezy, with a
high of 42 to 50, and Friday night drops to the mid 20s.
Then it settles. Saturday runs mostly sunny and 44 to
54, Sunday 48 to 58, and Monday 50 to 58, with no wind printed. After a
hard freeze, small-stream fish feed in the warm part of the day, so fish
10 to 3. A BWO and a beadhead nymph cover it. Redband and Bonneville
cutthroat will still come up on a bright afternoon. Bull trout go
straight back, in the water.
Roads. Snow is in the forecast for the high country
Thursday night. Call the district at 775-738-5171
about Forest roads before you drive in. Forest Service Road 57390 is
under a separate closure order through October 31.
Wear orange. Late any-legal-weapon deer hunts run in
much of eastern Nevada from October 21 into early November, and canyon
bottoms are where hunters and anglers both end up.
The fall mayfly. A warm Wednesday and the calm, sunny days after the storm are both good BWO weather. Look for them from late morning into mid-afternoon on the slow tailouts of the South Fork and in the Jarbidge pools. 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. At Illipah, fish one under an indicator off the shoreline where trout are rising.
The one fly that covers both water types this week. On the South Fork, work it slowly along the undercut banks for browns. At Illipah, it is the fly-rod answer to the spinners NDOW suggests for the rainbows. After Friday night's frost, fish it slower, because cold fish will not chase far.
With no wind in the forecast from Saturday through Monday, the reservoirs go glassy and the shoreline risers are easy to see. A small Griffith's Gnat or any midge cluster covers rising fish when they are too picky for anything bigger.
Rising fish along the bank. NDOW's October 8 report says
trout are "rising near the shoreline in numbers" at Illipah. Irrigation
has stopped, so the reservoir has begun to recover from a dry, hot
summer. It was about 40 percent of capacity and 64 degrees on October
8.
What you will catch. Illipah got its full spring
allotment of 5,584 rainbows, averaging 8.9 inches. NDOW
says to expect rainbows of 9 to 12 inches and the occasional brown. The
browns here are a self-sustaining population. Illipah is a 70-acre
reservoir on Illipah Creek, up to 50 feet deep.
How to fish it with a fly rod. With fish rising on the
shoreline, walk the bank and cast to them: a small midge or Griffith's
Gnat on the flat water, or a Zebra Midge under an indicator. When nothing
is up, strip a Woolly Bugger slowly along the drop-offs. Wednesday is the
warm day. After Thursday's storm, which brings moderate snow to White
Pine County, go Saturday through Monday, when the forecast runs sunny and
44 to 57 with no wind printed. Start around 10.
Know before you go. From Ely, drive 37 miles west on US
50, turn south at the Illipah Reservoir sign, go 0.1 mile, turn left, and
drive 1.3 miles to the campground. It sits at 6,840 feet. The BLM lists
15 first-come campsites, restrooms and trash cans, but no drinking water,
so bring your own. Boats are limited to electric motors. Call the BLM
Ely District at 775-289-1800 about road conditions after the storm, and
check NDOW's current listing for limits.
One email a week — the bite, the water, the wind, and where to point the truck.
Fish today, sit out Thursday, and wear orange all week. — Great Basin Flyfisher
Questions, tips, or a report from the water? info@greatbasinflyfisher.com
Great Basin Flyfisher