Cold Creek is a winter fishing escape
THERE was snow on the mountain behind the small community of Cold Creek when I turned off the paved road and pointed the truck down the well-traveled path of rocks and small boulders that doubles as a “dirt” road. Only in Southern Nevada can we get away with calling it that.
Four-wheel drive is not required, but unless one is intent on remodeling their vehicle’s oil pan, I would avoid using something in the low-clearance variety. Thankfully, that rocky labyrinth soon gives way to less aggressive substrate as you draw near to Cold Creek Pond.
Located at the north end of the Spring Mountain Range, the pond sits at about 6,000 feet in elevation just below the village that shares the Cold Creek name. Like other community fishing ponds in the Las Vegas area, Cold Creek Pond offers seasonal fishing opportunity for stocked rainbow trout. Only in this case, use of the word pond is probably more accurate. It is no larger than an acre when full.
Probably due to its setting and broad vistas, Cold Creek Pond has seen a significant increase in weekend use in recent years. So, a Monday morning trip seemed like a good choice.
With nighttime temperatures in Cold Creek dropping into the 30s, I was not surprised to find ice on the pond. It was not entirely iced over, but there was enough hard water to limit fishing access.
I began the day casting a size 14 bead head Prince Nymph and was soon joined by another fly fisher. Despite our best efforts, however, the trout did not seem to like anything we presented them. They even turned up their noses at an olive Woolly Bugger. That is never a good sign.
Soon, a little silver-blue SUV bounced down that boulder-strewn path. There was no hesitation on the part of the driver, no stopping to survey the pond. He drove like he knew where he was going and pulled right up to the shoreline.
Shortly after their arrival, the driver and his passenger had their lines in the water. Each had one line baited up with Powerbait fished off the bottom and another rigged with a lure. Fish bumped their Powerbait but hammered the spinners, and within a short time each of our new fishing companions had reeled in a pair of rainbow trout.
Meanwhile, the other fly fisher and I got lots of casting and knot-tying practice.
“We’ve been coming here for years. Whenever we notice in the RJ that they’ve stocked it, then we come out,” said one of the fish-catching anglers who asked to remain anonymous. “We try not to come on the weekends.”
He said they prefer to come during the week to avoid the ATV and camping traffic. And when it comes to catching fish, he said it sometimes takes a while.
“We were here Friday, and we caught our limit. Pretty good-sized ones. And for a while we couldn’t catch anything. Then all of a sudden, we started catching then on Little (Li’l) Jakes,” he said. Then he turned to his friend and asked, “Am I supposed to be telling him this?”
After sharing a laugh, the angler said, “We had worms. We had Powerbait. We tried Little Jakes, and nothing was working. Then all of a sudden about 11 o’clock they started biting on these, you know.” And he held up a Li’l Jake, the compact version of a Jakes Spin-a-lure.
“Some days you catch it on worms. Some days you catch it on Powerbait,” he added.
You just have to figure it out. On this trip, the duo did just that.
Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His “In the Outdoors” column is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. Find him on Facebook at @dougwritesoutdoors. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.