Perching fishing derby at Wildhorse Reservoir

By Don Quilici

The Wildhorse Resort at Wildhorse Reservoir in Northern Elko County is sponsoring a two-day, ice-fishing derby for Perch.

That Perch derby will be held on March 12 and 13.

If you would like to participate in that derby, here is some helpful information:

To reach Wildhorse Reservoir, drive east from Carson City on U.S. 50 to Silver Springs.

At Silver Springs, take U.S. Alt. 95 north to Fernley.

At Fernley, take I-80 east to Elko.

In Elko, take Nevada S.R. 225 (The Mountain City Highway) north to Wildhorse Reservoir.

This will be a trip of about 364 miles (one-way) from Carson City.

The registration fee is $25 per person per day.

The three longest Perch each day will win $250 for 1st, $150 for 2nd and $100 for 3rd.

Your Perch must be entered by no later than 5 p.m., each day of the contest.

In addition, there will be a number of raffle prizes.

When you fish, one of the most successful methods is to jig with a small, white, lead-head Crappie jig that is tipped with either a piece of worm or mealworm or a kernel of corn.

You can also jig with other baits such as Power Bait or cocktail shrimp or various combinations of those baits with corn.

When you are successful, you will catch Perch, Perch, Perch, lots of Perch! That's a fact!

In addition, you can also catch an occasional German brown trout, rainbow trout, Tiger Trout, black bass, Smallmouth bass and crappie.

The Wildhorse Reservoir season is open year round, any hour of the day or night.

The limits are five trout and 15 warmwater game fish, of which not more than five may be black bass (the minimum size for black bass is 11 inches).

Be advised that from March 1 through June 30, only "catch and release" fishing is allowed for the black bass.

So, if you catch any black bass, they must be released unharmed.

However, there is no limit on perch. That's correct, there is no limit on perch, so the sky is the limit.

For information, call Dennis Dunn at the Wildhorse Resort at (775) 758-6472.