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Home › Waters › Nevada › Topaz Lake
Lake · Western Nevada, Douglas County, the Antelope Valley on the Nevada-California state line south of Gardnerville · Nevada

Topaz Lake Fishing Guides

A high desert lake straddling the Nevada-California line, filled by the West Walker River and known for a winter trout season that opens when most western waters have closed.

Desert country running down to open water in the Southwest
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Topaz Lake

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About the Topaz Lake

Topaz Lake sits in the Antelope Valley at roughly five thousand feet, straddling the Nevada-California state line south of Gardnerville. It is an off-stream storage reservoir rather than a natural lake, filled by diversion from the West Walker River and drawn down for irrigation through the summer, and the gauge reads reservoir storage and water surface elevation continuously. Those two numbers are the ones that matter here, because the lake’s surface area and the condition of its shoreline access change substantially between a full spring and a hard-drawn autumn.

What sets Topaz apart is its calendar. Nevada manages it with a season that traditionally opens on the first of January and runs into the autumn, which makes it one of very few western trout fisheries available in the depth of winter. That opening day is a genuine local event, and the lake receives heavy stocking of rainbow trout to support it. The fish grow quickly in the productive alkaline water, and holdover trout reaching several pounds are a realistic target rather than a story.

The setting is high desert and the weather is the main hazard. The valley funnels wind hard enough to make the lake genuinely dangerous for small boats on short notice, and an angler who has not checked the forecast can find a calm morning turning into a serious afternoon. Trolling accounts for much of the catch, though shore fishing from the Nevada side is productive through the cold months when trout hold close.

Rainbow trout are the mainstay, with brown trout and cutthroat trout also present and Lahontan cutthroat trout part of the regional stocking picture. Warmwater species have established themselves as well, and smallmouth and largemouth bass, channel catfish, bullhead, yellow perch and black crappie give the lake a second character through the summer. Because the lake spans a state line, anglers must be clear about which state’s licence and rules apply to the water they are fishing.

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The photo at the top of this page is not Topaz Lake.

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Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Pool right now

82.91ft
  • 24 hours-0.07 ft → steady
  • Storage16,900 acre-ft

Reading taken 1h ago at USGS 10297000, TOPAZ LAKE NR TOPAZ, CA. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.

Fished this water? Add a photo

Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Topaz Lake.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Lake level alert

Tell me when the pool at Topaz Lake ft

Now: 82.91 ft pool elevation, read 5:00 pm CDT, Sun Oct 18, 2026 (USGS 10297000, TOPAZ LAKE NR TOPAZ, CA).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Topaz Lake Park - the Douglas County park on the Nevada shore with a boat ramp, camping and shoreline access.
Topaz Lodge - the resort and marina at the south end, with services and a launch.
US Highway 395 - runs along the lake's western side and provides the main approach from both directions.
Gardnerville and Minden - the nearest Nevada towns to the north, with fuel, food, lodging and tackle.
West Walker River - the river that feeds the lake, offering stream trout fishing nearby.
Walker Lake - the larger terminal lake downstream in the same drainage, a very different fishery.
Carson City - the regional centre roughly an hour north, with full services and guides.

Seasons

Spring: the lake is at its fullest and trout fishing is excellent as the water warms and fish spread across the flats.
Summer: drawdown begins and trout move deeper, while bass, catfish and perch become the more reliable targets.
Fall: cooling water brings trout back within reach of shore anglers and trolling improves markedly.
Winter: the traditional January opening makes this one of the few western trout lakes fishing hard in the cold months.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Topaz Lake?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Brown Trout, Bullhead, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Cutthroat Trout, Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Tui Chub, Yellow Perch on the Topaz Lake in Nevada.

Where can you access the Topaz Lake?

Topaz Lake Park - the Douglas County park on the Nevada shore with a boat ramp, camping and shoreline access. Topaz Lodge - the resort and marina at the south end, with services and a launch. US Highway 395 - runs along the lake's western side and provides the main approach from both directions. Gardnerville and Minden - the nearest Nevada towns to the north, with fuel, food, lodging and tackle. West Walker River - the river that feeds the lake, offering stream trout fishing nearby. Walker Lake - the larger terminal lake downstream in the same drainage, a very different fishery. Carson City -...

When is the best time to fish the Topaz Lake?

Spring: the lake is at its fullest and trout fishing is excellent as the water warms and fish spread across the flats. Summer: drawdown begins and trout move deeper, while bass, catfish and perch become the more reliable targets. Fall: cooling water brings trout back within reach of shore anglers and trolling improves markedly. Winter: the traditional January opening makes this one of the few western trout lakes fishing hard in the cold months.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Topaz Lake?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Nevada agency site: https://www.ndow.org/rules-regulations/