Walker River Fishing Guides and Conditions, Nevada

About the Walker River

The Walker River drains the eastern Sierra Nevada in two branches, the East Walker out of Bridgeport Reservoir and the West Walker out of the Sierra above Coleville, which join near Yerington and run north into the desert to Walker Lake. It is a classic Great Basin river: cold, freestone water leaving the mountains, then a long agricultural and desert reach where irrigation demand shapes everything about it.

The canyon reaches are the fishery anglers travel for. The East Walker below Bridgeport is one of the best big-brown-trout rivers in the West, running through a sagebrush canyon with deep undercut banks and heavy weed growth that grows fish out of proportion to the size of the river. The West Walker canyon holds rainbows and browns in fast pocket water. Downstream around Yerington and Mason Valley the river warms through the irrigated bottoms, and Lahontan cutthroat trout, the native fish of this basin and the reason Walker Lake matters, are the focus of long-running restoration work through the system.

The Wabuska gauge reads the river below the confluence in the agricultural reach, and it is a direct picture of irrigation. Flows here swing enormously between the irrigation season and the rest of the year, and a low reading in late summer reflects diversion rather than drought alone. For the canyon fisheries the relevant number is the reservoir release upstream, so check the specific reach you plan to fish rather than assuming this gauge describes it.

Yerington, Bridgeport and Walker are the base towns. Much of the lower river crosses the Walker River Paiute Reservation and private ranch land, so access requires attention to permissions and posted boundaries.

Access

East Walker canyon below Bridgeport Reservoir: the best-known trout water, mostly in California and Nevada near the line.
Rosaschi Ranch and the Elbow: Nevada public access on the East Walker.
West Walker canyon along Highway 395: roadside pocket water access.
Wilson Canyon: a Nevada public reach between the canyon and Yerington.
Yerington and Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area: lower river access.
Weber Reservoir: the impoundment on the reservation; permits required.
Walker Lake: the terminal lake and the historic Lahontan cutthroat fishery.

Seasons

March through May: runoff and high releases; the East Walker fishes well as it drops.
June through August: irrigation season, warm afternoons, best fishing early and in the canyons.
September and October: releases drop, the water cools and the big browns become active.
November through February: low winter flows, clear water and technical fishing on warm days.