Fall Trip 2009 Part 3 Humboldt Cutthroat and the "Secret of the Desert"

The next target was the Humboldt cutthroat located in Nevada. The Humboldt was an after thought when planning the trip so we did not have a lot of time allotted to spend fishing for them. After extensive research I chose Coyote and Little Jack Creeks 30 minutes north of Carlin. Driving up Maggie ck. Rd. we first came across Jack ck. which was dry as a bone so we continued up to Coyote ck. which had a little bit of water in it. Unfortunately the access road up Coyote ck. was gated and locked. My GPS showed another access if we followed Little Jack ck. upstream. As we followed Little Jack ck. up towards the hills we noticed there was actually a little water in it. Eventually we found the side road to Coyote ck. and after 30 minutes of rough road came across the creek. It was completely dry. With no water in Coyote and not enough water in Little Jack we decided to go to plan “B” which was Gance ck. By the time we reached Gance ck. it was dark. Curious to see the water levels we broke out the flashlights and started walking through the cattle pastures towards where the GPS showed the creek. 200 yards later and still no creek we decided to go back to the camper and check it out in the morning. The next day we found the creek bed and it was completely dry! I was on the verge of discovering the secret of the desert but we had to travel up towards the foot hills where Gance ck. starts to test my theory. Back down Hwy 225 and up Hwy 226 we went. My trusty GPS led us onto a rough dirt road and 30 minutes later we were over looking a farm and the distinct sign we were looking for, a line of lush growth surrounded by sage brush fields.. The vegetation surrounding Gance ck. was so thick we had to follow narrow cattle trails to small openings where we could dap a nymph. We managed a few small specimens to complete the goal and decided to head for Utah. I come from the Pacific Northwest where there is ample rain, snow pack in the hills and the math is simple. Creeks and rivers get larger as you get closer to the ocean. The secret of the desert for those who don’t know it is the opposite. Creeks and rivers are biggest when they leave the hills and enter the desert and cattle land. Between evaporation, farming and cow’s drinking it the water soon disappears.