Topaz Lake opening day lures anglers by hundreds

At least 200 boats were launched for the first sunny opening day of fishing in a few years at Topaz Lake on New Year's Day.

Taking advantage of the day, anglers participated in the annual Topaz Fishing Derby, which runs Jan. 1 through April 15.

Chuck and Linda Fields, owners of the Topaz Landing and Marina, said that at least 200 boats had been launched from combined launch points at Douglas County campgrounds and the Topaz Landing, as anglers from as far away as Southern California came to the lake for this annual event.

"It's just 'beauteous,'" Linda Fields said as she signed up the steady stream of participants in their "derby within a derby" at the landing. "The sun is shining, it's just beautiful, they're catching fish, the jetty is full and there is no w-i-n-d. We just spell that word out, we don't say it."

The landing runs a private derby within the Topaz Lake derby on opening day. Each participant puts $5 into a winner-takes-all pot and at 3 p.m. the fisherman recording the largest fish of the day wins the entire pot. Sometimes it has been as little as $60 but this year the award was $380.

Palmdale, Calif., resident Sam Alexander got a slow start on Monday.

When he launched his boat he could not get the motor out of reverse but, determined, trolled backwards the whole morning and using rainbow powerbait, hooked a 7 pound 14 ounce rainbow which was the largest catch of the day for the main derby and the $380 opening day derby and the fish had a tagged value of $500 from Topaz Lodge and Casino.

Other tagged fish winners for the day were Clarence Cunha of Carson City with a $500 blue tag weighing in at 4 pounds 4 ounces, Louis Zeni of Gardnerville with a $500 blue tag weighing in at 7 pounds, Zeni's fishing partner Ken Trumpower, also of Gardnerville hooked two tagged fish, a 4-pound, 15-ounce orange tag for $50 and a 4-pound, 15-ounce $250 green tagged rainbow, William Gibbs of Wellington got a 3-pound, 4-ounce catch and Herb Simms of Minden caught a 4-pounds 9-ounce trout, both won $50 for their orange tagged rainbows. Richard Tucker of Wellington won $100 for his pink tagged 6-pound 8-ounce rainbow and Phil Hoffman of South Lake Tahoe won $100 plus a first tagged catch bonus of $25 for his one pounder.

There are plenty of tagged fish waiting to be caught and the derby continues through April 15.