On a trip that I made with Mark Wiza, Fish Sniffer website feature columnist and fly fishing enthusiast on July 6, I experienced the outstanding fishing that the wild trout and planted sections of streams have to offer. I met Mark at 8 a.m. at the parking lot of the wild trout area.

"I caught and released four rainbows this morning before you got here," he said excitedly. "I released a gorgeous rainbow between 20 and 21 inches, lost two other fish to 18 inches and caught three other trout to 14 inches."

I didn't want to hike into the canyon as far as he had, due to arthritis in my foot, so we opted to go fishing in the pools below the bridge. Amazingly enough, we were the only ones fishing even though it was the Fourth of July weekend. The action started quickly, with Mark hooking and releasing a small rainbow while dead drifting a #16 Prince Nymph with a #14 Glo Bug trailer with a strike indicator.

However, after no other bites, we moved downriver. I fished with Mark's black/olive #10 Wooly Bugger with a #15 Green Caddis trailer set-up, and caught my first trout of the day, a scrappy 11 incher. Meanwhile, Mark caught and released another trout and lost one.

Going further down into the canyon, Mark caught another fish and I lost one. "I'm going to hook another trout in this pool," I stated confidently as we walked back upriver and fished in the pool where I had previously landed a trout. Within minutes, I landed my second fish of the day.

We hooked a total of 10 fish, landing 6, not bad for a couple of hours in the late morning. We then decided to fish downriver in the "planted section" of the canyon. We passed a dozen anglers along the way as we drove along Highway 89, but the numbers thinned out as we backed away from the bridge area and Carson River Resort Campground.

We drove down to the river to a prime pool where Eric and Neal Lynberg of Ben Lomond and their dad, Gene, and mom, Betty were fishing. "I tried walking up and down the river and didn't get a bite, but my wife and sons landed three rainbows to 12 inches using salmon eggs in the pool," said Gene.

I tossed out crickets, nightcrawlers and salmon eggs in the pool, but to no avail, though I had several bites. Mark caught and released a small 7 inch wild rainbow while fly fishing. Meanwhile, the Lynberg family left the pool and Mark and I had the river to ourselves.

As the sun beat down on the sagebrush-lined canyon walls, I began to get warm in my waders. I decided to toss out a black and gold Panther Martin spinner and immediately hooked up a fish, a 10 inch planter rainbow.

However, after no more bites I tried below a chute downriver and right away hooked up another trout. Mark had to leave to go to his job as a teacher in a child development center in South Lake Tahoe, so I was left fishing the entire section of river by myself. I moved upstream to a hole, hidden from the road, and the best bite of the day began. It was strange; these fish wouldn't hit flies or bait readily, but they absolutely went berserk on the Panther Martins.

I caught and released fish for an hour, hooking a trout on just about every other cast. I kept a couple of trout that were hooked deep. As I tried for a larger fish to fill my limit, I lost my "hot" Panther Martin on a fish that broke my frayed line. I switched over to a silver/blue Cripplure, and hooked and landed the largest fish of the day, an 18 inch, 2 pound, 4 ounce rainbow. What a great day of fishing!

Stafford Lehr, DFG biologist, noted that the East and West Forks of the Carson rivers have few rivals as heavily stocked "put and take" fisheries. The East Fork receives 8800 pounds of catchable rainbows per year, in addition to special trout plants of trophy rainbows by Alpine County Chamber of Commerce and Fish and Game Commission.

Lehr said that the density of fish on both forks is below 20 pounds per surface acre, as opposed to other East Slope streams, such as the Walker River, where the density is 60 to 90 fish per acre. However, he emphasized that the fish on the wild trout section on the East Fork have improved in size and numbers since the zero limit regulations have gone into effect.

The increasing size of the fish in the wild trout section was evidenced by the 21 inch trout that Mark caught on the morning I fished with him. In addition, he also caught and released a 25 inch wild rainbow two weeks before.

Good dry fly patterns to use in the wild trout section or other areas of the river including caddis, stone and stimulators, along with mayflies and midges at time. His favorite nymphs, besides the ones we fished, are weighted stoneflies, bead head nymphs and Zug Bugs.

Though rainbows make up the bulk of the catches, Mark has also caught some small browns and some large Lahontan cutthroats in the sections we fished. Fall, when the browns move upriver to spawn, is the top time to pursue the browns. The browns are wild.

The Lahontans are mostly brood stock from Heenan Lake that DFG released into the river every year. This year the DFG put 75 Lahontans, totalling 150 pounds, after spawning the fish in late April after Heenan iced out, according to Dennis Redfern at the American River Trout Hatchery.

Lodging, groceries, bait and tackle and camping are available in the Markleeville and Woodfords areas. For fishing, lodging and camping information, contact the Alpine Chamber of Commerce in Markleeville, (530) 694-2475, Carson River Resort, (530) 694-2229, and Woodfords Station in Woodfords, (530) 694-2930. You can also read hands-on articles by Mark Wiza at our Tahoe Area Reports & Articles.