Comins Lake

[Jwalczak]

I was wondering if anyone has been to comins lake recently. Everything that I have read online seems to be a few years old. I understand the pike took over and they stopped stocking trout, but are there still fish to catch? Trout or Pike.
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[vegasback2id]

There are pike to be caught. I believe that there is still some trout in there but not sure. Cave Lake is just up the canyon from there. Plenty of trout to catch there. Some nice browns and lots of planter rainbows. Nothing big but you will catch alot.
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[cacoon]

Comins used to be my favorite lake, There were a couple of times I would leave LV at 4:00 am be on the lake by 8:00 fish till 2 or 3 pm then take a nap and head back. I would come back with 5 trout 2-4 lbs and maybe a bass or 2. That was before the pike and most recently the mercury problem. I did fish there last August 2008 looking to catch a monster pike, trout were no where. Pike were the first problem, then the mercury. I have caught numerous 4lb rainbows there through the years. Cave Lake is a beautiful place easy to catch trout, just small. Illipah is about 40 miles up the road to Eureka the trout are a little bigger little harder to catch but lots of fun. Comins was awesome in its time.
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[Dan79]

From our friends at NDOW

[/url][size 2]COMINS LAKE[/size]
[size 2]While the ice is safe here, after a fall electro-fishing survey by the Nevada Department of Wildlife, no trout were contacted and this lake is assumed to have no trout left due to the pike. [/size]

That’s why I was so bent when I heard that someone may have introduced or tried to introduce Pike into the Lakes at Kirch.
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[Jwalczak]

Thanks for the Info Gentlemen. I have been wanting to make the trip. I guess it would be a pike fishing trip.
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[BETO736]

WOW!!
That sucks, I went trout fishing there in 2005 and my wife and I caught the limit in less than two hours, and it was her first time fishing.
I wanted to take my kids this spring trout fishing there, but I guess not.
Any other good trout lakes in the area?
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[2nakiller]

Cave Lake is just up the hill, home of the state record brown trout, pretty nice place to camp, but I'm more into stream fishing.
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[lvrider]

I have been to cave lake probably 5 years ago. We did catch trought and lots of crawdads. They also have nice campgrounds within walking distance of the lake. The lake is small enough to walk around. They are pretty big on crawdading up there. The park people told me to put my fish guts in the water for the crawdads. I guess some people even walk around in the water looking for them with lanterns at night..
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[cacoon]

The crawfish are awesome. The way we catch them is wait till its dark Then along the shallow areas below the group area we walk with a net that is about 6 ft long. We hit the water with a light to find them. Then reach the net out and scoop them. We tried the fish gut thing and found we caught just as many without. If you leave the light too long on them they run to deep water. We would catch about 25 to 50 in about 30 to 45 minutes, take them back to camp and eat them the next day. Kids love to catch them I like to eat them. We do that at least one night while at Cave Lake.
Cacoon
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[BigE]

[cool]HYey cacoon, that sounds like fun. I have been to cave lake once and it is very nice. I didn't know about the crawdads though. I have never tried them but I would imagine they are good eating. How do you cook them up? I heard from another guy that you have to make them poop first by putting them in salt water. Or was he just pulling my leg? I have a trap already and am going to hit up a lake in the eastern sierras of calif. that has some real big ones. Thanks.
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[Dan79]

You can do that or not, the salting. I have had them both ways not a huge diff. to me at least. Fish guts are by far the best bait by the way. In a good crawdad water I have had dad's, in the the middle of the day, come up and try to eat live fish on a stringer... (a stringer in the water from the bank, not hung from a boat, that'd be something) Good stuff
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[cacoon]

I agree with the salt advice had the little lobsters both ways and could not tell the difference. I have never had them attack my fish on a stringer at Cave Lake but Illapah I have and they are much bigger at Illipah. I want to get a crawdad trap and mark it with a buoy and set it out all night see if there are any big ones down there. Just like deadliest catch show just on a small scale and no 40 ft waves. I just boil them alive with garlic salt or a crab boil mixture then eat the meat in the tails.
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[TheWhizzle]

I've heard you can flush out their systems by keeping them in a tank (or cooler) over night and feed them corn meal. Kinda like stuffing the little buggers
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[Demolitron]

I've done the cornmeal thing and it works well. But then again, I don't really care about purging the bugs at all.

One big thing is the freshness. I've bought craw in the store that have been pre-cooked. I boiled them up with Crab Boil spices, lemons, butter, onions, smoked sausage, and potatoes. Those taste alright but not that great.

The first time I went up to Eagle Valley and caught fresh live craw was a magical culinary experience.

Fresh live craw, boiled up in a pot FULL of Zaterans Crab Boil and sprinkled with extra Cajun spices is something else entirely. They taste very sweet, like snow crab crossed with lobster. The texture is like a lot like shrimp but a little softer. Rich and delicious; even better when you've got the great outdoors surrounding you.

Oh, and if you can get around the ick factor, suck the heads! The liver and "mustard" in there is really good. Don't suck too many though as the "mustard" is high in cholesterol.

I'll be up to Cave lake this year and see if I can get a heap of craw to bring back and boil up.
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