33 Hole

 

This is a picture of 33 Hole at Lake Mead. It is a well-known local spot for fishing, and one of the closest to Las Vegas. Like so many spots at Lake Mead, you need to hike to get to the water. I can imagine that back in the ‘80s this spot would have been great when Lake Mead had a lot more water than it currently has. But it still offers some great fishing today. This is still part of the Las Vegas Bay area, meaning there is an inlet in this area making this a natural feeding zone for fish.

To get to the water, you need to hike down the hills from the Pitch Fork parking area. For that reason, I postponed my trip here to wait for some cooler weather before attempting the hike. It was late winter when I decided to make the trip down. Based on some maps I decided where I wanted to go, not realizing the maps were old and outdated. I ended up taking the Owl Canyon trail as it appeared to be the shortest hike to the water.

This was a mistake as the water was no longer in this area and I ended up walking double the distance necessary. But it was a lovely hike with some gorgeous landscapes. Not worth dragging all my equipment around, but a nice area to hike. This is one of the many problems when fishing a new location, not knowing how and where to go. But this is not something to fear, this is what adds that little bit of spice to your outing.

The rewards for this exploration can sometimes be unexpected. In this first trip to this spot, I ended up catching loads of striped bass and it seemed fairly easy. That is the thing about luck, you never know when it will be on your side. But that was not where my luck ended. The video I made that day, blew up on YouTube for no logical reason. These are the moments we anglers search for. There is no recipe to follow or steps to take to find it. Some days it just happens, but if you don’t try, it won’t find you.