November 18, 2022 Fly Fishing Report for the Truckee River and Pyramid Lake
Whenever people ask me here in the shop how the fishing is right now, I tend to say it’s great. Obviously, that’s what most fly shop employees will say when posed with this question, and most will say this is a sales tactic to get you to buy stuff and go out fishing. While I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t partially true, personally, the main reason I say this is because I believe that any, and I mean ANY day out fishing is a great day on the water. Therefore the fishing is great, even if the catching isn’t.
Last Monday I went out fishing around Verdi, the water looked great in terms of flows and clarity and the weather was pleasant. Despite my feelings of “fishy conditions” both my friend and I got skunked. That’s right, even fly shop employees get blanked from time to time. Regardless of this fishless day, we had a great day photographing the amazing desert landscape and it was great just spending the day outdoors with a good friend. This mindset can often be lost on people and while there will undoubtedly some degree of frustration felt by these kinds of days, they are also the days that shape us as anglers and harden us to the realities of fishing, it’s not always easy, it’s not always fruitful, but it should always be a great way to spend a day outdoors. So, if you ever ask me how the fishing is right now, you’ll know my answer.
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report & Forecast
With Donner Creek pumping in 110 CFS of water, the Glenshire Drive stretch of the river is flowing around 130 CFS and the fish up here are happier. We’ve had good reports of dry fly fishing up in this area, typically coming off mid-day. The bugs present will be both BWO’s and Midges, with the baetis in a size 18-20 and midges in sizes 18-22. With bugs this small and water this clear, we recommend using 6x tippet to up your odds. The canyon section of the Truckee River is still hanging around 275 CFS just below the confluence of Boca. With these flows, using heavy rigs won’t be quite as vital and as fish push back into the slow deep runs, we’ve been doing best on unweighted flies with size AB or AAA split fished at 6-8 feet, focusing on the tailouts, drop-offs, and seams off boulders in otherwise froggy water. The bite will be best mid-day, so sleep in, drink your coffee and focus on a 11 o’clock start time.
Little Truckee Fly Fishing Report & Forecast
The Little T saw a serious fluctuation in flows over the last week going from 90, down to 30 and back up to 80. Not sure why this happened, and our best guess would be something to do with work being done on the dam. This usually has an adverse effect on the fish activity, but typically a day or two after the fact, it will be business as usual. There have been good hatches of BWO’s and midges coming off mid-day and when fish aren’t showing on top, using BWO’s, midges, worms and eggs have been producing subsurface. As per usual 6x tippet and a stealthy approach will be vital to success out here, so bring your A-game!
Pyramid Lake Fly Fishing Report & Forecast
The Lake continues to fish good overall, but the consistent high-pressure system this last week has made the bite less consistent than the stormy days a few weeks back. We’ve been hearing good reports using both sinking lines with buggers, beetles and boobies, as well as fishing the indo using a dual leech set-up fished at 8-12 feet. The best policy with bright sunny days like these will be to keep your flies in the water and playing around with depth until you find some fish. Another thing to note would be to stick with lighter colored bugs mid-day and switching to darker colors during low light hours or if clouds roll in.
Two more things. We'll be having an early Black Friday Sale at the shop. Watch for news on that. And, we will be doing a Pyramid Lake Seminar hosted by Pyramid Fly Co. here at the shop on December 1st at 6pm. It will be a free event, but due to limited seating we ask you to call and reserve a spot. This will be a primer of the lake including the history and how to fish it and will have great info for both the avid Pyramid angler, and the neophyte alike. We look forward to seeing you there!
- Miles
