As the days continue to get longer and the weather warms up, if you haven’t begun your fishing season yet I would certainly consider it! With the minimal snow pack this year, spring is going to be a great time to get out and enjoy our waters.
The Truckee River Fly Fishing Report
The Truckee river continues to come up in flows this week, but the water is still running clear making for some excellent fishing. We are seeing a handful of Skwala dries coming off and they will make for a good dry dropper combo paired with a BWO nymph or zebra midge fished 1-3 feet blow it. Using both an Indicator or euro nymph set-up has been another excellent way to go as fish are being found in a variety of water types, from the deep buckets to medium fast riffles or in the slower glides and tailouts. Streamer fishing will be another option for those “head hunters” targeting the elusive big browns found here. They have been few and far between this spring, but it’s just a matter of time before they start showing up with regularity. We recommend going big this time of year if an effort to move these guys, think articulated with a lot of flash!
The entire river is in great shape and exploring some of the less fished stretches will be a good choice in the coming weeks. With the warmer weather, the section along 89 South should be turning on any time now, while Glenshire down to state line remains consistent. There is still a good mix of winter bugs such as BWO’s and midges with Rhyacophia Caddis and March Browns also beginning to make an appearance. While the Skwala bite has been less then stellar so far this year using dries, the nymphs have been working very well and make for a great attractor nymph when paired with the smaller offerings. Love it or hate it, the egg bite has also been good as the rainbows are approaching their spawn and when all else fails it will be a good fall back.
Recommended Flies for The Truckee River
Pat’s Rubberlegs in brown #8-#10, T’s Drummond Stones #8, Jigged Poxy Back Stones in dark #10, Stonedaddys #8, Zebra Midges in red or black #16-#18, Juju Baetis camo #16-#18, Micro mays in olive #16-#18, Pheasant Tails #14-#16, Prince Nymphs #14-#16, Micro Winter Stones #16, Unreal Eggs #12, Flexy Floss Worms in red or pink #12, San Juan Worms in red or pink #12, Gummy Worms in red or pink #12, Stimulators in black #8-#10, Para Madam X’s in black #8-#10, Flush Floater Stones in Skwala #8, Para BWO’s #16
Fly Fishing Report for The Little Truckee River
Fishing on the Little Truckee has been a little spotty this week with little dry fly activity and fish quickly approaching their spawn. While the flows have been great, the fishing has been tough and the best spots to fish have been either at the top parking lot or at the inlet into Boca. When fish are found rising using a small BWO emerger or Skwala dry with a dropper has been working well. We are also seeing some winter stones making an appearance still and using both nymphs and adults has been putting fish in the net as well. While the flows might be up we still highly encourage you to use 6x tippet for these spooky fish when fishing the smaller offerings while the larger bugs such as Skwalas will be best with 4x or 5x tippet. Please start to keep an eye out for spawning fish and their rock-bed Redds here as we close in on the spring spawn and avoid targeting, harassing or spooking these fish at all costs to continue a viable wild trout population here. If you are unsure what to look for we are happy to explain, stop into the shop or give us a call!
Recommended Flies for The Little Truckee
Para BWO’s #18-#20, Mole Flies in BWO #18-#20, Burk’s Silhouette Dun BWO #20, Griffiths Gnats #18-#22, Elk Hair Caddis in black #18 (for winter stone dries), Stimulators in black #10, Para Madam X’s in black #10, Flush Floater Stones in Skwala #10, Zebra Midges in red or black #20-#22, BH Back Midge in black or gray #18-#20, RS2’s in olive or gray #18-#20, Palomino midges in black #18-#20, Juju Baetis in #18-#20, Micro mays in olive #18, Pheasant Tails in #18-#20, Prince Nymphs #16-18, Micro winter stones in #16-#18, Copper Johns in black #16-#18,. Flexy Floss Worms in red or pink #12, San Juan Worms in red or pink #12
Pyramid Lake Fly Fishing Report:
Pyramid remains hit-or-miss this week, however with a storm in the forecast for next week, the fishing should pick up, if not only for the few days of stormy weather. Fish remain keyed in on midges and the smaller sizes have been doing best. Anglers here have been fishing down to a 12-14 to increase their odds of hooking up, however landing a large fish on such small hooks has been a different story. If fishing small bugs for 20+ pound trout isn’t your thing, stripping streamers, buggers, boobies or beetles with stout 15 to 20 pound tippet has been working as well and should certainly not be counted out. We have yet to see the fish consistently cruising on the shallower beaches yet as is typical in the spring, but we expect this to begin really soon as air temps continue to rise into the 70’s and the water will continue to warm, triggering these fishes instinct to spawn.
Recommended Flies for Pyramid Lake:
Albino Winos #10, Cutbait Midges #8-#10, Ice Cream Cone Midges in red or black #10-#12, Moo Midges in red or wine #8, Midnight Cowboys #6, Estaz Woolly Worms in pearl or chartreuse #6, Woolly Buggers in black or white #8, Swim Coaches in gray, Mini Loop Sculpins #8, Boobies in Chartreuse/White #8, Pyramid Beetles in Chartreuse/White or Black #8
Stop by the shop and grab some flies for this coming week’s action or check out all of the new gear that has been arriving from Simms, Orvis and Sage. Spring is the start of the fishing season for many, so remember to get your new Fishing License before you head out to the water. We’re also having an intro Fly Tying 101 class on April 8th. Call the shop to reserve a spot for the zoom call.
Tight lines!
Miles and the TCO crew
Great photo of Rainbow face from Jason Shields.
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