TCO Fishing Report - December 20th, 2024 for the Truckee River, Little Truckee River and Pyramid Lake
December 20th, Fly Fishing Report for the Truckee River, Little Truckee River and Pyramid Lake
Happy holidays everyone, we hope this week is filled with joy, friends, family and maybe a fish or two! Thank you all that made a conscious effort to shop small this year, these seemingly small decisions can make a world of difference to a little shop like ours! Merry Fishmas!
While the weather this week was beautiful, sunny and just that perfect amount of brisk, this incoming storm looks to be warm with a heavy amount of precipitation, and the current conditions will be sure to change in just a few short days. The forecast is showing that it will be mostly rain out of this storm, and a lot of it. This will likely affect the Truckee, bringing up flows and potentially muddying it up a bit, but the river should remain fishable all the while. We also expect it improve the already amazing bite at Pyramid. A huge part of fishing has always been about understanding the cycles of the seasons and weather patterns, how they affect the various fisheries, and adjusting tactics accordingly. With a system such as this one moving in, a lot of people will put their gear away for the time being, or even for the rest of the winter. You bet that we will still be fishing though! For the Pyramid anglers in particular, storms like this excite us, as we know that the drop in barometric pressure, the overcast and the waning moon could all line up to make some excellent “catching conditions” out at the salty pond, even if the “fishing conditions” are less than ideal! With the holiday crowds, wet weather and blackout dates on the mountains this week, we encourage you to give fishing a try this year!
Truckee River Fishing Report & Forecast
The Truckee River fished great this week during the sunny days and warmer air temps. For nymph fishing, the name of the game has been going small on your dropper fly, down to a size 18-20 in most cases.
With the storm rolling in, expect the fish to switch gears on their preferences, especially when the water begins to gain some color. Stoneflies, worms, eggs and even crawdads will all be your best friend once flows come up. These larger meals become dislodged off the bottom more easily during these rain events. This also means that you should also increase your tippet diameter, based on both fly size and water clarity, 3x is certainly not out of the realm of possibility this week. It’s always nice to fish big hooks and heavy tippet for that extra bit of security when fighting those bruiser Truckee trout.
Streamer fishing will also be a great way to cover water this week, and sculpin patterns in black or olive will be solid choices. A lot of times a rain event like this after weeks of snow will actually bring up water temps, making fish more active and willing to hunt down their meal instead of needing to get bumped on the nose to take a fly. However, with regards to the water temperature, it will also be a question of how much ice and snow will flow into the river. Keep an eye on that USGS data this weekend.
Little Truckee River Fishing Report & Forecast
As of today, there is a fair amount of snow on the road out to the Little Truckee. We are recommending not to attempt to get out here and give these fish a much need break over the holidays. Getting stuck in an area with no cell reception is not a great way to spend Christmas week.
Pyramid Lake Fishing Report & Forecast
After another epic week out here, we are going to call it.. The fall of 2024 has been the best we’ve ever seen. If there’s anyone who is reading this that has yet to experience this lake or just hasn’t made it out yet this year, all we can say is; you’re missing out.
While in some ways fishing out here is pretty straight forward, it’s not easy fishing, and 1-2 fish days or the occasional skunk will certainly happen. However, this lake is nothing short of magical when the stars align. The amount of 10-15 pound fish we see out here on a regular basis is mind blowing. It’s to the point now where Pyramid Lake Lodge doesn’t even hand out 10 pound club pins anymore, and they’re out of 15’s before the new year. Let’s just hope the good times keep rolling and the lake fishes this well all season!
The bite remains spread out along most beaches right now, with no real rhyme or reason as to what kind of structure they are really looking for. We’ve been finding them on deep sandy drop offs along the southern beaches, in the shallow rocky areas typical of the middle of the lake, and some of the deeper rocky points along the northern beaches. We would recommend basing your beach choice on the wind levels and direction. A slight cross wind in towards the beach is typically ideal, not a direct head wind, and definitely not a tail wind. Birds have also been very good indicators of where the bait may be. If you find a good group of birds, you are likely to find good fishing so long as the depth and wind are in your favor.
Balanced leeches remain the best choice for the bobber and we have been continuing to find our best luck on dark colors with larger profiles. The midges have been working a bit too, and it’s worth beginning to mix some into the rotation if you aren’t having much luck. They tend to work especially well on the areas with a rockier bottom.
Our average depth has been around 8-10, often starting shallower and closer into shore in the early morning hours and fishing deeper and further out as the day progresses and the sun gets high. When the bite slowed during the standard mid-day lull this week, we deepened our flies to 12-14 feet bombed out a cast just a bit further and were able to scratch out a few more while the rest of the beach remained quiet. The strip bite has slowed a bit, but there are still plenty of fish being caught on the standard bugger, booby or beetle combos. Especially off those sandier and more gradual drop offs.
As always, we love talking about this lake and getting people set up right. So stop in and talk with us about the flies, gear, rigging, clothing, the use of a ladder or anything else about this unique fishery and we’ll get you headed in the right direction!