TCO Fishing Report – February 12, 2021
Truckee River
Wow, the Truckee River has been fishing better than we have seen it in a long time. The current flows in the canyon are hovering around 300-350 and the water is running clear. On the bluebird days it feels like springtime and the fish must be thinking the same as we are starting to find more fish moving into the deep riffles. This typical pre-spawn water for the rainbows is medium fast water at a depth of about 2-4 feet. Be sure to cover these runs thoroughly, starting at the tail out of the run and working your way up to the faster water at the top as fish can be holding anywhere. Start close in and work your way out to the opposite bank, move up and repeat. The deep buckets are always great holding water in the winter and spring months as well and should certainly still be on your radar. When fishing these runs set your indicator as deep as it can go (8-9 feet) and add split shot until you on or near the bottom. As the same with fishing riffles, start at the back of the run and work your way up all the way to the fast water at the top as fish can be found all throughout this water. Although we have explored a lot of different sections of river this week and found consistent results most everywhere, in general the best fishing will continue to be from the Boca confluence to the Nevada state line where the flows are at their highest. We have had great luck fishing with stonefly nymphs paired with either a mayfly nymph or a midge pupa, and don’t forget the split shot! Streamer fishing remains good as well and 2-3 inch sculpin patterns in olive, natural, black or white has been a great way to move fish.
Flies for the Truckee River
Pat’s Rubberlegs in brown or coffee/brown #8-#10, Tungsten Trout Retrievers in chocolate or black #8, Gummy worms in red or pink #12, San Juan worms in red or pink #12, Flexy floss worms in red or pink #12, BH Lightning Bugs in purple or pearl #16-#18, tungsten juju baetis in purple or baetis #16-#18, Copper Johns in Black or purple #16-#18, BH Prince nymphs #16-#18, BH Pheasant Tails in natural or purple #16-#18, Tungsten zebra midges in black or red #16-#18, Wier’s Sculpin #6, Mini loop sculpin #8, Sculpzilla black or olive #4-#8, Near-nuff sculpin in olive or tan #8, Dead drift cray in olive or natural #8. Check out our ready-to-go pack of 12 flies for the Big Truckee here.
Little Truckee River
Snow on Stampede dam road continues to limit access on the Little Truckee. Those with high clearance 4x4 vehicles are able to get back to the inlet as of this week but that could change with the next few snowstorms in the forecast. Feel free to give the shop a call about the latest conditions here.
Flies for the Little Truckee
Tungsten juju baetis in purple or baetis #18-20, Zebra midges in black, red or olive #18-#22, RS2’s in olive #20, WD40’s in gray #18-#20, bead back midge gray or black #20, flexy floss worm in red or pink #12, Micro-mays in olive #16, Pheasant Tail in purple or natural #18-#20, copper johns in black or purple #18, Gabriel’s Trumpet in black #16, parachute BWO’s in #18-#20, BWO hackle stackers #18-#20, Mole Flies in BWO #16-#18, Griffiths Gnat #18-#22, Dandelion Midge in RS2 #18-#20.
Pyramid Lake
Fishing at Pyramid remains a little spotty and your best bet will be keeping a close eye on the weather patterns and time your outing during a low pressure system. Fish are taking all the typical methods out here and its always wise to have a variety of flies as well as separate rods set up with a sinking line and a floating line to change tactics to find their preferred presentation for the day. Fishing midges tends to be best when weather is calmer and heavy swells aren’t present and balanced leeches can be best during times of larger swells to add movement to you flies. Stripping is ideal during low light conditions. Being adaptive out here is always the best policy, if one beach isn’t producing then move to another. We are excited to announce our first article on our blog in our Fish Talk “Education” section. It covers everything you’ll ever need to know about Pyramid Lake. Broken down into 4 parts it covers the lakes history, the history of the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, fishing tactics and gear for the lake, and lastly the seasons. I truly hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! Please check out our new series about Pyrmaid here on the website.
Flies for Pyramid
Pyramid beach leeches in black or brown #8, Tyler’s balanced leeches in white or midnight cowboy #10, Moo midges in red or wine #8, patriot midges in #10, Estaz woolly worms in pearl or black/chartreuse #6, Pyramid beetles in chartreuse/white or black #8, BH Flashabou woolly buggers in black #8, Booby flies in chartreuse/white. We also have a set of flies ready to go for Pyramid online and at the shop.
Tight Lines!
-TCO Crew
(530) 563-5119