TCO Fishing Report - January 10th, 2025 for the Truckee River, Little Truckee River and Pyramid Lake
With the sunny days forecasted this week, there will be a lot of good fishing to be had on our local rivers and maybe even some of the lakes in the area. However, Pyramid Lake will probably not be one of these because this is a weather driven fishery and sunny days with calm winds will almost certainly make the bite tough out here. As we head into the post-holiday lulls here in town, the river is just about as quiet as you will see all year, but the fishing is pretty dang good. If peace, quiet and solitude is what you’re after when you go fishing, now is a great time to get out there!
Truckee River Fishing Report & Forecast
We are seeing great conditions on the river right now, with ideal flows along most sections, water temps in the low 40’s to upper 30’s and active fish.
Here in town, we are continuing to see good shots at dry fly fishing around Glenshire Drive using baetis and midges mid-day, as well as good nymphing when hatches aren’t present. The canyon section of the Truckee will have the highest and most consistent flows, making for some really happy (and often bigger) fish. For those after the largest fish in the river, it will be hard to beat the Nevada side this time of year, as these lower elevation sections are really the best in the winter.
With the lack of weather right now, access is open along all areas of the Truckee and there are no sections restricted from snow. Not to mention the sunny days have made for some very pleasant fishing weather. We have been catching fish in water that is slightly faster than expected, likely because we haven’t seen the water temps persist in the 30’s just yet. We have also been finding fish in the typical slow tail outs, bubble lines and frog water as well, and this water type is where we have been putting most of our effort right now.
The fish don’t appear to be keyed in on any one hatch, we are finding them on all the bugs mentioned in our previous reports: stones, worms, eggs, midges and baetis. They have all put fish in the net for us this week. The streamer bite will be a bit tough with the cold and sunny days this week, and we would go as far to say you will have better odds finding a fish on a dry fly than a streamer right now!
Little Truckee River Fishing Report & Forecast
The access to the Little Truckee remains open and it is fishing well once again this week. Baetis and midges will be by-and-large what these fish are looking for, both on top and subsurface. With flows dropping a bit this week, currently sitting at 135 CFS, we should see the dry fly fishing really pick up. This will be even more likely with the mild weather this week. Nymphing will still be great along most sections of the river using baetis or midges paired with a worm or an egg.
Pyramid Lake Fishing Report & Forecast
We have finally seen Pyramid slow down after 2+ months of some of the best fishing we have seen out here. While this is probably from multiple factors, the big ones would likely be due to the time of year and the lack of weather. Is there still a chance of having an epic day of catching out here this week? Absolutely, but odds are unless you are really dialed out here, you will probably be working for them until we see the conditions change.
Here are a few ways to up your odds when the conditions get tough out here:
1.) Fish hard during the early morning window. Often when the forecast is calling for bright, sunny days at the lake, your best bet to find a window of good fishing is before, or during the first hour of sunup. While sometimes the evening bite can be equally as good, we have consistently seen the morning fishing the best.
2.) After the sun has popped up, fish deep. One of the big reasons that sunny days slow the fishing down is because it often means that the fish prefer to hang in deeper water. This is when looking for beaches with deeper drop offs and setting those flies deeper under the indicator or switching to the sinking line will help get you a few more.
3.) Give them a moving target. When the lake is sunny AND glassy, this can be some of the toughest times to get a fish. When conditions are like this, we will often switch to stripping flies, as mentioned before, you can fish deeper, but this also is a good way to impart motion on your flies when the lack of chop on the lake doesn’t move your flies.
4.) Fish smaller flies. This goes for both indicator fishing and stripping. While the fish will more readily remain along the shallower beaches during high pressure days in the spring, there is always a good possibility that there are still a few fish in shallow on sunny days in the winter. When fishing at some of the shallower beaches during these conditions, try fishing smaller sized bugs. While most people will immediately equate this to midges, this will also be the case for stripping flies, leeches, as well as other “trout bugs”. We are a big fan of mixing it up on those slow days out here and have had some really great days on some off the wall fly patterns that we mostly think of fishing in the rivers for trout half the size of these bruiser cutties. Just make sure that the hook is up to snuff and consider lightening up your tippet a bit too, maybe dropping down to 2x.
5.) Take out a boat or float tube to cover more water and fish deeper. This is another tactic that we see mostly in the spring, but when the fish are hanging just out of reach of shore anglers during these conditions, a float tube is a great way to get in front of them. Just be sure to always look very closely at the weather, keep an eye on the changing of conditions, and use a PFD. Please note that conditions can change rapidly and float tubing on the lake can go from being perfectly safe to pretty sketchy very quickly.
We hope these tactics help those of you heading out to the lake this week. If any of you reading this have some luck using these tips, please give us a shout via our social media platforms, call the shop, or stop in for a good conversation with a celebratory beverage!