With a good amount of rain in the area yesterday the Truckee river saw a slight bump in flows, this will mean that the bigger meals like worms, stoneflies and streamers will now be more effective in the next few days. The storm window remains open for the rest of the week and a few weak storm fronts are expected in coming days.

One of the most basic rules of thumb when fishing is dark on dark days and light on light days, keep this in mind when choosing what flies to fish on any given outing. Bugs like lightning bugs, rainbow warriors, and flashback nymphs will tend to be most effective during bright conditions while darker colored nymphs with little to no flash are best during overcast days or periods of low light. Streamer fishing remains fair this week and Sculpin patterns in black or olive are a great way to cover a lot of water while targeting the more aggressive (and often larger) fish in the river. We are still recommending to fish the river from the Boca confluence to the Nevada state line where there is a larger number of slow deep runs which will be the trout's best suited habitat for the winter months.

A friendly reminder: Fishing licenses expire with the new year and you will need to get your 2021 license before your next outing, a customer was in today saying that he was checked by a warden. He is around. Come in to the shop and we can print one for you in minutes!

Access to the Little Truckee is still open as very little snow fell with this last storm, however one good snowstorm and this could be a done deal, please give us a call for the latest road conditions here. Please also be aware that the last rain storm was followed with a light amount of snow which will make the road out there very icy. Use caution when heading out here and carry a shovel and a tow strap. As for the fishing here, it remains very good for both nymphing and dry fly fishing. The window for the baetis hatching has been from around 1-3 and we strongly recommend having both a nymphing rod and a dry fly set up to cover all of your bases here. 6x tippet is also a must for both methods when fishing for these very selective trout. Baetis, Midges and worms are the mainstay here and anglers should have a good assortment of both dries and nymphs.

Pyramid Lake continues to fire this week and these storms should only help the cause. Both indicators and stripping have been effective and we do always recommend having both set-ups at hand to switch off tactics as these trouts preference can change hourly. For stripping the beetles have been putting some nice fish in the net and can be paired with a number of streamers but its hard to beat the midnight cowboy or Estaz Woolly Worms. The indicator fisherman have been doing best on various colors of balanced leeches and the must have colors for these flies would be black, olive and white. Midges are starting to pick up more fish this week and historically early spring is when these flies are best. 7-10 feet has been the best depths but this too can change daily and often hourly so if you're not catching fish mess with your depth as well as adding movement to your flies to entice strikes.

At the shop, we've put together a set of 12 flies for Winter fishing on the Big Truckee. A nice mix of some big meaty stoneflies, baetis, midges and worms that have been working well and should be effective throughout the next couple of months. Check out the online shop for more details here.

Tight Lines,

-TCO Crew

(530) 563-5119