Truckee River Fly Fishing Report September 10, 2021
As I sit down to write this new report, the Truckee area has seen its first significant rain storm since July, and it’s starting to feel like fall. We hope that this wet weather will bode well for the re-evaluation of the National Forest Lands closures on the 17th, and we will see the access into TNF land open by the end of this month. As of now the current closures will continue to limit fishing in our area to the lower section of the Truckee River from Hirschdale to the Nevada state line. Please continue to hold off fishing the Little Truckee or any of our near-by lakes for now. These fisheries should definitely see an improvement in fishing when they do reopen with this little break and as fall weather continues.
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report and Forecast
The hoot owl restrictions have been lifted as the cooler weather and shorter days have made water temperatures no longer an issue. Although the upper sections of river along 89 south and through town are closed due to the National Forest Lands closure, the lower section of river falls on state land and is open to fishing, which has been best anyways as this is where flows remain the highest along the entire watershed. Currently the canyon section of river has been holding at around 200 CFS which is much better than both upstream along 89 south and downstream into Nevada where flows are below 100.
We have been doing well with nymphs, and both the indicator and tight-line fishing have been good bets. Streamers and dry flies have been improving daily as well and we anticipate these techniques will continue to improve over the coming weeks.
We have been seeing a shift in bug selection from typical summer selections such as caddis, golden stones and crawdads to the smaller bugs of fall such as BWO’s, Midges and smaller sizes of PMD’s down to an #18. 5x tippet will be best paired with these small nymphs especially with the current water levels of the Truckee. The most consistent streamer patterns for the Truckee are most anything imitating a sculpin in olive, although other colors like natural, white, black or yellow certainly have their days and should not be overlooked. When fishing streamers we’ve found the best way to fish them is fast, in both the retrieve and the time spent on each run. The dry fly bite has also improved as flows come down and weather cools. Typically we’ve been seeing hatches of PMD’s or BWO’s happening mid-day, and while this bite is spotty it’s a good idea to be prepared with your dry fly box when a hatch occurs and fish aren’t interested in you sub surface offerings. But do you work and check the riverbed for what bugs are moving about, or hanging on the the rocks in the moving water.
Recommended Flies for the Truckee River
Juju Baetis #16-#20, Anato-Mays #16-#18, Rainbow Warriors #16-#18, Lightning Bugs #16-#18, Flexy Floss Worms #14, San Juan Worms #12, Gummy Worms #12, Globugs #12-#14, Olive Mic Drops #16-#20, TNT PMD’s #16-#18, Bottom Rollers in sherbert #8, Zebra Midges #16-#20, Hackle Stackers #16-#18, Melon Quills #16, Mole Flies #16-#18, Morrish Hoppers #8-#12, Mimic Hoppers #10-#12, Chubby Chernobyls #6-#12, Para Adams #16-#18, Griffiths Gnats #16-#20
Little Truckee Fly Fishing Update
As of now the Little Truckee remains closed due to statewide National Forest closures. Please respect these closures and avoid fishing out here until national forest land reopens this fall.
Note: I will be leaving on a vacation to Montana for 2 weeks and will be taking a hiatus on putting out any more weekly reports until I return. If you have any questions on current conditions please call the shop or send us an email. Thank you to everyone who has been reading my reports and supported our shop, it has been an amazing year and we look forward to supplying you with all necessary gear and info for our local waters for many more years to come!