Truckee Tahoe FLy Fishing Report July 9, 2021
With continued hot weather in our region, anyone looking to trout fish should be on the water around sun-up and off before noon to ensure the health of our wild trout. The water temperatures on the Truckee River are now in the low 70’s during the warmest points of the day and anything above 68 degrees is considered unsafe to catch and release fish for trout due to a lack of dissolved oxygen. Please carry a thermometer with you when trout fishing, check the temperatures regularly and call it a day when they hit 68. We do currently have thermometers in the shop and will try our best to keep them in stock for the remainder of the summer.
If getting up at sunrise to fish on the Truckee doesn’t sound too great to you, then consider doing some exploring around some of our many lakes, most of which are still fishing well. With the current weather trends and lack of water we are possibly looking at a full voluntary closure of the Truckee later this summer if water levels get too low or if temps are not dropping enough at night. Please be smart about where and when you fish this summer so we can preserve our wild trout populations.
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report
For those getting a nice early start to the day, there is still a few good hours of fishing to be had here for now. The flows remain strong out of Lake Tahoe at about 375 CFS and in the canyon they are hanging just under 500. If the temps were cooler, this would make for some great conditions, unfortunately this is not the case. We have been throwing around the idea of lobbying for a retrofit of the dam at Lake Tahoe where water is piped from deeper in the lake so we can have both consistent water temps as water is taken deeper from the lake, this would also mean that the river would never run dry during drought years and it would relieve some of the water demand issues down the hill as the city of Reno continues to grow. One major reason the lower Sacramento River is such an excellent fishery is due to these same factors. We would love to talk to any fisheries biologists, scientists or industry professionals on this “pipe dream” to see if it is plausible, if you wish to discuss this in any greater detail please email me at Miles@troutcreekoutfitters.com
Recommended Flies for the Truckee River
Stonedaddies #8, Poxy Back Stones #8-#10, Tungsten Trout Retrievers #10, Pat’s Rubberlegs #8-#10, OCD Caddis #14-#16, G6 Caddis #14-#16, Fox’s Poopahs #16, Splitcase PMD’s #14-#18, TNT PMD’s #14-#16, Jigged PMD’s #14-#16, Dead Drift Cray’s #10, Flexy Floss Worms #12-#14, San Juan Worms #12, Gummy Worms #12, Pheasant Tails #14-#18, Bird’s Nests #14-#16, Hare’s Ears #14-#18
Little Truckee River Fly Fishing Report
The conditions are the opposite of those on the Big Truckee, while water temps are staying in the ideal range of the mid-50’s the flows are now on the low side as they dropped them from 75 CFS to 42 CFS last week. These flows are still considered fishable but are definitely less than ideal. This low water will put these already spooky fish even more on edge and fishing out here will be tougher, but the consistently cold water will keep both the bugs and fish active all day. Using 6x tippet will be best with bugs in a size 18 or smaller and 5x will work just fine for all larger offerings. Both dries and nymphs are working well here although when flows get this low effectively presenting nymphs will become tough, try using unweighted flies to drift more naturally and help avoid getting hung up on the bottom. Dry droppers are great options when flows are on the low side and using a parachute imitating PMD’s or a carpenter ant pattern will be good choices for this method. A double dry fly set up is also a good option right now and using a more buoyant dry first with an emerger trailing 12”-24” behind can be very effective. The caddis hatch can be very good here for those willing to stick it out until dark as they become active once the sun goes over the hill and the hatch can peak right before dark. Don’t be in a rush to leave if fishing the evenings, this can be some of the best fishing of the day!
Recommended Flies for the Little Truckee River
Juju Baetis #16-#20, Anato-Mays #18-#20, Olive Mic Drops #18-#20, Splitcase PMD’s #16-#18, TNT PMD’s #16-#18, Jigged PMD’s #14-#16, Rainbow Assassins #16-#18, Fauci Jigs #14-#16, Perdigon Jigs #16-#18, Zebra Midges #18-#22, Bead Back Midges #18-#22, WD40’s #18-#22, Pheasant Tails #18-#20, Caddistrophic Pupa #18, OCD Caddis #16, Fox’s Poopah #16, Iron Sallies #16, Flexy Floss Worms #14, San Juan Worms #12, Silhouette Dun PMD’s #16, Hackle Stacker PMD’s #16-#18, Melon Quills #16, RS2’s #18-#20, Griffiths Gnats #18-#22, Carpenter Ants #10, Flying Ants #12-#14
Stillwater Fishing Report
Prosser and Stampede have been providing good smallmouth bass fishing, and during low light hours, you do have a good shot at some trout especially if you’re fishing in or near and inlet. Using an indicator with a crawdad pattern or balanced leeches is a great way to target bass, while switching up your flies to various attractor nymphs such as blood midges, pheasant tails, or hare’s ears will work well for trout. Play around with your depth for both species, try starting at 6’-8’. Bass will be spread around most of the lake but tend to like rocky structures and sandy bottoms. Trout will be looking for deep drop offs or any influx of cooler water, and if fishing for them later in the day try setting your indicator as deep as you can. Stripping streamer for both species can be effective but if stripping off the shore, be prepared to lose some flies, getting out on a float tube or boat will be best for this technique. If you have a paddleboard, kayak or any other type of watercraft give it a try on your next lake fishing adventure, just because it’s not meant for fishing doesn’t mean it can’t be used for it, use what you have to get out there!
High elevation lakes have continued to provide good trout fishing most of the day as the higher up the lake is, the cooler the water will be. Using indicators, streamers, and dry flies are all effective and for the most part fishing off the shore can get you in to as many fish as off of a boat. When lake fishing from shore take some time to make observations on shoreline structure, and position yourself on drop-off’s, color changes, off the edges of weed beds, or near any inlets to increase your odds of finding fish. If you’re not having any luck after some time, play around with the other factors you can control such as; fly selection, depth, tippet diameter and different retrieves if streamer fishing. Please feel free to come in to the shop and chat about locations, fly selections or any target species you may be after, we are more than happy to help take some of the angling pressure off of the river and set you up to find new waters.
Recommended Flies for Stillwater fishing
Balanced Leather Leeches #10, Balanced leeches #12, Pyramid Beech Leeches #8, Cutbait midges #10-#12, Ice Cream Cone Midges #12-#16, Chrinocones #16-#18, Zebra Midges #16-#18, Pheasant Tails #14-#18, Hare’s Ears #14-#18, Flexy Floss Worms #12-#14, Lightning Bugs #16-#18, Prince Nymphs #14-#18, Bellyache Minnows #12, Woolly Buggers #6-#12, Twin Lakes Specials #6-#8, Simiseal leeches #12, Damselfly Nymphs #12-#14, Para Adams #14-#18, Callibaetis Spinners #14-#16, Elk Hair Caddis #14-#18, E/C Caddis #14-#18, Carpenter Ants #10, Flying Ants #12-#14, Morrish Hoppers #10-#8, Beefcake Hoppers #8-#10
Thanks again for being a part of our amazing fly fishing community. Let's work together to keep our fishery healthy and thriving.
~ Miles