It has been an amazing couple of weeks on the truckee and will hopefully continue as this winter/spring continues. Lets cut to the chase, the fish have been big for the most part and I would advise using at least 6 # test leader/tippet. My set up consist of 9 ft 10 # test flouro leader (2x) trimmed back to the taper (about 3 ft off) to 4 ft of 3x (7# test) down to the first fly. I use 4x for droppers. With the occasional storm the water gets slightly off colored and you can get away with heavier line, especially as you go down river. As far as bugs go, dark stones and midges. I tie a brown/golden stone and that works nicely. Below the stone try midges, princes, copper johns, and pheasant tails. Sizes from 14 to 18 have worked. As the water warms up be sure to have BWO's in plenty, Olive PT's imitate this bug well. Fish have been caught in numbers all from verdi down through the the rest of the truckee. Look for shelves and slower pools, fish have been stacked up and if you get a grab from one be sure to work that spot over because there should be more.
Truckee River Fishing Report November 9th, 2011
Its that time of year again! The browns are getting ready to spawn and are moving around a lot more, that means streamers. And streamers on the truckee are best in black and olive. I like to fish a size 4 cone head black sculpin with some red flash to make it look injured, fish cant resist an easy meal, and I will throw a hatch of the day on the bottom. This time of the year a WD-40 or any variation of dark baetis will do the trick. Also, start looking for nocturnal stonefly shells. Those are one of the few larger winter bugs which makes fighting a healthy fish a whole lot easier (sz 12 stone vs sz 20 baetis). Good luck and dress warm! Prepare for a cold day and you will always be comfortable.
Truckee River Fishing Report October 10th, 2011
Flows have spiked with the recent storm, but that only gets the big fish moving around so don't be intimidated by higher flows! Currently the cfs is back to around 500 which is what we have been seeing since september in NV.
Finally some cooler weather!! Although it doesn't seem to want to stick around, if you check the weather you will see that were supposed to be in the low 80's in reno by mid october. The nights are still cool though, keeping the water temps down. Streamers have been working well in the morning, evening, and with cloud cover/storm. October caddis sz 12-14 should start poppin off the surface soon so look to fish those, also baetis. The fish eat these guys all year round and they are a perfect fly to string on the bottom of every rig. Get some chocolate wd 40's, or anything that looks close sz 18. Depending on how many flies you feel comfortable throwing around, try a black beaded bugger size 8 with a red fox squirrel or october caddis below also weighted, then that WD-40 on the bottom. Fish this all dead drift under an indicator. Be sure to have enough weight on and go out and fish your favorite spot!!
Truckee River Fishing report September 23nd, 2011
Were nearly through september now and the water flows and temps are great on the truckee. The flies that are working on the Nevada side, as everyone will tell you, are brown and black baetis 16-18, orange and tan caddis 14-16, golden or brown stones 8-12, and crawfish 6-8. Most people are done fishing the crawfish as the molt seems to have come and gone too quickly for my liking but I have still had a lot of action, especially in the mornings. One key thing to note, that most people miss is that certain hatches occur at specific times of the day. Baetis like the cool water as warmer air like we have in the a.m. Caddis like the opposite so fish those in the evening. Craws seem to work best early in the morning just as that sun begins to kiss the water. Thats when the crawfish are most active and the fish know that. Fish are still holding in cooler water section, so be sure to focus your attention on dark riffles and faster water. Good luck!!!
Truckee River fishing report July 20th, 2011
Reading the graph:
The blue line represents the instantaneous flows on the river at that time. The time is on the x-axis, and the flow rate (CFS) is on the y-axis. The yellow triangles represent the average flows for that time. When looking at a graph of a river you don't know well enough to interpret the cfs value, just compare it to the average flow rate. When the blue line gets neat the triangles, its time to get your butt to the river.
Flows below boca dam
It looks like the flow rate is starting to stabilize. Unfortunately it is starting to stabilize at about 1100 cfs, about 200% of normal, so it looks like high flows are something that we and the fish have to get used to. The fish will grow fat and strong, the only thing is you have to learn to fish this high water if you want to get into the good fish. If using any nymph rig add a lot of weight and a few extra feet of tippet than you think you need, cast above the hole you are trying to fish to allow your fly enough time to sink. Getting down deep is key. As far as flies go, its all about the caddis. Just about any version of the caddis whether it be; pupu, cased, peeping, weirs, chamois, birds nest, hares ear, etc. Sizes 12-14. Run this under a yellow stone size 12 or a green drake size 6-8.
The Truckee above boca is fishing well with flows low enough to make it possible to wade across in many spots. Pocket water is still to fast to fish but larger seams and deeper areas are holding lots of big fish. Same flies as always this time of year, caddis, stones, and drakes. As the temperatures climb look for the fish to move to faster water, best time to fish is late in the day and into the evening.
Truckee River July 16th, 2011
Flows at the town of truckee:
The flows are down and the fish are hungry! At least for the entire section of river above Boca. There are lots of bugs on the surface so come prepared with an arsenal of cream and brown caddis along with tan may flies, stoneflies, and green drakes. Get the lighter color caddis in size 12 and 14 and the darker color in 14 or 16. There are some stoneflies buzzin around too so be sure to bring some golden stones. If you are tying the stones up yourself I had better luck with a brown stonefly with a yellow abdomen as opposed to the traditional bright gold/yellow thing they sell you in the stores. The fish are also taking the cream colored stone, this looks basically the same as the traditional golden, but has a cream abdomen. Fish are also taking green caddis, although z-wing and chenille caddis don't seem to be quite as effective as dubbed caddis pupa with a soft hackle thorax.
Truckee River July 13, 2011
Flows below Boca:
The flows have been coming down!! Pretty steadily actually. If you look at the graph you can see the CFS on a steady decline from over 2000 to 1250 where they are now. These levels are actually fishable although the river is not safe to wade across unless you have a very shallow spot. As the temperatures continue to climb into the high 90's as we approach august look for more caddis to be coming off the surface. In late summer it is common to see clouds of brown caddis right at sundown about as thick as the trees on the bank. As for now the water temps haven't quite gotten to the point of the serious caddis hatch. Try a golden stone with a green caddis dropper. The green caddis hints at the hatch to come while still having the right color to almost look like a green drake. I like my stones a little more brown than gold, I tie them with brown biots, an orange bead, brown legs, and a yellow body wrapped with light brown tubing. A size 12 or 14 green drake would be a good fly to throw on also. If all that isn't working then a birds nest is always a safe bet in the summer... always.
East Walker July 13 2011
East walker on the NV side in the summer may be one of the scariest places in NV, unless of course you don't mind monster rattle snakes. I went out last summer in mid july and my friends weren't kind enough to remind me of the fact that that place is loaded with rattlers. I stepped over three snakes in a matter of 30 minutes then decided that it was time to get out there. Anyway flows are always high in the summer for irrigation so don't expect any different currently they are a little over 600 which is very high. That river is great at about 200. If you head that way you may have luck with a streamer, brown caddis, golden stone, basically the summer standards. Bud seriously watch for snakes
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