The fishing has been excellent on the main river. Dry flies, streamers, and nymphs are all in play right now. In fact, this is shaping up to be some of the best dry fly fishing we have seen in a long time on the Truckee. Caddis, PMD’s and Yellow Salley’s are the primary hatches. The PMD and Yellow Salley have been hatching sporadically throughout the day, occasionally coming off in large waves mid-morning or late evening. The Caddis hatches are primarily occurring in the evening, and they’ve been coming off in numbers all throughout the river.
Lately, the average fish has been smaller than what we are used to seeing on the Truckee. However, they are abundant, fired up, and chewing on everything in sight. They’ve been largely focused on emergers. Mayfly and caddis imitations in sizes 14-18 with CDC have been the hot ticket. Rainbow warriors, Caddistrophic Pupas, and Micro-May’s are some of the hot flies for nymphing right now, just to name a few.

If you’re looking to throw dry flys or streamers, the low light hours have been the most productive. As we transition into the “dog-days” of summer, fishing in the early morning hours will be best for the fish and the fisherman. Fishing early will also help you to avoid the rafters, which tend to come down in large flotillas. For streamers, try small rainbow trout imitations or sculpin patterns. If throwing dry flies, Elk Hair Caddis in size 14-16 have been great. You can even try tying a PMD emerger off the bend of your Caddis and fish it as a dry-dropper. Keep an eye on the water Temperature over the next few weeks. From what we have been hearing, flows are likely to be increased at some point in August and will have a positive impact on the fishing. Increased flows from our bottom-release dams will help to combat the warmer water and keep the river fishing well into the summer.