The conditions remain incredibly consistent yet again this week with flows at the Farad gauge reading around 450 CFS and water temps swinging from 52-58 degrees throughout the day. This will make fishing better later in the day and early morning starts are not only unnecessary but can in fact not be as productive as midday or late evening fishing. The fishing seems to get more productive the further downstream you get, and that includes east of Reno.

Streamer fishing remains fair, with good reports last week when the colder stormier days were present, now that we are back into a warmer weather pattern, expect nymphing to be the best way to find fish, as per usual. Keep an eye on the forecast, and any shifts in the weather will be the best day to go out with the streamer rod and put in a full day of chucking the big flies targeting those big predators. Nymph selections has been mostly on the smaller side lately, with BWO’s in a size 18 and midges in 18’s and 20’s being the bugs most present. However, for bigger offerings don’t forget about the October caddis, they have made a solid presence this week on the river. Using these pupae under an indicator has worked well and should continue to do so over the next few weeks.

Crawdads are another larger fly that should be considered when fishing under an indicator or as an anchor fly on your tightline set up. Jigged streamers are an often-overlooked anchor fly for tightlining on this river and is a great way to present baitfish or crawdads while still giving the fish the option of the smaller point fly, as well as being fished in a “dead drift” presentation opposed to being swung.