The Truckee continues to kick out some stellar fishing. With stable, above average flows, and good water clarity along the entire river, fishing is good pretty much everywhere right now. From Tahoe City to out past Sparks, there’s good trout fishing to be had on the majority of the Truckee, and this combined with the light crowds makes now a great time to explore some new water.

 

Water temps are in the 48-54 degree range and the fish are spread out in any given run, being found in anything from riffles to frog water. Fish it all. This is also getting into the temps that trigger the browns to begin spawning, so please be aware when wading in shallow gravel bars, slower riffles or tailouts and avoid stepping near redds.

 

Fly selection this week is looking very similar to weeks prior and will more or less remain the same through the winter. We are using stoneflies, worms, and eggs as our attractor nymphs, paired with a BWO nymph or midge larva. The stones have been most productive in sizes 8-10, the BWOs and midges in size 18-22, and mostly in darker shades. 4x and 5x tippet will be best used with these imitations, and don’t forget the split shot.

 

For streamers, you can’t go wrong with a sculpin imitation in olive or black, but other colors of note would be white, brown or yellow. Typically, we find the 2-4 inch size range to be the best, but going large this time of year could work as well.

 

For the dry fly angler, we have been seeing consistent noses in two areas, here in Truckee along the Glenshire Drive area, and out east around Lockwood and Mustang Ranch. They are mostly keying in on baetis in sizes 18-20, with the emergers often outfishing the duns. At Glenshire Drive, we are also seeing good dry action on midge patterns, like Griffith’s gnats and para midges in sizes 20-22.

 

Throwing these small midge imitations in low, clear water may be one of the few situations where using 6x may be applicable. Fishing the baetis hatch on the lower river, we tend to think 5x is sufficient, but with clarity improving down there, a strong 6x mono tippet like Cortland nylon may get you some more love.