Last week marked the general trout opener and while it may be a bit more symbolic at this point with the newly implemented year-round regulations, it remains an important annual kick-off of trout fishing for the general public. To the angling community, the idea of “Fishmas” conjures up images of wet wading, evening dry fly hatches, and backpacking up to your favorite alpine lake losing count of the brook trout you caught on a hopper. We are quickly entering the height of fly-fishing season here in the Sierra and with the recent shift in weather patterns, things are looking excellent this year. We’ll see you on the water!
May 1st Fly Fishing Report for the Truckee River, Little Truckee River
Spring Half-Day Guided Floats
Trade the long wade for a spring float on the Truckee. This is one of the best windows of the year, Drakes and Baetis bringing consistent dry fly chances and higher flows setting up the kind of streamer water this river is known for. Spring can bring some of the most exciting fishing of the year, and our guides know how to stay ahead of shifting conditions. It’s a short season, book a half-day float and make the most of it.
Truckee River Fishing Report
The Truckee River has been fishing very well this week. The flows have stabilized and the water is warming back up after the series of storms over the last few weeks. The Farad USGS gauge is what we reference when discussing flows in the “Canyon”. This gauge is reading 1,000 CFS with water temps at 53 degrees as of today. The crawdad bite has begun this week and is a great option to replace the typical worm or stonefly as your top bug on an indicator set up or make a great anchor fly for the euro fisherman. For your smaller offerings, the fish are still very much focused on baetis and march browns. We have begun to see a few PMDs here and there, but odds are we are a few weeks away from these mayflies to be on the Truckee Trouts menu. Streamer fishing has also been good this week with the typical olive sculpin patterns fishing the most consistently, think small and natural if fishing slow, or cover water quickly with large and obnoxious streamers in search of the one.
Recommended Flies for the Truckee River
Little Truckee Fishing Report
The Little Truckee has been fishing good since the slight drop in flows over a week ago. At 240 CFS, one can use just about any method and will find fish in their typical LT haunts. Dry fly fishing has been consistent, with haacthes of baetis coming off daily from around 12-3. When fishing baetis on this river, using emergers in size 20 and down and using light tippet in a 6x-7x with long leaders are all keys to success. Like on the main river, we are beginning to see some PMDs out here signifying the start of summer fishing, but also like the main river the fish aren’t keying in on them yet. In addition to the baetis, midges and PMDs, there have also been a few March browns, caddis and even a couple of green drakes on both rivers. We are very close to some of the best dry fly fishing of the year, where all these bugs begin to come off at once!
Recommended Flies for the Little Truckee River
Check the Flows Before You Go...
Trout Creek Outfitters Clearance Rack!
Before you go, take a moment to explore our end of summer blowout sale featured on this Clearance Rack. It's a great opportunity to find quality gear at reduced prices, perfect for adding to your kit or trying something new. You might just hook a fantastic deal!
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