This week provided spring fishing at its finest. With the rapid warming of temps in the area we’ve seen the ant fishing explode, good evening hatches of caddis, and the PMDs start to ramp up for the summer. We are quickly entering the fly fishing trinity; good flows, good temps, and lots of bugs. The one side of the triangle we are not quite hitting yet would be the flows. Albeit fishable, they’re a bit high right now, making it a bit harder to present to the fish, necessitating the need for a lot of split shot. After the very welcome recharge of water from the series of storms throughout April, we are seeing flows remain a bit high on most rivers nearby, some due to the remainder of seasonal runoff and some due to releases out of their respective dams. In just a few more weeks, we expect things to simmer back down and we will be in the true sweet spot for fishing the local rivers. It’ll be here before you know it, so do wait too long. Heck, we’re already wet wading!
May 15th 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
Fishing on the big river continues to improve daily. With the presence of the summer bugs mixed with the waning of the more spring/winter bugs, one can fish a variety of methods and imitations right now and have a good shot at finding some fish. We have seen the ants really begin to kick into gear this week and for anyone looking to throw dry flies on the Truckee River or beyond, we don’t recommend leaving home without them right now. While these are around most of the summer, the winged carpenter ants will often fish best right when they start up and for around a month after. Side note, we hypothesize that the big brown trout must just love their spiciness. We say this because for whatever reason this bug, fished this time of year can dupe some large brown trout on top water. Super fun! Along the lower river we are also getting reports on some evening dry fly fishing with caddis for those that are sticking out until dark. While we are seeing some PMDs start up, we aren’t seeing them with enough consistency to be fishing these adults just yet. In another couple of weeks, these will be the top bug of the summer and a solid fall back for both nymphs and dries if nothing else is putting them in the net. The other noteworthy bug this week would be of the mud variety... Yes, we are catching a good amount of fish on crawdads right now, and anyone who has put in time on this river can vouch for their efficacy.
Recommended Flies for the Truckee River
Little Truckee Fishing Report
As the fish spawn with tenacity on the LT right now, we would encourage anglers to give this fishery a break for the next couple of weeks and give these fish an opportunity to do their deed.
