May 23rd, Fly Fishing Report for the Truckee River and Little Truckee River
Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! We hope you are making the most of this beautiful weather this week and finding some time to get on the water. The shop is now in its summer hours and we will be open every day 7am-7pm starting this weekend! While the water is high in most areas right now, fishing remains good with just a bit of know-how on runoff fishing tactics. The key components to success this time of year consist of the ability to read water and know what kind of water the fish are looking for, and using ample weight coupled with a good drift to get down to them and present your flies naturally. In terms of reading water, you may not nail it right away, it may take a few hours, or more, of fishing certain water types before you determine that the fish are just simply not sitting there. The key is learning from this and making the appropriate adjustments. This goes the same for all the others of hundreds of factors that revolve around a day of fishing.
Fly fishing, at its core, can be simplified to asking certain questions and listening for answers. Are the fish in fast riffles today or pocket water? Are they looking at larger bugs like stoneflies, or are they keyed in smaller flies? Am I using enough weight? Am I getting good dead drifts or are my flies dragging? Once you start listening to what the fish are telling you, it’s just a matter of fishing with confidence until you and that trout cross paths.
Guided Spring Fly Fishing
May brings the Truckee River to life with consistent hatches and actively feeding trout! Learn how to fish the runoff with us. As the big bugs of spring continue their prolific emergence, now is the prime time to experience some of the best fly fishing of the year!
Book your guided trip this May and discover the incredible opportunities the Truckee has to offer!
Truckee River Fishing Report & Forecast
The days are getting warmer and warmer, and we are seeing the flows come back up a bit on the Truckee this week. At the Farad USGS gauge, we are seeing flows creep back up over 1,000 CFS again this week. We are seeing half of the flows along Glenshire Drive right around, right at 500 CFS. Despite this significant difference, most sections are fishing good. The water is pretty clear, all things considered, and this is thanks to the fact that most of the water at this point is coming from dams, not from freestone creeks.
Due to this, we are still catching most of our fish on smaller flies, with things like perdigons, duracells, rainbow warriors, and blowtorches are consistent producers right now. As we preach every week though, the use of the larger flies play a big role in the success of your nymph set up and using stones, worms, eggs, and crawdads are still a good idea. The streamer bite has picked up quite a bit this week as well, and using jigged streamers on the euro rod is one of our favorite ways to fish this time of year. Olive sculpin patterns, or crawdad flies will be the best bets.
With the water temps coming up, the fish are consistently sitting in some faster water, so focus on riffles, pocket water, or the edges of the top of a bucket. With the roller coaster flows right now, the mornings are providing slightly better fishing right now, once we get past run off and temps rise, this will continue to be the case, so start setting those alarms and get those earlier starts.
Recommended Flies for the Truckee River
Little Truckee River Fishing Report & Forecast
The flows on the LT remain at +/-340 CFS this week. The combination of this flow regime and the time of year have initiated heavy spawning from the rainbow trout. Because of this we are recommending avoiding fishing out here over the next few weeks to give these fish space. If you do still decide to fish here, please be sure to focus on fishing the deep buckets, pools or anywhere away from the trout redds.
Your choice to avoid fishing to or near spawning trout helps assure future populations of wild trout for you and others to enjoy for decades to come. If you ever have any questions about this please feel free to reach out, we are always happy to explain!
Recommended Flies for the Little Truckee
Trout Creek Outfitters Clearance Rack
Spring savings have arrived at Trout Creek Outfitters! Discover significant discounts on a wide selection of essential gear including packs, bags, rods, reels, boots, and waders! Now is the perfect opportunity to upgrade your setup for the upcoming season and enjoy quality equipment at reduced prices. Visit us or shop online to explore the savings!
Don't hesitate to reach out and give the shop a call with questions: (530) 563-5119
