Heading into the middle of July we are seeing water temps at what will likely be the warmest of the year in the coming weeks. The dog days of the summer are here, and trout fishing should be done early in the mornings, in tailwaters, or at higher elevations. With the Farad gauge hitting 68 degrees in the afternoons, and the Sparks gauge nearing 75 degrees, we ask anglers to be warm water aware when fishing the Truckee and most other rivers in the area. Yes, there is still fishing to be had and in fact, it’s still really good. There are just certain practices that are important to us as catch and release anglers to preserve our wild trout fisheries in the Tahoe area during this yearly occurence. Please do your part and familiarize yourselves with them. If you have any questions, we’re here to help.
July 17th Fly Fishing Report for the Truckee River, Little Truckee River
Summer Half-Day Guided Trips
July brings peak summer fly fishing conditions to our local rivers, making it the perfect time to experience a guided half-day walk and wade trip with Trout Creek Outfitters. Whether you are beating the midday heat during the crisp morning hours or mastering the art of technical pocket water presentation, our expert guides are ready to put you on fish for an unforgettable summer day on the water.
Truckee River Fishing Report
The Truckee River has seen stable flows but rising water temps this week. Anyone looking to fish the T should do so in the morning hours. How late in the day you can fish will depend on the section of river, with the Glenshire area warming quicker than down in the canyon, due to the Little Truckee confluence providing a bit of cold water relief. Please bring thermometers with you and call it day when temps hit 68 degrees. It’s well known that the fish really shut off feeding much beyond these temps anyways. Trout are holding in pocket water right now, this is when euro nymphing or dry dropper fishing will be at their best. When the fish are holding in the quick and often shallow sections of river, depth control is everything, you don’t want to be dragging the bottom, but you do want to be down and in front of them quickly, ideally in the first couple of drifts if you want a shot at the bigger fish. When euro nymphing, a crawdad and some kind of perdigon on your tag has been a very effective way to cover this water type. For the dry dropper, using a tan or golden colored chubby with a 2-3 foot dropper seems to be about right. Just make sure you’re using a nymph with enough weight to be able to get it down to them and a dry that has enough buoyancy to stay up in the faster water.
Recommended Flies for the Truckee River
Little Truckee Fishing Report
The LT continues to see good flows for this time of year, sitting at 125 as of today. Being that this is one of only a handful of tailwaters in our area, you do have the option to fish here at any point of the day. However, because of this you can count on it being busy. Despite the pressure, the Little Truckee continues to fish very well day in, day out, so long as you have the right bugs and a good presentation. Your best bet for patterns will be anything that represents PMDs. Be sure to cover all life stages of this insect, be it nymphs, emergers, duns and spinners, as the fish are hyper keyed into these daily cycles. Other bugs on their menu may be midges, baetis, green drakes, and caddis. Odds are with these; they will be most effective in their nymph/pupae stage. As this river continues to see a lot of use, we encourage you to spread out and try some different sections of river or fish during odd hours of the day to avoid fishing too close to others.
