Truckee River Fly Fishing Report September 24, 2021
Thank you to everyone who showed up at the Hirschdale Community Meeting to discuss river access. Stay engaged and share your ideas with the local Trout Unlimited chapter.
This week we caught up with Scotty and Chance to get some updates to help with your fly fishing time.
Truckee River Report
Rain dance everyone! It’s no surprise but we still are losing water quicker than we are gaining it. The river is now exiting Lake Tahoe at a rate slower than 30 cubic feet per second and is getting boney. We are picking up about 60 cfs from Donner Creek so we suggest fishing the river through town and down to Nevada state line. Some brown trout have started their annual spawning traditions and are working to shallower gravel bars to make, use and protect their redds. We ask that before you jump in the water to hit that deeper hole in the middle of the run, to take a nice detailed look at the river bottom. Please keep an eye out for fish, clean round areas in the gravel and fish acting with more erratic behavior. We also ask if you see any of this activity to please not harass and enjoy the show from the bank.
What’s working?
Light PMD’s, dark BWO’s, and any small mayfly pattern should produce fish for you. Dark big stones, and crawdads dead drifted will turn bigger fish’s heads. And the streamer bite is starting! Black and olive with little weight has produced. Please still carry a thermometer and call it quits when you get to 65 degrees.
Little Truckee
The river is only flowing at 28 cfs and has limited holding spots for fish, and fisherman. Spooky fish, and shallow water makes targeting and fishing tough. But does make for a nice stroll along the creek to observe and enjoy wild fish. There is Kokanee and Brown trout running up the LT to get their spawning business started, working the inlet for Rainbows feeding on their by-product can be done with success. But please refrain from wading too much and harassing fish in the spawning process. In general, in my opinion the Little Truckee is best for enjoying a gorgeous hike and for observing a beautiful wild fishery. A.K.A Give them a break in these low flows until we get more water flowing.
Local Stillwater Fishing
Smallmouth are still biting in the reservoirs and our high alpine lakes are starting to become productive with the longer, colder nights.
Have fun out there!!! And feel free to give us a call at the shop – or stop by – to get the latest info from the crew. If you’re interested in fishing on the Nevada side, check out the fishing reports from our friends at Bearfish Alliance.
– Scotty and Chance
