Warmer weather is creeping into our area this next week before returning to average temperatures and possibly some smaller storm systems next week. This change is weather has started some of the lower elevation snow pack too begin melting and daily peaks on the Truckee have bumped over 600 cfs at the time this report was written. Spring runoff won’t truly begin until we have overnight lows in the Tahoe/Truckee area consistently above freezing. Next week’s cool down will slow down the melt and hopefully prolong runoff as long as possible.
Truckee River
Skwala stoneflies have made themselves seen this week. This is a little later than usual but we’re happy to see them as are the trout. Larger flies like this are easier for trout to detect in dirty water, making the inflow of runoff a happy coincidence. Otherwise, nymphing has still been best, dirty water can be good for streamer fishing and fishing a worm or egg fly can be succesful as they are bright and easy to see.
Rainbow trout have begun their spawn. Please be aware of reds near tailouts of pools and the side of long glides. Earlier this week we observed some rainbows staging and starting some of the “house cleaning” but the redds were not yet occupied. It won’t be long so keep you eyes ready for them and please give them some space to do their thing.
Truckee River Flies We Suggest: TJ Hooker, Masked Marauder, Tunghead Stone, Squirmy Wormy, Carot, Perdigon (red and black), Fire Starter, CDC Red Tag, Assassin, Heisenberg, Drunk and Disorderly, Truckee River Dozen
Pyramid Lake
The cutthroat are getting shallow and are bringing a lot of their pre-spawn behavior. The fish are still biting when there is some wind and weather. Both the retrieve and indicator fishing has been working with indicator taking a slight advantage when there is little to no weather. With that being said, a lot of our indicator bites are shallower than 6 feet and no further than 20 feet from shore. I’m seeing a lot of anglers simply over casting these cruising fish while indicator fishing.
For the retrieve bite, fly selection has not seemed to matter much. If the fish are in close they are usually in such great numbers that one of them will eat your fly competively. The LCT have been very hot and aggressive making even the “small” trout a lot of fun to catch.
Pyramid Lake Flies we Suggest: Holographic Midge (49’er and albino wino), Boobiy Fly (Spanish Olive, Cat Whisker,Dark lord, Pyramid Lake Beetle, Pyramid Lake Buggers (Northern Lights, Martini Olive), Pyramid Lake Fly Selection
PYRAMID LAKE MICRO FLY MADNESS
We have been experimenting with smaller and smaller flies the last couple of seasons at Pyramid Lake. This trend is not unique to us and we are hearing more and more anglers use flies that, at times, defy logic when thinking of catching a huge LCT trout. While seemingly crazy there is simply no denying that these micro flies work. How small would you go?
To make this trend more available to anglers at the lake. And to test their effectiveness with a larger group of people we have made up an offering of micro flies. We have a very limited supply of our most popular Pyramid Lake patterns and colors tied in a micro size. We hope you get to try these and can give us your feedback on their effectiveness.
The following are examples of some of the sizes we have been working with.
These are currently only available in-store. We will have them up online soon and will let you all know when available while supplies last. We have a limited supply of these patterns so get yours while you can.