Memorial Day weekend is here and the beautiful weather has turned stormy. It is almost reassuring to have this element of consistency in a rather unpredictable world. This stormy period isn’t supposed to last long and if there is any silver lining is that the cooler temps and light precipitation will all help to delay runoff farther into the summer months. With all of that said, our area waters are really waking up. The Truckee and our area lakes are all fishing well and the typical seasonal hatches are showing up. We hope that you can get out soon and enjoy some great time on the water.
Truckee River
The Truckee river is flowing around 900 cfs through the downtown gauge. This is good for extending our summer fishing season and keeping flows we are hoping into August. It does make fishing a little difficult as there is more water in the river and more room for the fish to hide. We suggest that one should cover water effectively and methodically and assume the trout are everywhere.
There are a lot of insect varieties in the river, flying ants, PMD, Caddis, and Little Yellow Sallies are all starting to appear. We’re finding the fish are active on the pale morning dun nymphs which are usually a size 16 and are a light brown to tan coloring. We have some great patterns to represent these. Staff favorite. Crawfish and other baitfish are getting active as well so we are seeing more activity on streamers.
Fish are still in medium to slow water at the moment, but they are venturing into faster water during warmer days and later in the afternoon.
Truckee River Flies We Suggest: Perdigon red, E/C Caddis, Masked Marauder, Redemption PMD, Psycho May, TJ Hooker, Drunk and Disorderly, Flying Ant, Truckee River Dozen
Local Area Stillwater
Water temperatures are starting to warm nicely, bringing hungry trout into shallow water to feed. Look for fish to be chasing prey items along weed lines. Damsel flies are getting active, as are terrestrials. Carpenter ants will be active on warmer days. Look for ants to fall into the water during windy afternoons. They will stack up on wind lines and be blown into coves. Callibaetis are still hatching in the mornings and evenings, as are caddisflies. Fish will be closer to shore until the water really warms up. Having a boat or a float tube is not necessary this time of year.
Stillwater Flies We Suggest: ID Theft, Red Eye Damsel, OCD Caddis, Elk Hair Caddis, Flying Ant, Callibaetis Nymph.
– TJ HOOKER TYING KIT AND TUTORIAL –
We have prepared a tying kit and tutorial for one of the shop staff favorites, the TJ Hooker. This is a variation on the classic, the Pat’s Rubber Leg. New to this version is a barbless jig hook, Life-Flex legs and a premium Marabou tail. Follow along with Mike Anderson as he ties the TJ Hooker.
