Truckee River
The Truckee River continues to fish well as we slide into Fall. The water dropped a bit this week as the Federal Water Master reduced flow coming out of Lake Tahoe. September is the month that river flows can bounce around a bit. This is largely due to upstream reservoir releases changing as a result of irrigation releases going down and flood control releases increasing. Things should stabilize again as October approaches.
Even with variation in river flows the fishing has been good to great on the Nevada side. Overnight low temps have contributed to happy fish moving around and on the bite.
Crayfish seem to be a major food choice still and should continue for the month. The locally designed Cray Z Emma is a great choice and as a new pattern has been a top producer this season. This is a heavy fly and if a lighter pattern is desired, to fish in shallow riffles, we suggest the Nemec Stone or a Jigged Bugger which are good patterns as stones but also can double as juvenile crayfish.
Smaller mayflies have worked very well for the guided guests this week. Think of the French Nymph, black Perdigon and Jigged Pheasant Tail.
The streamer bite has continued to be slow. We believe this is a result of most meat-eaters taking advantage of molting crayfish and not wanting to chase down a meal. As water temps cool we anticipate this changing and larger articulated streamers producing once again.
Chasing carp downstream of town can still be fun when afternoon air temps rise and the winds stay down. Water clarity downstream of Lockwood hasn’t been the best but workable in the backwater sloughs and along the edge of the channel. The Squirmy Hybrid and Jigged Bugger have been our go-to flies.
Flies we suggest: Cray Z Emma, Emma Stone, Nemec Stone, black Perdigon, Micro Mayfly, Spanish Bullet, Squirmy Hybrid and Jigged Bugger
East Walker River
There was some unfortunate news from the East Walker River over the past month. We understand that there was an event in and near Bridgeport Reservoir that caused a fish kill downstream of the dam. The CA Fish and Wildlife responded with an investigation and a suggestion of not fishing on the CA section of the East Fork Walker River. In communication with NDOW there were no observed fish impacts below the state boundary and the river remains open and fishing well.
Hypoxic (low oxygen) water can be lethal to fish populations but the condition typically is reversed by natural turbulence and riffles in the river channel. Seemingly the event’s impacts were reduced significantly as water neared the state boundary. Our staff and guides have fished the Rosachi area several times since the event, finding good to very good fishing conditions. We hope that the long term impacts on the CA side are minimal and short lasting.
If you make it to the Rosachi section and downstream expect good fishing conditions as we build into Fall. Most of the typical patterns are working with mid day hopper fishing being a ton of fun.
We have several Walker River days open on our guide calendar this Fall. If you are interested in fishing with us, please give us a call to grab one of these remaining dates.
Flies we suggest: Perdi-bomb, Firestarter, Jigged Pheasant Tail, Psycho May, Redemption PMD, OCD Caddis, Panty Dropper Hopper, Para Madam X