Fly Fishing Report | Truckee River and Pyramid Lake | mid November 2024 | new RFS hats have arrived.

The Truckee River is in great shape and fishing well to very well. Seems as if the brown trout of completed their spawn and have vacated their redds. They will have scattered to their normal holding water and should be hungry.

Pyramid Lake is fishing good to very good. The lake has continued to suprise us this year with the fish in shallow water earlier than normal and eating stripped flies and suspended flies under indicators.

Excited to show you some new hats that have arrived in the shop. New styles and fun colors. We are bringing in new product everyday for your winter adventures and holiday gift ideas.

Truckee River

The brown trout spawn seems to be winding down (at least in town) on the Truckee River. We have seen quite a few redds that no longer have fish on them. Interestingly, the streamer bite seems to have turned back on with larger browns becoming players again.

Colder storms have really dropped the river temperature. Just recently the temp bottomed out at 41 degrees (Sparks Gage) while flowing at 500 CFS (Reno Gage). The fish have been in slower water in the morning and progressing into faster water by midday and beyond. We’re not seeing them in fast water as you would expect with cooler flows, but I would still try out the medium paced water from noon on.

As winter starts we will often reference an aquatic insect when making fly suggestions. Baetis, Blue Wing Olive, BWO are all referring to the same insect. Regardless of what you call this small dark mayfly that shows up every Fall/Winter on the Truckee they can be well represented with fly patterns we have here in the shop. When presenting the nymphal stage think of small dark bodied thin nymphs (#16-20) [Split Case, Galloup’s BWO Jig, Spanish Bullet, French Nymph, Micro Mayfly, etc.] For dries and cripples we will often suggest sizes in (#14-#20) [Parachute Adams, Pullover BWO, RS2, Baetis Cripple, WD-40, etc]. Look for this hatch during cloudy, drizzly days.

The streamer bite should crank back up now that the brown trout are completing their spawn. These fish will have scattered into their normal holding locations and be pretty hungry. If temps stay cool we anticipate the annual migration east (downstream) of town to begin. Please don’t fish any brown trout still on redds.

Flies we suggest: Micro Mayfly, split case BWO, Ready Baetis, Jig TNT BWO, Cray Z Emma, TJ Hooker, Olive Perdigon, Pullover BWO, Parachute Adams, Emma Stone, Articulated Trout Slider, Bank Robber, Cheech Leech, Truckee River Selection

Pyramid Lake 

It’s been an interesting year from shore already. We are catching fish in much shallower water than in previous years. Typically the LCT are down in 12-15 feet of water this time of year, but we have caught quite a few fish in 6-8 feet of water. The indicator bite has also been good this early season, which is also atypical. To round out the oddities of this year so far, midge fishing has been fairly productive, again atypical. We share this to remind you to be willing to try anything at any time. When it gets slow try to change your flies, depth or tactic before moving spots. 

Surface temps have dropped into the low 50’s and the very high 40’s early in the morning. The retrieve bite was a little better this past few weeks. I have been using my Garmin Striker Cast to determine if the trout are on the bottom or if they are suspending. Slower retrieve speeds or even hand twisting your line in has been most effective. We have been fishing primarily two buggers in black, Olive, or brown. Under the Indicator, Darker balanced leeches have worked well as has the Albino Wino midge. I usually keep my flies 3 feet apart, allowing me to cover various depths easily. 

Flies we suggest: Pyramid Lake Bugger, Mopcorn, Tadpole, Holographic Midge, Balanced Leech, Pyramid Lake Selection

NEW Reno Fly Shop Styles available now

We have brought in some new styles of hats to freshen up your lid options for the holidays. Two styles a fresh Patch Hat and a fun light and packable Runner. We know that winter is coming so please check back end of next week for our brand new beanies when they arrive.

RFS Patch Hats

RFS Runner Hats