Truckee River - The Underwater Experience

Now and again, I'll leave the rod at home and throw on some dive gear, making it a point to find out what's in our river.  I make it a point to explore each and every pool, the ripples and rapids, oh, and don't forget to check under the bubble line.  I find it very informative, it helps me understand how fish hold, where they lie, where they go when they flee, how they avoid heavy current while they feed, how the the rocks and structure create low pressure zones, etc.  It also reminds me that there are some huge fish in this river, and they're usually not rainbows!  This footage is much harder to get than it appears, this is a minute pulled from hours of raw footage. As always, some of the best footage didn't come out or my battery died so I never got the shot.  Wish some of it was clearer but these fish weren't cooperating with me.  More amazing than what I could get on film was how many fish I couldn't get on film.  In so many cases I could see a shadow turn tail and run before I could even get my camera started or before I could get close enough to even film the shadow.  They could see me well ahead of me seeing them in most cases.  The other thing to realize is, at least in the summer, these fish are never sitting in soft water, they're in current and usually heavy current, and while it may look effortless for the fish to hold in that current and feed, once you get in there with them, it takes everything you have to just hold your position, usually forward motion is out of the question, we're just not built like fish.  Enjoy!

Truckee River - Mays for Days

Flows are still pretty good above and below town @ 170 cfs, it won't last forever, so fish while the fishin's good.  Today was a first in a while, a hatch I couldn't match, at least not exactly.  I think they were Mahogany Duns (rust colored thorax and abdomen) and lots of them, a pretty large mayfly (#14) that I never fish because I think the river's normally high or blown out when they hatch so I normally switch to coppers and stones in April/May.  They didn't outnumber the baetis, but I'd bet they contributed to more calories overall and fish were totally zoned in on them.

Truckee River - Its Getting Buggy

Bugs are out in force on warm days like Saturday, low 60's for air tempt.  This hen is just full of eggs. We saw just about everything in good numbers from some sedges...

To a few Skawalas...

To hundreds of winter stones (size 18)

Oh, and don't forget march browns, the fish seemed to key into them the most.  

Dan ended up putting a hook with a barb through his hand this day, had to Bear Grill's it and push it through in order to pinch the barb, and then pull it back.

Truckee River - Still a Bit Hot

I guess its better to be busy with life during the slow summer months on the BT than in the fall or winter. The BT is pretty warm right now in the evenings, I didn't see a pronounced hatch at all last night, just a little of this and that here and there. As everyone else is saying, morning is probably your best bet...I'm just not a morning guy. I'd also say crays are a good bet. I'm hoping September gets here quick.

Truckee River - Fishing with the Boys

The wife's been out of town much of the past month which explains why I'm not posting. My household is something out of Mr. Mom right now and I'm being cast as Michail Keaton. Nonetheless, I've managed to get the kids on the water a few times for some fly fishing, though I'm relegated to just a few spots where I feel comfortable letting the kids wade near shore while I'm doing the casting, which limits our success. On the bright side, flows are perfect right now and as a result, we're going to get to fish some sweet hatches that can't always be fished in high water years.

Here's Luke commanding a feisty bow in Reno with a switch rod no less.


Some Glenshire sites

Check this female crayfish out, its got about 200 eggs that were very developed and days away from hatching. No wonder these invasives are so invasive.No post is complete without a little recon. Our very basic entomology efforts unveiled drunella grandis or western green drakes with developed wing pads. They're very close to hatching right now, though we didn't see any adults.Also, for the past week, adult caddis have been thick in Reno. If they're not in good numbers on the CA side yet, I can't imagine its more than a few days away. Sedge larvae were in large numbers. Unlike mayflies, you don't find too many by flipping rocks in the softer waters, but if you can hook a stick on the river botton in a fast riffle, you'll see what I'm talking about, they're thick in the fast water.Because they're so delicate and are usually attached to large rocks at the bottom of fast runs, its hard to find in-tact caddis larva nets, but this stick was covered with them. Caddis larva use these spun silken nets to seine food particles out of the current.

Though we couldn't catch them, we did see two large stonefly husks floating down the river. Given the time of year and their size, they were likely Calineuria or Golden Stoneflies.

Good Times East of Town

On Friday my pops and I hooked up with Matt "Gilligan" Koles for some spring fly fishing on the Truckee River East of Reno. I have to tell you, going with Matt makes it seem so easy to catch fish, but it ain't. The water East of Reno is tough to read and difficult to effectively fish without a boat, having the guide is a huge plus. We put a few nice bows in the net but lost some nice ones too. I had a healthy rainbow pop me in some heavy water and had a hot brown wrap me up around debris on the bottom, but hey, that's why they call it fish'n. All in all, it was a great day, great weather, and a great guide. Folks, if you want to know where the big dogs lie...now you know who to call.

Thanks Matt, we had a blast!

Truckee River Know-How

Sunday Dan and I spent the day with Matt "Gilligan" Koles, learning the tricks of the trade from a Truckee River legend. We had a great time as Matt is as cool and laid back as he is knowledgeable about Fly Fishing the Truckee River. I'd encourage anyone wanting to learn more about the tricks of the Truckee to enroll in Matt's "Spring Fever Clinic". Its always great to see new strategies and techniques from Matt's tricked out dry-dropper rig to his nymph and streamer setups. Its also helpful to get some switch and spey casting pointers from someone who makes it look all too easy.Though we were primarily practicing, the fishing wasn't bad, I had some nice bows come and maul my thing-a-ma-bobber, they need to develop one with a hook...I'd have had three more hookups!
March browns began coming off mid morning in good numbers, even saw a possible golden stone sighting (couldn't grab it).Matt, thanks for the pointers and knowledge, its always good to see if first hand from a pro!