Stillwater Solitude

A picture post of stillwater solitude in June and July.  Getting on the water at sunrise, being by yourself and targeting trophies in Oregon, California and Nevada...don't get much better than that.

 Mt Bachelor loaded with snow this year.

June is the month of the damsel, they hatch all throughout the summer with major and minor hatches, but June is the major hatch.

Watch for the nymph to swim up from the lake bottom to reeds, logs and bullrush that line the shore, then wait to see them climb up and hatch into adults.

 Fish usually won't refuse damsel nymphs, and you'll feel the takes from Cranebows...they're not subtle.

 Caddis pupa can be top of menu this time of year as well.  When caddis pupate, they're vulnerable, hanging in the surface film as they wait to eclode or for their back to split open and the adult to emerge on the water surface and fly off.

 Common tiger, take something.

 When damsels are out in numbers, it's one of the few flies trout just won't refuse.

 Sometimes you learn more by just simply observing, don't screw it up by casting, sit and watch your quarry, you'll learn something every time.

Pyramid Lake - February Update

Its still hit and miss out there at Pyramid, being in the right place at the right time matters, stick and move if you're striking out or wait for that school to come in, they usually do once or twice throughout the day.  Some big fish are being caught, supposedly a confirmed 27 pounder and an unconfirmed of the same size.  This may be the year of the 30 pounder, they say its overdue. April is almost here!

Truckee River - August Update

On the Nevada side, ts all about the AM right now, if you can get on the water at sunrise, you're bound to pound em till about 11-12, then it warms up and slows down (except today, nice and cool all day).  Crayfish patterns dead drifted and swung through fast water is nailing them, Dan and I lost some really nice fish in the few days on Crays.  There isn't much of a pronounced hatch going on but caddis is as abundant as anything.  I like caddis pupa patterns right now, usually below a cray

 Been doing some metropolitan fishing as well.

Switch up, try an indo, then high stick it for a bit, try a #6 shot in a slower run, then throw on 2 BB's and hit some heavy water.  If the water is white, fish are in it.

 This is the type of water to hit, run every pocket, bucket and riffle a couple times, then move, cover lots of water.

 Nobody was out today, had the river too myself!

Pyramid Lake - Mid Season Update - April 22nd

Well, we're catching fish, just not trout! Can't say we've put in much time though. Most reports and observations last Sunday indicated fishing was slow for almost everyone, though we did hear of a 30 fish day way up north from a gal at the creel census station. We should be in the thick of the good season at this point, but this year is atypical. Got a late start, hit Sandhole but it already had about 20 guys on it, none of whom had caught a fish in the prior 3 hours. As everyone has been saying, its been hit and miss this season, Sunday was definitely a miss for us. On Sunday, the water was an astonishing 60 degree by noon! Only two weeks earlier, it was 44 degrees, what a shift, never seen it do that in such a short span and never seen it this warm this early (though this was just the surface temp). In desperation, we tried Howard Bay. We've got some nice fish out of there in years past and thought what the heck, wind wasn't bad that day, so it meant we might be able to cast (since the beach faces north). We caught em, its just that "em" were cui-ui. After a handful of these fresh water bone fish and no Lahontans, we bugged out and took some photos.

Check out this Skwala, first ever seen at Pyramid. This was near Popcorn, so I guess it could have came from the river, but I don't know...

There are thousands of Western Tent Caterpillars hatching from their cocoons.
The long, lonely road to Howard Bay.

Truckee Rivere - Big Fish...Coming Soon To A Monitor Near You

and we aren't talking about this

Truckee River - Fishtacular II

This video was really to test out a new HD video camera. This particular day, caddis adults were so thick that I inhaled about half a dozen throughout our session. Despite the prolific hatch and hundreds of adults depositing eggs as they smacked the surface, the trout were only looking for pupae. I know caddises are some of the best dry fly hatches, even so, I often run an emerger/cripple or an un-weighted caddis pupae in the film vs. an elk hair on top, even when the fish are breaking the surface. This tactic works at the head of a hole where a long riffle of fast water dumps into a slow run. That's because towards the middle and end of the run, the adults are generally able to fly. Try watching rising fish closely, if you see them expel an air bubble from their gills, it means that their mouth broke the surface and they're sipping items on top of the water. If an air bubble isn't present after a rise, they're likely sipping subsurface. I read this years ago, and I've found it incredibly useful in practice, especially in technical waters like the LT.

Truckee River - Fishtacular

The little furry guy in the video is a mink, not a river otter or a muskrat. They're incredibly agile underwater and can prey on trout much larger than themselves. Take a look at this amazing video. I corresponded with its owner and learned that the mink ended up killing this MASSIVE fanny bridge brown trout. I have mixed feelings when I come across these little guys. Part of me says find another place to fish, the mink has spooked everything. But then again, the mink is hunting your hole precisely because it contains fish. Try standing on an elevated vantage point next time one of these predators prowls your pool. You’re likely to see it push out some big fish. When they do, the fish may not bite that day, but at least you’ll learn their holds.