Truckee River - Mastering the Long Line Release

There is a good caddis and a mayfly hatch in the evening right now, things are changing as fall is fast approaching and the fish are onto it.  I've been out of caddis pupa for over a week now so I've been forced to try other flies.  Low and behold pheasant tails are stealing the show. This guys was redemption from loosing a real toad only minutes earlier.

The most amazing part of the day was I actually managed to get some fishing in with 3 boys in tow.

The fish today weren't kid sized so they were bummed when I didn't exactly hand them the rod.

Well, with all the fly fishing clinics being offered by folks, I thought I'd start my own, its will cover topics such as not changing your leader from the prior day and releasing of nice fish from a very safe distance so as to not risk getting you or your net wet. 

 Its for novices and experts alike, please be sure to tell your friends.  Pardon my expletive in the vid, losing the fish was total operator error and I kick myself for this one.  I fished a day earlier in heavy pocket water dragging my leader/tippet across every abrasive rock in the river, then today I tell myself I'll change up once we get on the water....forgot and on my second cast...Murphy's Law strikes!  Oh well, I had the opportunity to play him out and actually got to see him so I'm at peace.

We had a 3-snake record today, these garter snakes hatched earlier this year and were everywhere

The crays have recently molted, this is an example of a bit-sized specimen, tons of protein in this compact package.  Super soft shells this time of year makes them difficult to handle but to a  trout its like eating a tender filet mignon vs. a tough flank steak....they prefer the filet.

Truckee River - A Cray a Day

That's about all that they seem to want, at least the bigger fish.  I lost a toad today on cray as well, think it was a brown.  This nice bow is shaped like a torpedo, long and lean.

 Right behind the white water is where they lurk

 Trying to avoid the bait dunkers has forced me into fishing some new waters, thanks bait dunkers!

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!

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.