The Truckee has seen very little changes in conditions once again this week and both flows and water temps remain consistent at the Farad USGS gauge. As the days get shorter, so does the window for good fishing, and fishing mid-day through early evening will be your best bet from now until spring. Early this month, we’ve seen an increase in flows along Glenshire as they release more water out of both Donner Lake and Martis Creek Lake. While Glenshire was fishing well before, thanks to this increase, the fly fishing only section of the Truckee is now also fishing well. This can be a great place to have a shot at some rising fish using dries imitating a BWO. You can also try nymphing with the usual LBS (Little Black Stuff). The other sections of the river such as the canyon and the lower river around Reno are all fishing great as well and it is nice to see the watershed in such excellent condition at this time of the year.

River wide, the main bugs right now are BWO’s and midges. These bugs are ever present in the river and should also be ever present in your fly box; as both a nymph and a dry. While they are most active from late-fall to mid-spring, they make up a huge part of a trout’s year-round diet and are a vital food source. During or after any kind of precipitation, don’t discount the importance of worms. They are a high protein meal and just too easy of prey for trout to ignore. Egg patterns will also be a key player in the months ahead.  As the colder days set in, the crawdads are now far less active. We also are in between the hatches for our various stoneflies. So, we are throwing fewer stonefly nymphs right now. However, with a good presentation, they will always put a few fish in the net.