We have been fortunate to be experiencing a mild summer so far. Flows and water temperatures are perfect and the fish are biting! Flows have been averaging 350 CFS through the downtown gauge. There are a lot of bugs the trout have to choose from. With the cooler temperatures all the hatches seem to be a little late this year. The crayfish bite is heating up as the Truckee river is consistently above 60 degrees through most of the day.

PMD May flies are a summer staple and can be represented either with nymph patterns, Redemption PMD, or with adults patterns, Hair Wing PMD. They are typically a size 16, but a few hatched adults have been close to a size 14. The Caddis hatch has also arrived and happens each evening. The G6 Caddis is a staff favorite to cover life stages of pupa through emerger. We are still waiting for the large golden stoneflies to appear, but as I said earlier, some hatches may be a little late this year. 

If you are lucky enough to get a windless evening, the dry fly hatches that I have seen have been some of the most prolific hatches in recent memory. Mayflies, Caddis, and even some tardy little yellow sallies are piquing the trout interest. It’s a short window, only the last hour of light or so. Dry dropper/hopper dropper has become more effective too as the water levels have dropped making most riffles and heads of runs shallow enough and fast rough to really make this technique work well. Steamer fishing has been ok. I think the trout are focusing more  on the crayfish in the last couple of weeks. 

Truckee River Flies We Suggest: OCD Caddis, Joe’s Mini Crayfish, Hot Cheek, G6 Caddis, Mini Jig Leech, Hair Wing PMD, Elk Hair Caddis, Jigged Bugger, TJ Hooker, Drunk and Disorderly, Truckee River Dozen