The Truckee River has been fishing very well over the last week mostly due to the warmer days bringing water temps up and making fish increasingly active. With the continued low and clear water conditions here in Truckee, we are finding success on small baetis nymphs in sizes 18-20 as well as midges in size 20-22, paired with a worm pattern as an attractor.

Focus on fishing the slower water types such as the deep buckets, tail outs, or slow deep pocket water on the California side of the river right now. If fishing the lower river from Sparks heading east, try slightly faster water than you may fish up high as temps will be a bit warmer around here. With the diminished water clarity out east and the warmer afternoon temps we’ve found a really good streamer bite here, and nymphing mid-day then switching to streamers towards the evening has been productive. While we’ve seen some hatches of baetis down here, we haven’t seen the fish reacting to them on top, only subsurface. The dry fly bite should really pick up in the next few weeks as we expect Skwala Stoneflies here in California, and prolific baetis hatches out east in the months of March and April.