The Little Truckee has seen excellent fishing this week. The recent bump in flows and intermittent springtime weather has made the fish here active. Like the main Truckee, there will be fish spawning here, and great caution must be taken if fishing out here this time of year. The spawn here is typically much more obvious and prolonged due to it being a smaller river system and a tailwater. Thanks to our local Truckee Chapter of Trout Unlimited, there is some helpful signage up for popular spawning areas.

But the fish can’t read, and there will still be quite a few areas suitable for their needs that are not marked. Be very cautious if wading right now. We recommend staying out of the water all together, whenever possible. That said, this is a great time of year to fish here, if you know how to avoid targeting these fish and instead look for the ones feeding in the deeper buckets.

The main hatch continues to be baetis, with some midges and march browns in the mix. We have yet to see any interest from the trout for the handful of caddis that are present. 6x tippet is crucial out here most days and will really help your hookup rate when fishing the size 18-22 flies common with this river. If in doubt, a worm or an egg will typically get the job most days when you’re not having much luck. The baetis hatch remains consistent around mid-day and is some of the best dry fly fishing in the Tahoe region, if your bug selection and presentation is good. As this is a tailwater, the temps don’t change much throughout the day, and therefore neither does the fishing. So, if you’re ok with fishing nymphs, try early morning or late evening to beat the crowds.