I’ll give you guys a California side report this week because that’s where I’ve been fishing. I’m sure the Nevada side is fishing well, but I haven’t been on it in about ten days or so.  The booze parade of inner tubers will be out this weekend through Reno, if you go, go early, or go East of Reno. It’ll be a big weekend of Coors Light and beer bongs. Anyways, the middle river to the upper river sections along the ‘shire in Cali have been firing on all cylinders. The fishing and wading have been easy. I’ve had mostly first time fly fishers and a few group trips with Doug O this last week. My folks and Doug O’s all have got into them. March browns are still on the top of the menu, in fact we’ve had a few good dry fly days this week, always fun. Dry dropper rigs up through there are fun to fish and occasionally you get one to come up and munch the dry. Skwalas stones are still out so they are used to seeing some big bugs floating by. The lower sections through the Hirsch to state line have been fishing well too. Though the water is still about 200 cfs too high for most folks. If you’re steady on your feet and have some basic skills you should get into them down there. Same hatches as the upper river. It’s all going to get better if we have a solid week of warm weather. It got cold again at night, and the outlook, like the last few days, looks to be chilly. Warm weather should get the carpenter ant hatch going again along with the pmds. Green drakes should arrive shortly after. With the water as low as it is this spring, it may be a green drake year to remember. Of course carpet bombing the bottom with the above mentioned patterns will get them. Big drys and streamers will get them too. The fishing is going to be very good this summer as we will not be dealing with high flows.

Unlike last week, things are changing daily on the Truckee River and it seems like fish have adjusted to an early summer mode. Flows are mellowing out a bit, they are still spiking up and down, but overall they are much lower than last week from Boca down though Nevada. Flows are still high and if you are not on the river daily, or know where some good high water spots are it could be tough. Remember, I am talking about the river below the inlet of the Little Truckee, the water above that is well below normal for this time of year and easy pickings. Good news too is that there are a lot of littler wild fish that are in the game making life a little easier for yours truly. This time of year everyone starts talking about big winged carpenter ants, well, I saw some on the LT the other day, but none today. Maybe they’ll kick off strong, maybe they won’t. They like a solid week of warm weather, rain today, we’ll see what happens. Everything else is on the menu, princes, copper johns, hare’s ears, and rubberleggs. Of course the real bugs are out too, or about to come out. As you can see I like fishing attractors this time of year. They work wonders as the summer hatches have yet to begin and fish aren’t really keyed in on a certain bug yet.

Not a whole lot has changed since the last report on the Truckee River. We’ve had a few good days of rain this week, but the river has settled down to it’s below normal spring time flows. Clarity is not an issue unless you travel East of Reno. 250 cubes below Truckee, 700 cubes in the Hirsh, a little higher through the canyons, and about that way through Reno. Though the river has crested it is still high for the majority of anglers through the Hirsch and on down. Wading and crossing can be a challenge, be careful. The Glenshire, and Schoolyard area are good and wadeable if you want normal flow type of water. Like always trout are a bit closer to you in higher flows. Fish close first. I like busting out the dry dropper rig, or streamer rig, then nymph up on the deeper slots. Attractor flies are great this time of year. Princes, copper johns, etc. Big drys work too. It looks like it will warm this weekend into next, so we should see more bugs. Green drakes, pmds, and caddis are not that far off. Yours truly with a nice butta belly from  yesterday.

Fishing has been up and down this week, seems like it always is in spring. Sadly, spring flows on the Truckee River looks like they have crested, good news for us now, could be bad news for us later. On a normal year the Truckee would be pretty much un-fishable with this hot weather we’ve had, now the whole thing is fishing even through Nevada. Like I said it’s hit an miss. Even though we have not had much run-off this year, flows are still high from the Hirsch on down. Easy pickings through the town of Truckee and the ‘shire , but still a bit big below. Bug wise things are about to explode. March browns are on the meal ticket right now, but the pmd, caddis and drakes of the green variety should be here shortly. We also get a nice carpenter ant, we could see those pretty much any day now. Nymphing wise, golden stones, pmds, green drakes, march browns, baetis and caddis should be in the box. They are all in the drift, so you should have them in the lineup.

Spring has come a little earlier this year. It’s t-shirt weather in the greater Truckee-Tahoe-Reno area. Warm sunny blue bird days. The Truckee River is fishing very well for this time of year. The river should be blown, but the lack of snow pack has kept us fishing. Flows will yo -yo up and down. Afternoons until the early morning hours, you will see a big spike in flows. The river will come up, then back down again. Clarity isn’t much of an issue yet, but remember trout can see just fine in off colored water. For some folks the water may be to high from the Hirsch on down below through Nevada, but for others, you know this is a good time to hook big fish. March browns are out in full force through California and that seems to be the main bug on the menu now. Skwalas are still around and baetis too. In my river seines everything is in the samples and about to explode. Pmds, green drakes, golden stones, caddis, you name it, they’re there. Bug wise things are going to happen earlier this year than in years past. I’ve been mostly fishing the Cali side and having a blast, the sheer beauty of this river still blows me away. Nymphs, streamers, and dries will all grab fish this time of year. Attractors are huge, everyone has them, this is the time to fish them. Princes, hares ears, pmx’s, they will all get fish going. With the water coming up the streamer fishing will be very good. This weekend is the general season opener making the entire Truckee River open for your angling enjoyment. If you don’t want to fight the higher flows stay near town. That”s a whole hell of a lot of trout water to be open and believe me them trouts are everywhere. Some butta belly’s from this week.