GUIDED TRUCKEE RIVER FLY FISHING. WELCOME TO GILLIGAN’S GUIDE SERVICE.
Guided Fly Fishing the Truckee River, Little Truckee River, Pyramid Lake Nevada, Truckee-Tahoe-Reno
A guided trip for beginners and experienced anglers includes instruction that builds a basic foundation necessary not only to catch fish but to understand the patterns in which fish feed and what they feed on particularly in the Truckee River throughout the changing seasons. A day with Gilligan’s Guide Service also includes honing the proper casting technique and fly presentation in order for an angler to have success on some of the most beautiful and difficult waters around Truckee, Tahoe, and Reno.
If you are new to fly fishing and do not have equipment, Gill will provide gear including waders, boots, and rods at no additional cost. Gilligan’s Guide service runs trips year round along the Truckee River, including float trips along the Nevada side, Little Truckee River, and Pyramid Lake Nevada.
TRUCKEE RIVER FLY FISHING – LATEST BLOG POSTS
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report April 24 2024
Big Spring Fishing on the Truckee RIver. The fish are big, and the flows are big. Yep, good old fashioned Spring fishing. Lot's of water coming down the pipe. So, fish the edges, or any flat bank water you see. Fish are not in current. You literally may walk right on top of them right now. They can be smuggled right up to the bank. Don't use your 5x, and zebra midge rig. Use heavy tippet. Sometimes I fish one fly to make it easy. I fish 2x in these flows, 0x for streamers. The whole river is pretty big, but it's not as high as last year, or '18. It's totally fishable. Color is not too bad either. Honestly, this is my favorite time to fish the river. You just have to adjust and learn to fish higher flows. Or you can go up to the Little Truckee where there's 30 cars in one lot.
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report April 17 2024
Spring has sprung, for the time being. You get to the point, that if you see another snowflake you're gonna loose it. T-shirty weather now. Flows are going to get big now. Right neat 1K, here in Hirschdale and growing. Of course bigger as you go downriver. High water fishing. Probably now until mid-June. Now, if you know, you know. Some of the best fishing we have is right now. Find a bucket the fish can get out current and have at it. Big brown and rainbow time. It's not Fall folks, it's Spring on the Truckee River for them big trouts. So if you have a trip booked you're stoked. If you have a https://truckeespeedrods.com, you're even more stoked.
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report April 6 2024
Spring, but mostly Winter still on the Truckee River. The weathers looking good for next week though. I know clouds and rain and snow are great for fishing, but at this point, I need some sunshine. We are going into the big fish time on the Truckee RIver. Spring is great for that. Flows are going to ramp up which they are starting to do. Releases from Lake Tahoe have started. Around 200 cfs, coming out of the lake. That ,and run-off should eventually get the river pumping. Right now, it's a pretty average 600 cfs in Hirschdale, but expect that to get much higher with warmer weather. If you know, you know, and that big high water is good for fishing. My favorite time. So go buy a bigger net, get the streamers tied up, the worms ready, and all that big ugly shit you've had in your box, but been afraid to try.
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report March 26 2024
Spring is here, kinda. Still snowing though. That's Spring in the mountains. Few nice days, then some snow, then mainly wind. I can say however, the fishing is good, and my favorite time to fish is Spring on the Truckee River. Welp, we have a lot of snow up top now and eventually that snow is going to melt. We're kinda pre-runoff right now. The river will get big at some point. Usually that's when it stops freezing so hard at night. Couple weeks, we'll see those flows come up. Now if you're in the know, big flows are some of the best times to fish the Truckee River. If anyone has trips booked with me this Spring, you're stoked. I'll show you the ways young Jedi's. Right now the streamer bite is good East of Reno on the lower Truckee River in Nevada. Flows are up down there so think big. Nymph big, if you're nymphing. Egg bite is on through Reno. Mainly skwalas, and dark mayflies up here in Hirschdale. I haven't seen any rainbow redds up here in Ca yet. Always be cool this time of year wading through tail outs and such.
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report March 11 2024
Things are firing up for a good Spring on the Truckee River. We got lots of snow, sure you've heard, and now it's all gotta melt. High's could get into the 60's this weekend in Truckee. Yahoooo! Look for the river to come up. My favorite time to fish is Spring on the Truckee RIver. The bigger the water, the better. People always ask, what's your favorite time to fish the river Gill? Right now until about mid-June. I like brown trout. Now, don't look for the river to get that big or anything yet. That'll probably happen more in April. Right now, look for good nymphing all up and down the river. Skwalla's are out, blue wings, and lots of midges. Spring is also my favorite time to streamer fish, and it will be the best dry fly fishing we'll have too. If the water don't get that high. Just a fun time to fish. I'll have some clinics coming up in April. Don't forget to check these out too. Best rods on the planet, not kidding.
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report February 13 2024
Interesting weather and fishing on the Truckee RIver. Pretty good storm cycle last week, and looks like it should continue starting this weekend for about another week. We're stacking the snow up on top, so that's really good news. Relatively warm for mid-February here in Hirschdale. We got less than a foot of snow on the ground and access is pretty easy all over. Flows are nice in California, and great out East on the lower Truckee River. Not too high, not too low. The dry fly fishing out East has been relatively good. It's mainly about timing. The streamer fishing and nymphing has been descent as well. Flows will probably pop up a bit next week, but they'll settle down fast. Who knows what the end of the month and March will bring weather wise. My opinion is it will be warm and wet. We'll see.
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report January 24 2024
Mild weather in the Hirsch on the Truckee River. We've had precip most of the week, but the storms have been warm. It's snowing where it counts though. The kids had one good sledding week here at our house, that's it. Now we just have a few inches on the ground-El Niño. Honestly, I love when it snows up top and not down here. Less work for this old timer. The fishing this Winter has been good. Flows have been pretty stable and volume wise, perfect. We've made it past our 2 coldest months, so it's all gravy until Spring. The dry fly fishing out East on the lower river is starting to turn on. You'll get midges in the morning. When they cluster up the fish are on them. Later in the day the blue wings come out. Big fat size #16's. Most of the fish will be on the smaller side, but occasionally you'll get a big fish rising. Warm cloudy days are the best. Even on the sunny days you should get some fish looking up. Fun to head hunt. With the warmer Winter, I haven't spent all my time down on the Nevada side. The fishing is descent here on the Ca side too.
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report January 6 2024
Winter has arrived on the Truckee River. Gonna be a cold week with snow and wind. Probably not the best for fishing. Maybe down on the Nevada side, but here in Hirschdale, we'll be in the single digits at night, and won't make it out of the 20's during the day. Too much ice in the guides for me. After this week, for now, it's looking like El Niño may kick in. That means bigger warmer storms, which is good for the fishing. Last week got a few days of solid streamer fishing in. It was warm and cloudy. So, I'll probably chill and build some rods this week. My Shopify store will be up soon. http://www.truckeespeedrods.com
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report December 27 2023
Mild is the word on the Truckee River. 63 degrees when I got off the river in Reno today. Crazy. That's like April weather. Hopefully we end up getting some kind of Winter. Good for fishing though. I knew with El Nino we would have a mild Winter which bodes well for fishing, The whole darn river is fishing pretty well. Flows are perfect for Winter. I'd fish the frog water and maybe the riffles as the water warms up, on warmer days. Look for that dry fly fishing in the desert to start up in about 2-3 weeks. It gets super good down there on a cloudy day. So look, the skiing sucks, might as well come out and fish with me.
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report December 19 2023
Pretty El Niño'ish on the Truckee River. Warm and rain and not a lot of snow. Great for fishing, not great for the snowpack. It was 38 degrees last night, warm. Pretty much what you want for Winter fishing on the Truckee River though. Warm storms, high river. The Truckee fishes much like a steelhead river. When it gets big for a few days after rains, and then comes down, the fish are active. In times like these, fish the bigger stuff, spring type flies, streamers, worms, etc. She'll come back down in a few days, and then get the smaller Winter flies out again. This will be a repeatable pattern this year. Last year the Winter fishing pretty much sucked. The water was low and cold and everything was snow. This Winter has been much better. Flows are higher and it's been warmer.
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report December 12 2023
Rolling through Winter on the Truckee River. No snow yet. I think everyone's wondering when Winter will start. It's been cold, but lack of precip gets everyone a little on edge. I don't think anyone wants a repeat of last year, but we do need a snowpack. Flows are darn good though. Fishing is hit and miss like it usually is in Winter. Warmer overcast days are best, but there's usually a timeframe, window, that will trout will feed no matter how cold the air and water temp. Rememberer, look for and fish the frog water. Only work the rifles or top of runs after it warms up and fish move in to feed. I think El Niño will kick in eventually. For now enjoy not shoveling any snow.
Truckee River Fly Fishing Report December 3 2023
Bit warmer, and feeling much more like El Niño on the Truckee River We got out of the early morning teens, East winds stopped blowing, and kinda mild rainy'ish type weather. Good for Winter fly fishing on the Truckee River. Flows are big for this time of year. About 450 cfs here in Hirschdale, and around 550 cfs out East in Nevada on the lower river. Great fishing flows for sure. No snow to worry about anywhere on the river. We'll get our snow, but really feeling like we're gonna get more rain than snow this year. That lines up good for the fly fishing here.