Record breaking daytime temps here in the Lake Tahoe-Truckee-Reno area. Honestly, it felt like a typical May type of day on the river yesterday. Not good for our meager snowpack. High pressure of the coast is digging back in. It may take the transition from winter to spring to move the ridge far enough west for storms to come through. March could still be good for us.
The Truckee River is in perfect shape for this time of year. Off color and great flows though out the entire river. 414 cfs here in the Hirsch. Higher through some stretches in Nevada, and a bit lower up top through Glenshire. I have heard some reports of some skwala stoneflies out and about. I was in skwala country yesterday and didn’t see any. It’s early, don’t get too excited until about March. There are BWOs out through the entire river and that’s what you should focus on. Nymphs and dries. If the river stays off color then you need to fish some larger shit. Attractor nymphs are the key to your success. Remember, the water is still cold, it’s February, so don’t except much, maybe a few large fish here and there.
Pyramid Lake is starting to pick up. Late afternoons have been the best bite. Right before dark actually. There are two strains of Lahontan Cutthroat Trout at Pyramid Lake. The Pilot Peak, and the Summit Lake. The big gnarly ones are the Pilot Peak strain, the better looking, but usually a bit smaller are the Summit Lake Cutthroat. The Summit Lake fish have been coming into the shallows in bigger numbers as of the last couple weeks. Catch rates are back up. You’ll get both strains of fish mixed in. You might catch 2- 3 smaller cutties, then bam, a big ass Pilot Peak fish will rope you. The usual set ups will catch you fish.