The Truckee River on the California side of the California/Nevada border is acknowledged as the most challenging freestone stream for fly fishers in the Golden State. Regardless of experience, be they beginners or jaded experts, fly fishers are befuddled by minimal rewards during their first visits to this high-Sierra destination. Regulars and locals are not exempted, annually experiencing days with marginal success. Trophy trout are available throughout the system, but nowhere are they easily duped. Being effective here hones a fly angler’s streamcraft and bodes well for excursions on other of the state’s moving waters . . . and beyond.
The River
Sixty-three streams flow into Lake Tahoe, but only one flows out — the Truckee. The river starts its journey at the lake’s west-shore town of Tahoe City (at an elevation of 6,229 feet), with its iconic metal sculpture of three leaping, six-foot-long trout. The stream heads north for 14 miles alongside Highway 89 through a forested, volcanic-ridged canyon. At the end of the valley, Highway 89’s two-laner feeds into multilane Interstate 80 at the historically bawdy railroad and lumbering town of Truckee (6,051 feet), now acknowledged as a world-class ski town. The river courses east, paralleling the interstate and the intercontinental railway tracks. During these last 20 road miles, the terrain gradually lowers in elevation, down to the California/Nevada state line. From there, the river then meanders into the Nevada meadowlands, through and past the city of Reno (4,506 feet), eventually spilling into Pyramid Lake to the northeast.
The Regulations
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife regulations for the Truckee are a bit convoluted, but if one practices catch and release, there is no issue.
Of special interest is the water from the confluence of Trout Creek, just east of downtown Truckee, downstream to the California/Nevada state line. This stretch is open to angling all year, only barbless flies or lures can be used, and no bait is allowed. During the winter season, from November 16 to the last Friday of April, there is no harvest allowed. The general season runs from the last Saturday of April to November 15, with a limit of two trout and a minimum size of 14 inches. Upstream of Trout Creek’s entry into the main river and along Highway 89 to Lake
Tahoe, the stream is open to angling only during the general season. There are no gear restrictions there, bait is allowed, and the bag limit is five trout. (For the adventuresome, there are eight additional special-regulations waters within a onehour drive of the town of Truckee.)
The intent of the Truckee’s special fishing regulations, initially instituted in the early 1980s and progressively changed since then, is to sustain a healthy, self-perpetuating wild-trout population. There is no planting of hatchery trout on the public waters of the Truckee. The median size range of the stream-bred rainbow and brown trout there is 9 to 13 inches. “Decent” trout are 16-to-20-inch rainbows and 18-to-23-inch browns. Larger fish are encountered, too. When someone nets a 24-to-30-inch fish, the news travels through the local grapevine quickly. The native mountain whitefish is also present and is usually found in the 12-to-18-inch range.
Bugs and Tactics
The aquatic fauna in the Truckee are quite diverse. In a nearby creek presumed to be indicative of the entire Truckee River watershed, a University of California study documented 80 species of caddisfly, 40 species of mayfly, and 30 species of stonefly. Rather than trying to match each of these hatches, with a few exceptions, it makes sense to load your Truckee River fly box with attractor and impressionistic patterns. Based on four decades of intimate acquaintance with this river, my mantra is “Size matters.” Of less importance are shape and color. If you can cover all three, so much the better, but that’s not imperative.
Two key things to consider in your strategy of fly fishing the Truckee River are water flows and water temperatures. Throughout the year, success is based on one’s understanding of how flow volume and water temperatures affect angling. A number of factors cause both flows and temperatures to vary, sometimes considerably, from year to year and season to season. The actual water content of the snowpack built up from late November to late March is more critical than the mere depth of the snowpack, and this can vary from year to year. Snowmelt and runoff are weather related. Runoff can be steady and gradual or unpredictable and erratic. Sometimes, we experience early springs, other times late springs. There are also water releases from Lake Tahoe and from reservoirs on streams that feed the Truckee that at times seem at the whim of the powers that be. Dramatic ramp-ups and reductions may occur, playing havoc with the stream’s biomass, not to mention anglers’ fun. Summer heat drives both fish and fly fishers to seek colder water temperatures, so the angler should locate spring seepages that cool the currents and also be aware that below the inflows from reservoirs the river can be as much as two to three degrees cooler.
“Big Tuffy” devotees focus their efforts on the 20 percent of the water that contains 80 percent of the trout. Look for water that provides the fish with food, protection from predators, and shelter from the current. In addition to water temperature, the character of flows below the surface is a critical factor. The rainbow’s prime feeding lies are often on the quiet side of fast-slow seams, depressions in cobbled riffles, and boulder gardens. The browns typically occupy smooth, slower flows at the confluence of two currents, swirling back eddies, and in front of or at the tail of upwellings created by subsurface obstructions. Uncharacteristically, the browns are leapers. The heftier of both trout species often will rocket downstream when hooked. Be prepared to give chase, and have a reel with a smooth drag.
Once you’ve identified holding water, methodically fan-cast the area from near to far, spacing your presentations relative to the water’s clarity. The key is to stay in relatively tight contact with your fly while still maintaining a drag-free drift. If the area is large, position yourself at the most advantageous spot that will allow the best drift. In the absence of observed, rhythmically surface-feeding trout, the first drift, if it’s well executed, usually has the highest chance of producing a grab.
Trout feed subsurface 85 to 90 percent of the time, so the highest probability of fooling an opportunistically feeding Truckee River trout is to probe the depths, constantly moving, looking to tempt a drift feeder. The most effective tempo for this prospecting can vary. Over the years, I’ve accumulated a collection of Frankisms, aphorisms that I use in my clinics or while guiding. One is “When the fishing is slow, move fast . . . when it’s fast, move slow.”
The Seasons
Here’s a season-by-season breakdown of angling opportunities and idiosyncrasies on the Truckee, beginning with the winter.
Wintertime angling has been legal since the 2008 season. From mid-November through March, the savvy Truckee angler doesn’t appear on-stream until midday, when the water is warmest. Access in the snow is always an issue. As needed, I strap on snowshoes to reach my preferred water. Their use prevents “postholing” — punching through the snow crust — which can result in ankle sprains and hyperextended knees. In lieu of the snowshoes, rubber or plastic-soled wading shoes are better than felt soles, which collect big clumps of snow.
Winter trout inhabit soft water — mild currents, shoreline edges, and quiet, deep pools. There are only limited times when you can present a dry fly to surface-feeding trout, so the most productive ploy is to probe subsurface, methodically, low and slow, because the trout will not move much to intercept your offering. Whichever load-and-lob method you use, be it tight-lining, indicator fishing, or the currently fashionable “Euro” nymphing, get the fly down. The fish are at the bottom of the stream, and that is where you need to present the fly. I advise fishing searching rigs featuring tandem big/small flies with lead as needed, or chucking streamers.
The aquatic bugs available to trout during the winter are the ever-present midges in all segments of their life cycle, the ubiquitous little black Winter Stonefly adults that pepper the snow banks, and Skwala Stonefly nymphs and adults. Starting in March, the angler will start seeing the first brood of Blue-Winged Olives and March Brown adults, but there will be few trout actively feeding at the surface.
April, May, and the start of June offer only “iffy” fly-fishing conditions, which are wholly dependent on what remains of the winter snowpack, its percentage of water content, and resulting melt and runoff. During this period, the best angling methods continue to be those of the winter months: present flies hugging the river’s bottom, where the fish are.
Later, however, June offers the dryfly fan’s first real opportunity to dupe a trout at the surface. The waning of the spring brings the locally coined “Big Bugs of June”: Western Green Drakes, Golden Stoneflies, and huge, winged, black carpenter ants. The Green Drakes and Golden Stone adults do not appear in great numbers, but they are present, and the trout are aware of them. These two insects will emerge over a three-to-four-week period, while the appearance of the ants is more intense and short-lived, as brief as only three to four days.
These food items provide high-calorie morsels to hungry spring trout. The trout are on alert. Tactically, search for ambush feeders. Toss your big dries along cut banks, under overhanging streamside vegetation, on shallow riffles, and in pocket water. At this time, trout in the 20-to-25-inch range abandon caution and succumb to their voracious appetites, vacating the depths to bust the surface for these big bugs. During the waning postmelt period, you can experience explosive top-water takes.
Late June also marks the initial emergence of the Truckee’s most prolific aquatic insect — caddisflies in all sizes (6 to 20) and stages of their life cycle. The two most significant are the caseless, net-spinning Spotted Sedge and Green Rock Worm, Hydropsyche and Rhyacophila, respectively. Keep in mind that the smaller, less intense emergence of the Turtle-Case Caddis (Glossosoma) can be masked by the emergence of these caseless sedges. Complementing the two prolific caddis hatches in creating the most concentrated rise activity during the summer months is the Truckee’s third major hatch, the Little Yellows Stonefly.
The dry-fly purist’s best months are from July into mid-September. If prospective clients want me to suggest the best month for targeting rising trout, I tell them to fish in the month of July, when the Truckee’s three major hatches mentioned above are on. Prime time is the last hour at dusk, when this river earns its reputation as a night stream. These summer months also feature daytime Pale Morning Dun and Pale Evening Dun hatches, along with mating swarms and spinner falls of Sulfurs in the evenings. If one is perplexed by refusals from surface feeders, switch to soft hackles. It will preserve your sanity.
August mornings bring Tricorythodes emergences and spinner falls. The tiny Tricos provide the season’s first task of presenting minute flies to leisurely slurping trout feeding along the meniscus.
From August though September, when the day is hot and the afternoon winds gust, look for grasshoppers landing haphazardly on the water. The most effective tactic is to splat down an imitation, immediately adding a couple of classic, “sudden-inch” twitches. BAM! Another terrestrial, a black beetle, also inadvertently becomes trout fare when losing its footing and slipping into the drift.
If you’re a streamer enthusiast, consider that CDFW electroshocking surveys affirm that Paiute sculpins are 95 percent of the Truckee River’s “rough” fish. Obviously less significant are Lahontan redsides and speckled dace. A sculpin replica in sizes 2 to 6 is an essential bucktail or streamer for this river. Use a sink tip or full-sinking line to spurt the fraud over the streambed with staccato strips — short bursts and pauses — hoping it gets waylaid. This bottom-feeding baitfish is important all year. Crayfish also inhabit the river, and big trout relish them, especially when the crawdads are molting. Soft, pliable shells make for easier digestion. October and November features solitude, golden aspen and cottonwoods, low, clear water, and the appearance of the last three important aquatic bugs of the year; the last-brood Blue-Winged Olive, the single-brood, minute Pseudocloeons and the humongous October Caddis. The BWO hatch is very noticeable, but the big caddis hatch is very sparse, unlike the intense emergences on a couple of Northern California streams such as the upper Sacramento and McCloud Rivers.
Gear and Other Considerations
A thermometer is an essential tool for assessing whether the water is too warm for fish to feed actively or too warm to fish at all. In the latter case, locally we voluntarily practice “Hoot Owl” closures; the health of the fishery being our primary focus. Most flyrodders think water temperatures between 56 and 67 degrees are too high on both ends to encourage trout to feed, but that’s not the case with the Truckee’s stream-bred denizens. A thermometer will tell you when the river is in this optimal range.
Although a 4-weight rod is an ideal tool when fly fishing a high-mountain stream, that’s not necessarily true on the Truckee, especially from spring to early autumn given the inevitable afternoon winds. Then a fast 6-weight has enough body to punch line out and is useful throughout the year when plying the bigger canyon waters down to the Nevada state line. A 5-weight rod is a reasonable compromise. In recent years I’ve become enamored of single-handed 10-footers. They’re handy for mending, reaching out, and high-stick nymphing. Some regulars are using method-specific 11-foot “Euro” switch rods.
A 9-foot 5X leader is an all-purpose choice. Adjust the length and diameter as the tactical situation demands. There is no need for 7X tippets here, and rarely is 6X required, the exception being when tying on late summer and fall size 20 to 24 Blue-Winged Olives and Tricos. Even with these tiny flies, a .006-inch 5X tippet is adequate. For deft presentations, merely extend the tippet 36 to 48 inches, forming a 12-to-13-foot leader.
During the high waters of springtime and while nymphing, there is no need to go fine — 3X or 4X is ample. A sturdy tippet is required if you intend to subdue the hot, wild, 16-inch-plus trout encountered in this river. Thick tippets also help avoid break-offs at the hook set and during the ensuing struggle and serve well for quickly landing, resuscitating, and releasing stout fish in survivable condition.
Climate in the mountains is unpredictable. Bring layered clothing. The top cover should be a lightweight wind/rain shell. When the water warms during the summer, wet wading is an option, whether in shorts or parachute-cloth, full-length pants. I’ve been known to wear knee pads to protect against abrasions while scrambling among the granite boulders. It may be a bit of overkill, but consider shin guards. Never forget sunblock and lip balm.
The Truckee River constantly reminds me of my serious skiing days last century in the Tahoe area. I would always return to Squaw Valley when my overinflated ego needed an adjustment. Today, many anglers receive their ego adjustments on the Truckee. However, as the Truckee slowly reveals its idiosyncrasies, many moods, and secrets, the river’s allure becomes addictive and exhilarating . . . just like Squaw Valley.
Yes, trophy trout 20 inches and longer are available on the Truckee, but the real rewards are for those fly fishers who learn to be patient, observant, flexible, and receptive to mastering the tactics that bring success on this challenging freestone stream.
