Getting Creative…
With runoff in full swing, we have been exploring other options to get our lines wet and have a chance at catching some fish. Wether it be still water trout fishing, tailwater fishing, or even bass fishing we have still been having fun. The rivers are big, but some are still fishable, especially those with a dam at the source (tailwater) where they control the flows and even though they may be higher than normal, they usually are not muddy brown and the fish will still be feeding. On these rivers, work the edges and any soft water, oftentimes the fish are at your feet! A general rule of thumb is that if you can’t get your flies to dead drift, you’re probably fishing too fast of water. As far as still water, many of our favorite lakes are on the verge of thawing out which is the best time to target large fish in a lake. The fish will be hungry and slightly disoriented from a long winter under the ice, so they often fall victim to a balanced leech or stripped wooly bugger. Another option we have been exploring is targeting bass on fly rods. Stampede, Prosser, Union Valley, and even the Key’s Marina have good populations of black bass (spotted, smallmouth, largemouth). For the spotted and small mouth look for steep, rocky banks, especially with overhanging trees or bushes and give the “Float’n’Fly’ technique a shot. For more information on this, stop by the shop and we will show you the set up, or even better one of our guides Eric Meza has been putting clients onto the bass.
East Carson River:
The River is a white water rafters paradise and the rafting companies are taking full advantage of it. While it is not exactly fishable, if you want to try a different sport on this river hit them up and go for a 27 mile float through a beautiful Eastern Sierra canyon.
Being a freestone river fed almost entirely from snow melt, this is one of the rivers that is going to be on the tougher side to fish right now. On the bright side, the river is receiving a much needed “flush” that should push out all the debris and sediment that have accumulated throughout the last couple years. When the flows do start to come down and the water clarity improves, we look forward to rafting and fishing this river all summer long, with cold water and evening sessions throwing dry flies.
Truckee River:
The Truckee is a mixture of low water, fishable water, and big water right now. The upper section actually has lower than average flows as they are trying to hold as much water back to try to fill Tahoe to the brim. This section can be fun to check out in the evening with a 4 wt, some dry flies, or maybe a dry dropper rig. Park in Tahoe City, and walk or ride the bike path searching for fish and you may be surprised with what you find. The middle section of the river grows quickly as Donner and Squaw Creek dump water in, and grows to ~800 CFS by the time it reaches the town of Truckee. This is a decent flow for this section, but still would be considered high flows. Work the edges and soft water, especially undercut banks and directly behind big rocks. As Martis Creek, Prosser Creek, and the Little Truckee dump into the Truckee, the canyon section of this river turns into mostly whitewater, but this is where some advanced fly fishing techniques can be practiced. Sink tips and large streamers, deep indo rigs, two hand trout spey all have a chance at catching some trout down in this water at these flows.
Flies to try are dark, medium to large stoneflies, squirmy wormies, blue wing olive/march brown mayfly imitations and medium or large streamers that look like crayfish or baitfish.
Little Truckee River:
They have released the dam and this water has become a uncrossable, but still fishable option. This river can be tough but fun to fish at high flows as the fish will spread out and end up in nooks and crannies that are normally just walked past. However, crossing is not really possible so all anglers will be on one side of the river which can make it feel busy. Even in these flows, the rainbows will be spawning so watch for redds, and please avoid fishing to any fish in shallow water. Flies to try in these high flows are squirmy wormies, chenille worms, small mayfly nymphs, and the round fly.
East Walker River:
The record snowpack above this drainage has been melting quickly and the water has to go somewhere which is why the East Walker is at 1200 CFS with no signs of slowing down. I would consider these flows to be unfishable, but where there’s a will there’s a way. Streamers and sink tips in the normal “frog water” sections may just produce a nice fish, but I personally don’t think it’s worth the drive.
Stillwater Options:
A couple lakes to highlight are Caples, Silver, and Red. These lakes still have ice on them but the signs of Ice out have been showing with small windows of open water appearing at the dams and inlets of the lake. If you can time it where there is about 50 feet of open water between you and the ice shelf, you may just have the best still water fishing day of the year. Large fish will cruise these ice shelves looking for substantial meals, and are often fooled by streamers, balanced leeches, and chironomids.
Our private water Sawmill Lake just thawed out and is fishing hot. One our lucky guides got to go up and scout the lake, and said his indicator wasn’t in the water more than 10 seconds before getting the first bobber down.
Hot Lakes:
Sawmill Lake - BOOK NOW! Close to opening!
Fallen Leaf - Fishing well especially near the inlet
Prosser Reservoir - Thawed Water level is low as they make room for snow melt but have a chance at trout and Smallmouth
Lake Baron - Thawed with plenty of holdover trout
Bridgeport Reservoir - Chance at a nice brown trout from shore
Caple’s Lake- Frozen but close to thawing out
Tahoe - Not a numbers game but when we fish Tahoe we are looking for that fish of a lifetime
