Truckee River Report 8.11.24

RECAP OF THE DAY:

As I have been saying in my prior fishing reports for the summer, you have to be careful about water temps. Today I decided to head up the mountain where the air temps are a bit cooler with canyons that cast a nice shadow on the water preventing the water from getting too hot. I’ll be honest, late July into August is my least favorite times to fish due to water temps and its just stinking hot. Like usual I head out early in the am hoping to catch the first few hatches that pop off first thing in the morning. There was no disappointment, hatches are in full swing but hardly any risers giving away their positions. When you have some great hatches but don’t see very many fish coming to the surface to eat, its all about reading the water and covering water effectively. When I’m reading the water this time of the year I’m really not looking for the deepest runs in the river, I’m looking for runs and pockets that are on average about 3’. Some good techniques to use in these areas would be ESN or dry-hopper/dropper. You can also use a #12 caddis dry pattern in hopes of making a trout rise to your fly, a fun way to fish but very technical and challenging on the Truckee. On this trip I focused on throwing a hopper/dropper rig. A foam #8 hopper will suspend a fairly good size nymph in order to get down somewhere near the bottom of the run. Yes grass-hoppers are out in full swing during this time, however I still expect to catch far more on the dropper than on the hopper pattern. If you have descent polarized glasses you may be able to see fish as they start to move for your dropper giving away their position, then adjusting your cast or your rig to hopefully get a bite.

CONDITIONS & HIGHLIGHTS:

• Water temps high 50’s/ low 60’s

• Air temp 94 degrees and sunny

• 320 CFS clear

  FLIES OF THE DAY:

• Hopper grey or pink #8

• PMD nymph #16

• Micro-Caddis nymph #16