And Then the Storm Cleared.

Man, we have had some nasty weather up here this week. Snow, rain, and wind. The Truckee came up and then came way back down. I hit it today for a few hours. The water had dropped back to the low 40's (it was up to 50 last week) so deep slow water was the ticket. The General Lee John was the hot fly today in a size #10. Like I say in off colored water give them something they can see, not some tiny ass midge pattern. The river should fish very well this weekend. Get up here because with expected high temps next week the river could look like your Latte from Starbucks.

The Opener

This weekend was the traditional opening of Trout season in California. We also had our fourth annual Fishmas Eve event on Friday night, raising money for our new Trout Unlimited Chapter in Truckee. I also saw lot's of folks on the water this weekend taking advantage of the awesome weather, but lot's shaking there heads wondering why they weren't catching fish. I heard a few stories of some nice Browns being bonked on the head and put on stringers, bummer. I guided, but no one could land some of the big fish we stuck the last few days. You know who you are Larry. We'll see what happens this week with the weather. To much rain will blow the river out, but it's bound to happen sometime. Today I landed the hardest fighting fish I can remember. Yes folks, there's fish in the Truckee.

OMG in LOG

Oh my God, Jeff from S.F.hooked some big fish today in Land of the Giants. One Brown was absolutely unreal, and I see a lot of big fish. When this Brown got hooked he instantly ran then jumped, as Bozeman Chris would say, "You have to bow down to them." He also hooked a Rainbow that was the biggest one I've seen all year, maybe 25"+, wow...This Rainbow was the only one landed today, a small fish in comparison. Flows stayed stable today and the bite was on.

Flows do Matter

I think a lot of people don't understand the importance of stable flows for good trout fishing. Here on the Truckee there are two damns, one at Tahoe, and the other at Boca that fluctuate water depending on needs downstream. There is also the other damns, Donner Lake, Stampede, and Independence Lake that all can be controlling what gets dumped into the main stem of the Truckee River. On top of that you have run off from melting snow. When the water rises and gets off colored fish will move closer into the bank and find cover out of the fast water. When it lowers just the opposite happens, Trout are trying to get back to to deeper holding lies. You can catch fish in both situations. I like when the water rises a little, lot's of food gets pushed down and fish can go on a feeding frenzy. When the flows come up or down to fast, I think this freaks them out making the fishing very tough. Today was a very tough day. The flows came down about 100cfs on me, not good for good Trout fishing. I still managed to hook a few and land a nice Rainbow. Make sure you check those flows before you come and fish the Truckee this Spring.

Big and Uglys

With the recent warm weather the last few days up here the Truckee is having huge spikes in flows. Fish like stable flows, but if you do come up and fish this Spring the bigger the fly sometimes is better. When the flows come up and get off colored I like to dead drift a big streamer. Something like a Black Slump buster is deadly, then hang a big Copper John or something off the back of it. Black has a great contrast in off colored water. I like to bump mine off the bottom and jig it a little. I got two big Browns today on the streamer. One Brown I had hooked a few days before and I came back this evening and landed his ass. What a battle that was. I had a third fish witch was bigger than all three chase my streamer all the way to where I was standing and almost bumped into me, awesome. I know where you are dude. The river should stabilise this week with the colder weather and the fishing will be good, but think about fishing the heavy arsenal this Spring.

Just Chill'n With Jay Fair

Yesterday I went down to do some tying at Keines Fly Shop in Sacramento. Since I got there early I sent up my tying station next to Jay Fair and his son Glen. It was an honor to meet Jay. Jay Fair is truly a legend of our sport. Not only was he one of the nicest men I've ever met his fishing stories he told me all day where priceless. To say I learned something about fly fishing is an understatement. He's eighty six now and has been guiding for thirty eight years. His California guide liscense no# is 318, mine is 10515. He'll be on Davis this year with his son since Eagle Lake is so low. That's Joe Shirshac in the bottom photo. He's fly fished the Truckee since the 50's and the stories he told, well....

The Larry Curse

I finally got a chance to take Larry out today. I met Larry last year on the river and we stayed in contact through emails. Mostly I thought he was pumping me for free info, but after getting to know him he turned out to be a really cool guy. Larry can fish, but his name is Larry and we all know the Larrys of the world farm a lot of fish on the Truckee. I think the name is cursed. Larry stuck some huge fish today, Rainbows mostly and two Browns in the 20+ inch class, but they had the better hand. Saturday I'll be tying at the Keines Expo in Sacramento so come on by folks and say hi.

L.O.G.

Had a great session in The Land of the Giants today. This is a certain part of the river that holds some really big fish. If you time it right, like today, you can truly catch some nice ones. I got fish on just about everything, Red CJ's, Pats Rubber Leggs, BWO Emergers and Nymphs. This Spring is some of the best fishing I've seen on the Truckee. The river is loaded with big fish.

Keith Westra

Keith Westra of Lelands Fly Fishing Outfitters fame came up yesterday to do a little filming and some fishing with me on my beloved Truckee. To get to fish with Keith is like running in the same circles as say Jack Dennis, or Lefty Kreh. Keith is on every pro staff imaginable and just to have the opportunity to fish with him is truly a dream come true. All jokes aside we had lot's of fun, stuck lot's of nice fish, and got some great video footy for Leland T.V. I got lucky and landed a pig of a Brown. Hopefully Keith you come up and fish this Summer with Joe and I.

Stink'n Up My New Net Even More....

Another nice Truckee River Brown came to the net today. After a long fought battle Ken from Ohio turned his head and in the net he was. Time after time I get people who fish all over the country and the biggest fish they catch is right here in the Truckee. You might not catch 20 fish like on the Madison, or the Green, but you could walk away with your biggest. This was Kens biggest Brown ever.

Putt'n Some Stink on the New Net.

Thanks Micheal for helping me put some fishy smell on the new net. Despite the wind you did a great job of keeping your rod bent on the Truckee today. To bad we didn't put that Brown in the net, looks like he won that battle. Oh, and my net was hand crafted by my neighbor Peter, a lifelong Hirschdale resident and longtime, I mean longtime Truckee River angler.