60's in Feb?

Well almost...This past week's weather has been unbelievable up here. I've seen lot's of folks on the river taking advantage of the weather. I've stopped and talked to a few while riding my bike around and most folks have been catching fish. I fished today for a few, but got blanked, oh well. Next week they say Winter will return, damn.

February Baetis

After spending the miserable cold morning swinging flies with Ed Ward, a.k.a as Larry with no hook ups and lot's of lost engineered flies, a nice Baetis hatch came on. I didn't have a 5wt so Larry and I shared his lame ass A2 and did some dry fly fishing. We took turns and both stuck a few nice fish. At the end of the day I got a descent Brown to eat my sz#16 Beatis Emerger.

The inlet

For years this was the place to go fish in the Winter if you didn't want to drive to Nevada, or the Valley rivers. It really doesn't do that much for me unless fish are eating bugs on top. It's still nice though to be able to go out and stick a few on dries in the middle of Winter.

Even the losers get lucky sometimes

Larry got a nice brown today, and he even said he landed the biggest Rainbow of his illustrious career. Of course I wasn't there for the 'Bow, but I did see him catch one hell of a Brown today. Maybe even the Cubs will win the World Series this year.

First fish of the new year

Well, first trout of the new year. I've been slaying the whitefish the last few times I've had a chance to get out, but today brought some nice Rainbows and even a chance to do some fishing with Lanni Waller, I mean Uncle Larry. It's still cold and I admit I caught most of my fish on the SJW, but to see Larry's snap t is a thing of beauty.

Thawing out in Truckee

With today's high in the 40's(last week was -15 in Hirschdale) rising barometer and slightly overcast skies, I figured it would be a good day to hit the river. Winter fishing can sometimes be a drag staring at your indicator for the slightest twitch, but today I saw steady action with occasional rainbows to lots of the dreaded white fish. All of the river is in good shape below Boca with most of the anchor ice gone. Their was a nice Baetis hatch in the afternoon, but no fish on the surface. All fish today took either a Midge Pupae, Baetis Nymph, or Baetis Emerger in sz#18.

Winter Fishing

A lot of people have never fished for Trout during the Winter months. The Truckee (Ca), and Little Truckee have been opened year round for three years now. I first seriously started Winter fishing when we move down to Reno about six years ago. The Truckee River in Nevada is a great Winter fishery. I have learned a lot since then and spend most of my fishing time in Winter mostly because I am to busy in the Summer and because I love the solitude. Be prepared to get skunked at first, but the fish you do catch in Winter are usually much bigger than the ones in Summer. Here's five simple rules.

#1 Do not fish the same type water you would in the Summer. Winter fish are lethargic, they will not move far to chase a fly.

#2 Do not start at the break of dawn. Water temps are cold in the morning and fish will not get active until the sun penetrates the water and warms the temp some. Winter fish like areas with little current. Look for current that moves like a slow walking pace.

#3 Patience is key. It might take a ton of drifts to get that fish to move on your fly. Instead of changing your flies all the time, work on getting good drifts. Same rule actually applies in the Summer also.

#4 Have a midge box. Winter trout eat midges, period.

#5 Fish during warm fronts. The Sierras are blessed with bright sunny days and high pressure even in Winter. Fish on days that are the warmest and get out a few days after a big storm when the water clears.