The Truckee is flowing well….
Clear/Green and around 66 deg at dawn.
I’ve had many reports from fishing friends, that on the T, things are good.
That said, these are folks that fish a lot.
They pick and choose water, and time of day to fish.
They make good fly choices.
They are thoughtful on their approach, and persistent too.
In addition to all the regular fly fishing issues to master.
(Knots, leaders, fly selection, rod choice, casting ability, and most important of all…the drift.)
They have accepted the fact that these fish are pretty good, and have raised their game.
The fish are there…..
Leaders are 10 ft 3x for indicator fishing, right now, near town.
Use smallest size indicator to support weight chosen.( Maybe two ABs.)
Fish water you can’t see through.
But water could be only 2-3 ft deep to fall in that category….
Fish from behind rocks, and bushes.
Concentrate on perfecting your drift, more, than how many fish you want to catch.
The fish will take care of themselves….
After 10 days straight of guiding, I can say all of the above is true.
Pocket water is producing, just forget the bobber, and high stick something along the lines of a bead head prince with a tidbit tied behind it.
Say maybe a Caddis emerger….
I was showing someone a Golden stone shuck on a rock, late in the day.
I leaned over and reached into the water, to turned over a rock.
There, was a Golden Nymph getting ready for it’s evening time emergence. .
Just about the time I showed the client the stage of bug in my right hand, an adult flew past, allowing me to snag it with my left hand.
My best show and tell yet….
The best way learn this activity is going to the water, all the answers are there…
Often though, it’s not fishing time that teaches the most.
Mostly, just watching and being curious.
A friend of mine named Yale, has his bug seine rigged in a quick draw style.
We can spend a half-hour walking around checking out bugs/behavior.
The biggest hurdle I see here to catching fish, besides someone getting the drift, is bringing fish to hand.
These fish are more polished escape artists, than Houdini.
They can run away and back, before you have processed the run away part.
They run and jump like athletes.
They will go to Reno….
Mostly they get just a little slack “by accident”.
That’s all it takes.
Clients are always amazed when the hook has fallen out of the fishes mouth, when netted.
We fish barbless here, and the fish know it.
But it’s all good.
When you do land a good one here….you can feel some satisfaction.
Because, many seem to get away….
But, it wouldn’t be the Tuffy river otherwise.
The best news for beginners, is that this year there seems to be quite a few, small wild fish in the river.
Fish shallower, fish small flies, and treat them nice.
Tell them they are beautiful, and that you’d like to see them next year, when they are bigger…
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