Truckee, CA.

[bigfly]

Travel is easy, fishing is good....

A big/small part of the fishes winter menu right now....
http://i905.photobucket.com/albums/ac260/Bigfly1/P2150019.jpg
Copulating Winter stones... The smaller one is a male.

The amazing nymph....
http://i905.photobucket.com/albums/ac260/Bigfly1/P2150016.jpg
It over-nights in the snow for insulation....
A Ralph Cutter insight.


Jim

[Morgan]

Good time hanging out w/ you in the office last week Jim.
The river is a whole lot different this time of year up in your neck of the woods.
Cold water, spooky fish and a small lunch menu.
I like rule #6. We talked about that one while watching the other day.
Start close and work your way out...take your time and make your drifts count.

[Rossflyguy]

^^^Definitely agree. I always see people wading in a spot that would've held fish.

[Ralph]

Nice, Jim. Great shots!

[TyV]

Great pics Jim...thanks for sharing. Your post got me curious about these little black snow wonders. Found a very cool article that really sheds some light on how these little marvels survive and do their thing in such a cold environment. Thought it might be interesting for others as well.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/02/24/winter-stoneflies-sure-are-supercool/

[bigfly]

Not nice conditions today.
So of course, I'm going out.
Alternating bands of rain/snow.
Warm-ish and ugly.....
With no wind, might be some bugs out.
I'll swing a skagit w/streamer for fun otherwise...
Crusty at the resorts, so my business has picked up...
Lots of pull-outs open, Glennshire parking as well.
Flows are low and clear, 39-42 deg.
Clear conditions make it possible to spot fish first....or be spotted....
Baetis dry sz. 20-22 (Burks silhouette Dun) when cloudy. BWO nymphs sz 20..
Swimmer may sz 20 dark.
Midge mania when sunny. Starting to see clumps....
Winter stones flutter in the afternoon, drown them, (unless you see a nose of course....)
Worms in the seine, along with some small brown clinger May's (sz20 Bird's nest).
Middle instar Golden stone (darker).
Suggest 4x to big fly, 5x to dropper near town (Set fast, but don't set too hard....).
Down in the Canyon it's mostly snow free and bigger flows, great switch rod levels for a big dry.

SKWALLAS ARE HERE!!!!!
Saw them on the water yesterday.
Fish aren't on them yet.....and too cold today....
But soon.......

Seeing a little more tendency to follow a streamer,(a baby bow, or skulpin sz 6).........fished slowly.
High noon is best fishing overall, peak water temps for the day, 12:00-3:00.
It gets better, a little earlier and a little later each day, as we move towards spring...
Starting to see pairing geese up here, keep your fingers crossed for more snow.
Pinch your barbs, the warden is out............
Fish, fish, fish, fish, fish......


Jim

[John Sv]

Hi,
My work is located right next to the Truckee (in Truckee)
Lots of winter stones clinging to the office window today!

[bigfly]

John, thanks for looking out the window.....
It's nice to know what's going on the water, while at work....
They are flying about (and they work on fish), but I think they're waning a bit.
Snow is going fast....
Winter stones, need bank snow to go....and it's almost gone, sad to say.
http://i905.photobucket.com/albums/ac260/Bigfly1/P3040018.jpg

Nature's special this week, SKWALLAS!!!!!!!!
http://i905.photobucket.com/albums/ac260/Bigfly1/P3050041.jpg
They were out again yesterday.
Saw a big fish rise from a hundred yards away.
Now that's a splashy rise!
Couldn't convince a fish to rise yet.....but I'll continue to try:D
It takes a couple days for them to switch on.
Next warm day after this weather, we should be good to go.
Doubtful today, cooler and a little blustery, but I'll check......

Found small speckled Caddis out as well. Green body sz18.

Water flow is up some, and slightly off color (green/tan).
H2O temp is around 44.
Good conditions to fool a fish.

Give them love after the tussle.
Cold water/slower metabolism seems to slow dissipation of lactic acid....
They will often sit right next to your foot to recover.
The fish are strong, beautifully colored, and very firm.
It's almost spawning time....
Get a good drift....they're in there.




Jim

[John Sv]

Jim I think I saw you parked at the RR crossing near Boca Dam yesterday? I had to get out of the office and errrr ummmmm do some property monitoring (for the Land Trust I work for)

[bigfly]

Snow has melted quickly...
Warm today, (No jacket!!!!).
Skwallas showed again today!!!!
Little winter stones may be about done.
Fish Midges/Baetis/worm of course.
But carry a dry fly set-up too....
We caught a few on dries today, woohoo! (Burk's silhouette dun. sz20)
There are BWOs on the water, and some speckled Caddis sz 18 starting to show.
Flows are perfect now, but may go off color as the week goes on.....
Flows are up a bit, but temp is hovering around 47..
Some weather coming next week, so fish now!
Spring is here.....

Jim