Truckee River has been good.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

A group from the Flyfishers of Davis was up there last weekend and did well.

http://www.flyfishersofdavis.org/

Caddis and Little Yellow Stones are coming of in the evenings.

Normally the 4th of July is a good time for evening dry fly fishing but it is a little early this summer.

Brown rubber leg nymphs and Mercer Golden Stone nymph worked good in the day time.

[Doug O]

Hi Bill,
Thanks for the post. It's nice to hear the Davis guys having success on the Truckee. The River is in great shape in both California and Nevada. Bugs are hatching and fish are grabbing. The Nevada side has had a lot of tubers floating down the river which messes it up a bit for anglers. Been fishing the Calif. side more.
Thanks again,
Doug O. www.truckeeriverflyfishing.com

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks Doug

About 50 years ago we knew a guy in Sparks, Nevada who had a little fly shop......Millard Fox, at Fox's Flies.

He told us to come there on average on the 4th of July because the caddis and the little yellow stones would be hatching in the evening.

Back then I had just started to work in a big sporting goods store in Sacramento and our Cortland Line Rep, Joe Patterson, knew Millard Fox.

Back then we had very few nymphs and no indicators. Mostly classic winged wet flies, classic streamers and dry flies.


Back in the day there was another Truckee River expert old fly fisher who worked up there for Teichert Construction who kept us up on the river conditions. Can't remember his name though....

Back then when many of us fished hard we would drive up to the Truckee River this time of year for the last hour of dry fly fishing on a week night evening.

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.

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[Doug O]

Bill,
Interesting that you would bring up old "Foxy". I knew him well, his little shop was on Hymer Way in Sparks. I purchased a Scott Graphite rod from him that Harry Wilson built the first year that graphite came out. As you know, they were great rods! Back then the best technique on the Truckee was to swing a "Truckee River Special" across and downstream. It was and still is a very effective technique today during caddis season. Although the original "Truckee River Special" was designed and tied by an even older fly angler by the name of Mid Lipera also of Sparks, Millard tied and sold them at his shop. Millard's favorite pattern for the Truckee was the "Blond Humpy". He would tell the same old story about a two foot brown he caught on the blond humpy, and then go to his freezer in the back of the shop and pull out this old frozen male brown. He must have shown it to me a dozen times! Every time I acted like it was the first time I'd ever seen it. On my web site www.truckeeriverflyfishing.com there is a picture of the original "Truckee River Special" fly pattern.
Thanks Bill,
Doug O.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Cool Doug.......you are an old fart too.


Would be nice to get more of this old fly fishing history down somewhere before we all forget.

Maybe you could write up an article about the Truckee area and put it on your web site?

[Randy Lee]

I enjoy this fly fishing history! Interesting and educational.
Thanks for the enlightening threads.
Randy

[Doug O]

You're right Bill, there is a lot of old stuff that tends to get lost with time. I should take your advise and write about our early days. I've got old pictures of sight fishing Eagle Lk. and Lake Davis in the late 60's & early 70's and a few on the Little Truckee. On the web site I have a pic of a grayling from the Little Truckee in 1978. It's fun to reminisce. The situation at Eagle Lk. is sad, due to the extreme low water, the north end is pretty much void of fish. The sight fishing in the tules (bullrush) was awesome. It was my favorite stillwater from 1969 to about five years ago. Bummer.

[Bob G]

Hey Biily -

Some of the absolutley best advice that you have ever given to me is that Doug Ouellette is the top Guide on the Truckee River. Since you gave that advice some years ago, I have had the great pleasure of hiring Doug and and fishing under his guidance on many occaissions...your advice concerning Doug, as always, was impeccable! For those of you who aren't aware, Doug is also the recipient of the prestigious "Cal Bird Fly Tying Cup".

In recent years I have also reaped the great benefit of alternating my Guide trips between Doug, and his Clinic teaching partner,and top top Truckee River Guide Matt "Gilligan" Koles. Like Doug's, Matt's intimate knowledge of the River just generates large fish.

Most imprtantly, Doug and Matt are two of the best guys anywhere to spend a day with on the river. I always look forward to their company as much as the fishing.

Thank You,

Bob

[Dan LeCount]

Cool History. A few other recipients of the Cal Bird Cup are Dave Stanley and Andy Burk, both two personal mentors of mine. I wouldn't be surprised if Ralph got one too. Doug you probably know, are those handed out by the Truckee River Fly fishers in Reno? I've always been more involved with the Truckee club in CA.

[Doug O]

Cal Bird was an honorary lifetime member of the "Truckee River Flyfishers". In the 35 year history of the club, there has been only ten recipients of the "Cal Bird Fly Tying Cup". These are the recipients: Dave Morrison, Dave Stanley, Terry Barron, Sash Nakamoto, Elliot Gritton, Richard Dickerson, Bud Johnson, Andy Burk, Doug Ouellette, and Mike Hoffman. These tiers are also honorary lifetime members of the Club. We were very fortunate to have Cal so close to us. He was a true gentleman and loved to share his knowledge. He was very generous with his flies. In the late 1980's I had the privilege to film him tying all his favorite patterns, his techniques were amazing!
.

[Dan LeCount]

Oh wow some really good guys on that list! I haven't seen Bud since the old shop closed. I hope hes still charging like he was when I saw him last. He had just got some new knees and was getting his pram dialed for some stillwater fishing. He had some great stories. Also back at the shop I used to book trips for Richard Dickerson and he was about as quality of an act as they make. Sashimoto was the man too. I got to fish Davis with the 2 of them from Richards bass boat one time and it was one of the best days I've had up there. A lot of people outside of the Reno area might not of heard of many of the guys on that list, but there's some very savvy anglers among that group. Truckee has some similar guys, not necessarily famous outside of the area, but some very serious fisherman. Guys like Bruce Ajari and John Marcacci come to mind. Thanks for digging up that list Doug.

[greenomics]

Just got back from a day and a half in the Truckee area. Fished the Big Truckee Saturday evening. Hooked what looked and felt like the largest trout of my life Saturday on a green caddis pupa dropper. Hit the main current just as I was trying to get off the rock I was standing on and broke my tippet just above the knot. Hooked a couple more little ones afterward, but none were landed.

Woke up early Sunday morning and fished the Little Truckee between Boca and Stampede. The water looked promising but I didn't even sniff a fish. Went back to the Big Truckee and fished upstream from where I was the night before. Hooked and landed a nice 14" rainbow on my brown/black rubber legs main nymph. Waded and fished upstream about a quarter mile. Wading was pretty difficult in the current and unpredictable slick algae (many bruises to show for it today). Hooked a good sized brown under some overhanging brush near the shore. Took a yellow stonefly nymph. Headed downstream after hookup and I tried to follow. As soon as I caught up it went back upstream. Played out the remainder of my free line and spit the hook just as the drag set in. Monster fish #2 lost.

After that hooked a small rainbow on the brown/black rubber legs and lost another small one on the rubber legs.

So, two fish landed and two monsters hooked up for two days spent on the river. For my first time fishing the water I came away satisfied (and bumped, bruised, bloodied with a wet iphone to add insult to injury).

[vaughn]

For the wet iPhone- as quickly as possible turn it off and remove the case and all port caps. Try to blow out as much water as possible either with a hair dryer or manually and then submerge in a bag of rice. Keep in the rice for 24hrs and you should be good to go. Works great from personal experience.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I am glad they made the movie "Rivers of a Lost Coast"......to save the history.

......now we need one on the history of the old fly shops, fly clubs and the people.

[BumpBailey]

I've never fished the Truckee or the surrounding area but have always wanted to... I'm really not going to have a lot of time as it is a stop over on a family vacation. We will be staying one night in the Northstar area and i am wondering if it is even worth it to go out in the morning for a couple of hours??? If so, is there fishable water in the Northstar area? Is first light too early???? I would probably have to back by 9:00am to continue on our way. As i won't have a lot of time I don't want to be driving more than 15-20 minutes to get to the water.... Fly suggestions???? Appreciate any suggestons given... even if that suggestions is that it would be better to sleep in. Not something I am very good at..... Thanks!

[Jed Peters]

I am glad they made the movie "Rivers of a Lost Coast"......to save the history.

......now we need one on the history of the old fly shops, fly clubs and the people.

Bill, I take it you haven't been to the San Francisco Fly Casting Club?

The clubhouse living room is a veritable museum of the origins of California fly fishing (and Truckee river fly fishing in particular).

Seriously amazing the fish they used to catch on that river. Make even the biggest ones caught today look like little ones.

[Dan LeCount]

I've never fished the Truckee or the surrounding area but have always wanted to... I'm really not going to have a lot of time as it is a stop over on a family vacation. We will be staying one night in the Northstar area and i am wondering if it is even worth it to go out in the morning for a couple of hours??? If so, is there fishable water in the Northstar area? Is first light too early???? I would probably have to back by 9:00am to continue on our way. As i won't have a lot of time I don't want to be driving more than 15-20 minutes to get to the water.... Fly suggestions???? Appreciate any suggestons given... even if that suggestions is that it would be better to sleep in. Not something I am very good at..... Thanks!

Head over to Martis Lake. You can wail on some of the sunfish in the shallows or maybe catch some trout down by the dam. Should be about a 2minute drive from Northstar. Also throwing streamers at first light on the Truckee can be awesome this time of year.

[Chasin Fin]

Heading up to incline village Thursday and was going to try and hit the truckee for the first time for a few hours. Any tips or suggestions? Was just planning on wet-wading. Thanks for any help in advance.

[cyama]

My suggestion is to hit Mountain Hardware and pick up some G6 caddis, various stonefly nymphs and some of those Canadian Tuxedos. A few crawdads and some big ugly streamers wouldn't hurt. If you like dries well the e/c caddis and a few different yellow stones would help. Hit the canyon below the Hirschdale bridge. The farther you hike and the faster the water the bigger the fish.. High stick the riffles. Get up early or stay late. If you haven't fished the Truckee it is a good idea to hire a local guide….

[Chasin Fin]

Much appreciated. I've only got a couple hours Thursday evening and maybe a few early Friday morning. Thanks for the suggestions on flies and location. May try hitting that stretch recommended Friday early morning and the stretch just east of town Thursday evening. BTW, beautiful fish!

[Doug O]

The Truckee is still fishing well. 07/20/14. Go to www.truckeeriverflyfishing.com for the latest report.