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.

.

.

.

[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!
.