The fishing on the Truckee slowed down quite a bit this week when compared to the previous month of dry, warm days. When looking at the conditions, the flows have yet to change much and water temps have dropped but not plummeted. When theorizing why the bite slows down so drastically despite any major shift in the tangible variables, we often just simplify it by saying “trout just like consistency”. A month of sunny days, clear water and stable conditions meant the fish were happy and feeding with regularity. After the cloud cover moved back in, barometric pressure dropped and water temps dropped, and the fish took a bit of time to get adjusted. This doesn’t mean if you do decide to get on the river this week that you’re wasting your time, but we would say expect to work harder to find them.

The fish will continue to hold in slow, deep runs so we recommend using an indicator with a bit of split shot and using lightly weighted or unweighted flies to allow for more natural movement on your bugs. With the precipitation this week, an unweighted squirmy or San Juan worm will be hard to beat right now, especially when paired with a small baetis or midge pattern. For baetis, we have been doing well on sweet peas, micro mays, juju baetis, pheasant tails, and mic drops. For midges, we have been almost exclusively fishing zebra midges in either black or the two tone red and black.