Summer can produce some of the year’s best fishing…

 

Many anglers assume summer is too hot to fish for trout. On the Truckee River, that’s only partially true.

After guiding this river for more than two decades, I’ve learned that summer consistently produces some of the year’s best fishing, but only if you’re willing to adapt. Trout don’t disappear. They simply change when and where they feed.

Understanding water temperature is far more important than watching the calendar.

Every June, July, and August is different. Heavy snowpack, drought years, cool nights, afternoon thunderstorms, and reservoir releases all influence the river. Rather than focusing only on the month, successful anglers learn to read the conditions.

June: One of My Favorite Months

June is often misunderstood, and here’s why.

On a good snowpack year, the river can still be high and cold in early June. Anglers think runoff means poor fishing, but for many years the end of runoff means great fishing, and your last consistent shots at trophy fish for the season. By the second half of June, things start looking more like summer on the river.

Typical conditions

• Cold mornings
• Excellent oxygen levels
• Healthy trout metabolism
• Long feeding windows (all day long!)
• Plenty of aquatic insect activity

Because nights remain cool, trout recover quickly and often feed throughout much of the day.

Even if flows remain high during the first week or two, fish simply reposition themselves. Instead of chasing fast riffles, they slide into softer seams, flooded edges, slower buckets, and protected pockets.

This is one reason hiring a local guide pays dividends. Finding fish during high water is more about understanding hydraulics than casting ability. If the water is up, the fish aren’t in “summer” spots yet.

Best fishing times: Like we mentioned earlier, all day long!

• Early morning
• Mid-morning
• Mid day (the bite may slow some from the high sun. Not form water temps going up)
• Late afternoon
• Evening

Unlike later in summer, midday can still fish exceptionally well if water temperatures remain cool.

June hatches often include

• PMDs (Pale Morning Duns)
• Yellow Sallies
• Green Drakes (some years)
• Caddis
• Golden Stones
• Carpenter Ants (end of May into June)
• Early hopper activity

July: The Month That Rewards Early Risers

July often offers spectacular fishing, but timing becomes much more important.

Long sunny days begin warming the river each afternoon. Trout respond by feeding aggressively during cooler periods.

This is the month when I often tell clients:

“The fish haven’t stopped eating; you just need to adjust your schedule and where you’re fishing.”

Best fishing windows

• Sunrise until late morning
• Lunch time until 2-3 pm depending on water temperatures.
• Last few hours before dark
• These periods consistently produce the most active trout
• Many afternoons/early evenings become noticeably slower as water temperatures climb

Why?

As water warms fish become very aware that oxygen levels are on the decline. This in turn makes the fish a bit lethargic and less aggressive. The fish of course still needs to eat. They’ll combat this by moving into fisher riffles and pocket water with more oxygen.

This is the time of year when many of the big fish we were catching earlier in the year start to “disappear”. The Truckee’s trophy trout bring their A-Game and start to feed more at night. Especially the browns.

This doesn’t mean you can’t catch fish in the afternoon. It simply means success depends on cooler weather, cloud cover, canyon sections, spring influences, or higher elevation tributaries.

August: The Most Condition-Dependent Month

August is probably the month I evaluate most carefully before every guide trip. It’s a sliding scale and we’re constantly doing calculations in our heads based on sunlight, daytime air temps, clouds, tributary releases and most importantly, water temps.

Some years fish remain active all day. Other years we finish early because the bite turns off and the water gets hot!

This is where responsible angling becomes just as important as successful angling. It’s a safe bet to say most years, we’re off the Truckee River by 12-3pm. So, the morning bite can be quite important. Even to the point where we may move up our start times with quests if they’re willing.

Early mornings dominate our guide calendars. Fish know it. Large browns know it. Experienced local anglers know it. If conditions are favorable, morning fishing can be phenomenal.

Let’s Talk Water Temperatures

One of the biggest mistakes anglers make is watching the air temperature instead of the river temperature. Air temperature doesn’t tell the whole story. The Truckee can remain surprisingly cool after several cold nights (especially the 2nd half of Aug). This is one of the main advantages to living at 6,000′. A few cool nights in a row absolutely drop our water temps faster than many other rivers.

The reverse is also true, one week of extreme heat can raise afternoon temperatures dramatically.

I strongly recommend carrying a stream thermometer throughout the summer. It’s the best $8-20 you can spend the time of year. As guides, we check water temperatures constantly because trout health depends on it.

General Guidelines

Water temps below about 65°F would be ideal for summer. This is where trout generally remain the most active. However, there are very few rivers across the west where temps don’t go above that in August. It’s sad, but true.

Fish can feed throughout much of the day if oxygen levels and water temps are good.

As guides, the 65–70°F is where we really start to pay attention. This is where the water temps are always in the back of our mind and we start thinking about Hoot Owl closers.

By this time, we’re usually running only half days on the Truckee River. Start early and get done early as they say. We’re never guiding our guests over this range. Not just to protect the fish, but truthfully, the angling experience is extremely low from a catching standpoint as well. Go hit the golf course!

One important note to consider that may be a bit controversial on this topic. There’s quite a bit of misinformation out there about mortality rates of trout and water temps. The truth is there are no proven scientific studies showing mortality increases until water temps hit 73 degrees.

For many of us, that number seems high! Montana and Idaho have the most research on the subject and both states research showed the same, 73. Montana, who is the national leader (and founder) of Hoot Owl restrictions by law, doesn’t even close river until they hit 73 degrees for three days in a row.

It’s just something to think about!

The fly fishing industry has adopted the norm being 68 which is fine. There’s nothing wrong with erroring the side of caution to protect some of most special, wild trout on the west coast!

Where Trout Move During Summer

Now back to the fishing. As temperatures rise, trout seek out faster rifles and heavy pocket water, shade, cold water tributaries and any run that has oxygen rich water coming in from above it. Finding these areas often matters more than changing flies.

My Advice After 20+ Years on the Truckee

The anglers who consistently enjoy great summer fishing all do the same things:

• They start early and get done early
• They monitor water temperature instead of air temperature
• They fish where oxygen is highest
• They adapt to current conditions instead of relying on last year’s reports
• They stop when conditions become unsafe for trout

Summer isn’t the season to fight the river; it’s the season to understand it.

Do that, and you’ll discover why June, July, and August consistently produce some of the best numbers of fish for the year.

-Matt Heron

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Have questions about fishing summer conditions on the Truckee? Let us know about it. You can drop us a line HERE anytime. We’ll be more than happy to help point you in the right direction!