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Truckee River Fly Fishing Report- 12/18/2021

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What a great early Christmas gift…water!

Just in time for the holidays, mother nature delivered the best gift ever. As you may know Truckee got blasted by an incredible winter storm this week delivering anywhere from 2-7 feet of the white stuff! This is exactly what we needed as we prepare for out winter fishing season.

On que, fishing immediately got better this week as flows came up and the river got a much needed flush of water. Flows more than doubled in some places. With another system coming in later this week the bite should continue to be really good.

That said, the water is really cold! Fish are absolutely in winter holding lies at this point, so keep an eye out for slower water. If not REALLY slow. Late morning water temps are anywhere from 31-36 degrees right now. The fish don’t want to use any energy. Slow, even deep water is key and you need to hit them in the face.

Our go-to nymphs are nothing special for this time of year, baetis (brown, black, olive) in 18-22s. The same for midges, zebra, tan and red. Rubberlegs and worms make a great attractors bugs this time of year too.

Although the water came up, it’s still pretty clear. Not unusual for this time of year. We mostly fishing 4 and 5x while nymphing.

If you get really lucky there are dry fly fish to be had on the same flies mentioned above. If you’re drift is perfect and they still aren’t eating try going down to 6x.

Again, this is the weather we’ve been waiting for! Now is the time to get on the water, especially with one more storm on the way before Christmas. It should only get better.

Looking to book a winter trip? Email Lulana and lets goooo! [email protected]

Three quality dry fly eaters from this current weather system.

Matt Heron

Author Matt Heron

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