Pyramid Lake
Spring season and the spawn rolls on into April. There have been 3 successful spawns at the hatchery on the lake so far. Even with all of the water and the lake coming up everything seems to be right on time. Water temperatures are approaching 50 degrees and the weather has been pretty normal as of late. Each week seems to have some warm days and some minor weather and a windy day or two. The Truckee River is coming into the lake at an average of around 4000 CFS over the past few weeks and this has helped the lake to come up over three feet this season. It seems to be coming up inches a day right now. Don’t be surprised to see the lake come up another few feet before the season is over.
There are still plenty of beaches closed due to the floods in January and it seems as though we may not see to many more openings this fishing season. The road to Monument has a 10 foot deep and 25 foot wide crevice down the middle of it just north of the Ranch properties and plenty of water still coming out of the mountains through it into the lake. We don’t have much to report on Dago and Howards but with the Truckee running so hard they are probably muddy anyway. The South Nets is a mystery. We were told that the Tribe has the O.K. to allow access even though there is damage to the beach there as well. It is going to be tight and crowded for the next month so if you come to the lake accept the crowds and the lack of access right now.
As far as the fishing goes, it has been a mixed bag. As the water continues to rise in the lake look for conditions to change frequently. Stripping the normal patterns like Midnight Cowboy Wooly Buggers and Martini Olives in tandem with a Bright colored Beetle or Tadpole like chartreuse and white or all white is hard to beat. For Indicator rigs the Albino Wino and the Copper Wino have been the top producing fly for us for the umpteenth year in a row with over thirty 10 pound plus fish caught on these flies in March alone. http://pyramidlakeflyfishing.com/product-category/flies/ Fish these flies on the bottom with a Red or Black Maholo Nymph on the top. Early mornings and late evenings are the best time of day, especially during light winds and clear skies. As the water warms up in the mornings it seems to help with a mid-day bite as well. Keep checking your depth on Indicator set ups even on your favorite beaches. You will be surprised how fast the water is changing and rising in the lake. It is going to be tougher to find big fish in the coming month as more and smaller fish show up in the shallows as the spawn continues.
Our April 22nd clinic will be awesome and teach anglers how we catch so many fish at the lake. Space is limited and we only have 4 spots available. http://renoflyfishingoutfitters.com/education/
Truckee River
As stated above the Truckee is running hard and fast, especially on the Nevada side of the river. The best fishing is up stream in the upper stretches of California down to about Boca Bridge. After that it is hard to get in the water and can be dangerous. Fishing the edges or in any slower water is the way to go. Fish are hiding from the heavy currents right now. Nymph Rigs should have plenty of split shot and streamers can be fished with a sink tip. There is not much in the way of dries. The flows will probably stay really high for the next month and even more depending on the pace of the run off. Flows are: Town of Truckee 1160 CFS, Boca Bridge 3030 CFS, Farad 3560 CFS, Reno 3500 and Vista 3580.
Little Truckee River
Flows are 774 CFS. Humming! The river is out of the banks and running hard. Not to mention the road access is still limited due to snow on the road. Your guess is as good as ours because we have plenty of other places to fish when it is this high. On the same note the flows could stay high like this for a while. Plenty of run off and a dam project on the way at Stampede Reservoir could keep the flows over 500 CFS for a month or more.
East Walker River
Ditto! 856 CFS. Look for the flows to stay really high for most of the spring.
Davis and Frenchman’s
The water is coming over the spillway and the lakes are full. Should be a good spring once the weather warms up. It has been many years since either of these two fisheries have had this much water. Plenty of coves and places to fish this year. Both have limited access still and are mostly iced over.
South Fork Reservoir
South Fork is fishing great from both shore and from boats and float tubes. The water is still really cold but fish are getting active. There has been a really good midge hatch late mornings and the fish are hungry. Albino Wino’s fished under an indicator is hard to beat right now for Rainbows, Cutthroats, Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass. South Fork has become one of our spring go to spots and we are currently running guide trips and outings in the month of May. South Fork is located near Elko Nevada and is probably the best public trout fishery in Nevada. See our Education page for more info.
Pyramid Lake is really the only local fishery worth talking about this week. Other area lakes are still frozen and the rivers are all blown out due to high water, rain and flooding. We have a huge snowpack in the Sierra’s and stormy weather just keeps coming. All of our area lakes are reservoirs are either full or going to be soon. This means that the rivers could remain too high to fish for a month or two.
Pyramid re-opened on February 18th after over a month of being closed due to rain, mudslides and road damage to both paved and beach access roads. The lake is only open between Shot Dog Beach and the North Nets. This means that popular beaches to the North including Monument and Warrior Point remain closed as well as the entire lake from and including the South Nets all the way to Dago Bay.
Pyramid Lake has come up around 2 feet since the fall and it looks like it could rise another 5-7 feet by the end of run off season. There are not too many years most of us can remember when the lake came up this much. 1997 and 2005 are the only other two in recent history. This is going to change the spring fishing season a lot. It has already made an impact on most of the sandy beaches that are open. It is either difficult or impossible to wade out to be able to fish to the shelves. This is a common occurrence on big water years and it will take a big wind event from the East to sort of re-set the ledges and redefine the drop offs. On windy days the fish will move in on top of the deeper ledges but on calm days it is going to be tough. It can change any day with the amount of storms and windy days we are having.
The fishing was fantastic all weekend and many anglers caught fish over 10 pounds. Long casts with Indicator rigs and Maholo Nymphs and Balanced Leeches were as good as anything. Stripping Midnight Cowboys and Martini Olive’s also caught a ton of fish with a fast sinking shooting head.
