I had the opportunity to do a bit of guiding this past Wednesday with Bob Jester! Bob might have gotten into something that will change his thoughts on fishing locally! PV produced a great day of dry fly fishing as well as some fun with a streamer. The fish were big and they wanted to eat! Bob is back there again today looking for the big one we lost!
Fly Fishing with Victor Babbitt
July 09
For a year that we all thought was going to be a drought year, the water conditions are fantastic and I think they will stay that way all summer! Thank goodness for all the rain in June! There are numerous highlights at this time of the year and I can’t list them all just know that the fishing in all directions is going to be great!
The river we guide the most is just getting into shape and already we have seen numerous fish caught over 20 inches… The East Carson River should fish better this year than last and probably better than most years in the past 10! The Caddis hatch is going to be thick and the Yellow Sallies are already in force. Look for some good big fly fishing as well including Stones, Drakes and Crawdads. As we get to the end of the month, I would expect the fishing to be best early and late and the Caddis will rule. For those that like to fish above the bridge, there are going to be numerous huge fish stocked this year and will be a great place to cut your teeth on landing big fish! Don’t forget, all of the fishing below Hangman’s Bridge is barbless, artificial and Zero Limit! The West Carson River has good flows as well and lots of fish, a great place to keep a fish if that is what you like to do.
Just to list a few other rivers, in our area, worth a fish give these a try for a bit of variety! The Truckee and Little Truckee Rivers north of Tahoe, The East and West Walker Rivers Southeast of Tahoe and the Tributaries to Lake Tahoe which open on the first of July. Standard bugs, on the rivers, for this time of year are going to be Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, PMD’s, Caddis and Terrestrials! A few of my favorite patterns this time of the year are the EC Caddis, Yellow Stimulator, Parachute Adams, Ants and Beetles for dries and Copper Johns, Sparkle Pupas, 20 Incher’s, Flashback PT’s and Wier’s Caddis Pupa!
Most of our lakes are in great shape as well and a few of the standouts will be Indian Creek Reservoir, Caples Lake, Red Lake and Spooner Lake. Brookes and LCT in Red, Rainbows in Caples, Browns and Rainbows in Indian Creek and a mix of Lahontan Cutthroat and Rainbows in Spooner! These all can be fished from shore but the best fishing will be from a float tube. Make sure you have a full sinking fly line and the option to fish a floating line as well! Some of my favorite Lake patterns are as follows: Damsel Nymphs, Dragonfly Nymphs, Water Boatmen, Hares Ear Nymphs, PT’s and Midge Pupas for the sub-surface and Para Adams, Ants , Beetles and Chernobyl Ants for the Surface patterns! Look for cruising fish!
I hope this helps get you into a few fish or at least gets you out fishing! If you have questions on any of these waters or any others in our area, give us a call or stop by the shop and we will do our best to set you up with whatever it takes to get you into the fish! I have a bunch of good guides this year and they all love to teach the sport of fly fishing. We take beginners as well as advanced anglers and if you are looking for that perfect day on the water, give us a call and we will be glad to get you started. Tahoe Fly Fishing Outfitters is located at 2705 Lake Tahoe Blvd next to Midas Mufflers about a mile form the Y intersection. 530-541-8208 www.tahoeflyfishing.com Thanks for reading and get out and fish!
The West Fork of the Carson river is fishing great. Each little drop in CFS opens up a new pocket all throughout the canyon. Literally 10 cubic feet can make for 20 new fishable pockets on a beat. Caddis and mayflies are hatching a different times of the day and a few drakes have been seen. I am going to go way out on a limb and suggest that a Hex was seen this week as well. By description, it is difficult to think it was anything else. A couple of them were seen last year, just never in great numbers. Actually, two duns were spotted. The river is fishing great from dawn to dusk and hatches will improve this week with warmer weather.
I had the opportunity to Guide Robbi Schiff on the West Carson yesterday. It is finally summer and we sat in the river a few times to cool off. It is just cold enough that you don’t want to get your…….in it so waders it is for a little longer. I think this is the longest I’ve worn waders into the summer in a long time. The fishing was great. The hatch a little lighter than recently. We saw Grey Drakes, PMDs and Caddis. We used mayfly dries and nymphed the deeper slots. I’ve been big and high sticking without the indicator and Robbi grasped it quickly and had a great time. We got fish up to 16″ and had an amazing day.
Not liking the rain or clouds? Then, you aren’t a true Truckee or Little Truckee fisherman at heart. You can’t beat a cloudy day on the LT in June. If you could guarantee that it was going to be cloudy and cool all day on the LT, I would be there. The PMDs love it and the fish love coming up to the PMDs with some cloud cover. Apparently, the fish think that the Osprey and other predators can’t see very well on cloudy days and become much more confident. So, the LT is fishing well on cloudy days and the BT is fishing well also. There is a great hatch of mayflies on the BT from 11-12 or 1 and some caddis and even Green Drakes are mixed in with them. The flows are a little lower than ideal, but still great. It is one of the best times of the year, get out there!
I had the pleasure of guiding the West Carson today and had a ball. I checked the flows before leaving and saw the dreaded blue line shooting straight up the graph from yesterday’s rains. I gambled on it being fishable and won. Who says gamblers don’t win in Tahoe! It nymphed extremely well and my clients took the oppurtunity to learn how to fish without an indicator. The fish ranged from 6″ to 17″ and were hungry. The pocket water is fishing great. Take those strike indicators off and turn up your Zen and feel the take. It is a very rewarding way to fish and fun in fast moving water.
