Tahoe Fly Fishing Outfitters

The West Carson has been fantastic, lately. It is fishing great most of the day with a slow period in the afternoon with the sun straight up. Dry flying with caddis, small stones and mayflies has been working all morning and after 5pm in the afternoon. It can work sooner in the afternoon if you find shaded areas. There is even a difference from hole to hole if a hole is in the shade. There is a great caddis hatch starting around 6pm and then Yellow Sallys start around 7 pm.. For nymphing, caddis, generics and stones are working. Have fun out there. Be courteous and pick up some trash on your route.

Tahoe area Fly Fishing report for July 16th

East Carson River fishing report – Currently flowing at about 460 cfs. The river spiked a little today with the rain so it will likely be off color for a few days. The fishing on the EC should improve over the next week. The river is fishable but wading is still challenging in many areas so be careful. At this flow try nymphing with a lot of weight using stones, caddis and San Juan worms. Fishing streamers on a heavy sink tip or full sink line can be very effective at high water. Flies to try Nymphs- Mercers poxyback golden stones and black stones  6-10, Wiers Caddis lime and tan  14 and 16, Fox’s poopah tan 12-16, copper johns 12-16, pheasent tails 12-14, little yellow stonefly nymphs 14-16. Streamers- buggers in olive in black, woolhead sculpins, crystal buggers, meat whistle olive and black.  Dries-yellow stimulators 6-16, ec caddis 14-18, tan elk hair caddis 14-16, parachute adams 14-18, henry’s fork yellow sally 14-16. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

West Carson River fishing report – Currently at 91cfs and is fishing well. Try nymphing with size 6-8 golden stones, size 14-16 Pt’s, 14-16 fox’s poopah, 14-16 copper johns, 14-16 hares ears, Wier’s caddis tan 14-16, black and olive micro may’s 16-18 and San Juan worms in natural and red. Large olive and black buggers can be effective at this flow. For dries try ec caddis 14-18, parachute adams 14-18, hackle stacker pmd’s 16-18, and little yellow stones 14-16. Streamers through the pocket water has also been effective. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

West Walker River fishing report-  Currently running at around 600 cfs. It is coming into shape but still fishing pretty tough. Try sreamers on a full sink or sink tip line or nymphing with caddis and stoneflie nymphs. Use lots of weight to get the flies down to the fish and make lots of drifts in the same area to pick up fish. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

East Walker River fishing report- Flows are at 349 and Fishing has been good. Nymphing is still producing lots of fish. The dry fly action has dwindled a bit with the higher flows. Streamers have also been producing some bigger fish. Nymphs- Wiers Caddis 14-16, Fox’s poopaholive and tan 14 -18, Wiers sprinkles in chocolate and vanilla 18-20, tailwater tiny’s in olive and black 18-20, red and black zebra midges in 18-20, PT’s 16-20. Dries- EC caddis 14-18, parachute adams 16-20, elk hair caddis 14-18.  Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Little Truckee River fishing report- Flows are 227cfs and it is fishing well. The extra water has spread the fish out and they are happy. Nymphing with barr’s emergers 18-20, crystal hunchback pmd’s 16-18, black and silver zebra midges 18-20, baetis 18-20, PT’s 16-20 and San Juan worms has been effective. For dries try hackle stacker pmds 16-18, parachute adams 16-20, ants 12-14 and drakes. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Truckee River fishing reort- Flows on the Truckee are 252cfs  in the town of Truckee and 549 below Boca bridge. The Truckee has been fishing well above Prosser Creek. Nymphing has been the most effective method on the Truckee but we have been seeing some fish rising mid day and in the evenings. Streamers on a sink tip has also been working. Nymphs- golden stones 6-12, Wiers caddis tan 14-16, Fox’s Poopah olive and tan 14-18, pheasant tails 16-20, Wiers sprinkles 18-20, prince nymphs 14-18. Dries- EC caddis 14-18, parachute adams 14-18, Green Drake, yellow stones 14-16, ants and beetles. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Tahoe area Still waters

Indian Creek Reservoir fishing report- Fishing is slow. Water temps are getting warm. Try fishing deep with heavy tippets so you can land the fish quickly and revive them. Buggers and blood midges should produce fish. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Caples Lake fishing report- Fishing well try streamers and terrestrial from the shore. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Red Lake fishing report- Fishing well  try olive and black buggers from shore. Blood midges under an indicator in the evening. Some fish have also been rising to terrestrials. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Marlette Lake fishing report- Will give you a report as soon as we know!

Spooner Lake fishing report- Fishing well. Try Rickards seal buggers and small woolly buggers. Aggravator princes and hares ears size 12 -16 have been effective trailed behind a small streamer. Caddis 14-16 have been working on the surface in the evenings.

Blue Lakes fishing report- Fishing well. Try buggers on a sinking line in olive and black. Casting at cruising fish with ants and beetles can also be effective. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Silver Lake fishing reort- Fishing well. Try natural zonkers, black and olive buggers from the float tube or shore. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Sawmill Pond- For kids 14 and under only. Adults can help kids to fish but cannot fish on their own. This is one of only a few ponds in the state of California dedicated to young anglers. It will be stocked throughout the summer. Various nymphs under a bobber and streamers work great here fished with a casting bobber for catch and release fishing. For bait try power bait and worms.

We offer guiding on most of these waters. The shop is fully stocked with all the latest equipment and flies needed to fish the Eastern Sierra and more. Call 530-541-8208 or stop by the shop for more info. We will be updating our fishing report weekly so check back for the most up to date info on fishing the Tahoe Region.

Tight Lines!

I had a great day fishing with Craig from the Bay area today on the Little Truckee River. The flows went up recently from about 40 cfs to 160 cfs and then jumped again during our trip to 183 cfs. The fish seem extremely happy about the extra water in the river and were eating well. Craig caught onto fly fishing quickly and managed to hook many fish and land three nice ones during our trip. We caught fish on dries and nymphs throughout the entire day and hardly saw another angler.

Craig with a nice LT brown

Mike O’Dell

Guide TFFO

East Carson River- Currently flowing at about 800 cfs. Conditions are improving quickly on the East Carson. The river is fishable but wading is not recommended. At this flow try nymphing with a lot of weight using stones, caddis and san juan worms. Fishing streamers on a heavy sink tip or full sink line can be very effective at high water. Flies to try Nymphs- Mercers poxyback golden stones and black stones  6-10, Wiers Caddis lime and tan  14 and 16, Fox’s poopah tan 12-16, copper johns 12-16, pheasent tails 12-14, little yellow stonefly nymphs 14-16. Streamers- buggers in olive in black, woolhead sculpins, crystal buggers, meat whistle olive and black.  Dries-yellow stimulators 6-16, ec caddis 14-18, tan elk hair caddis 14-16, parachute adams 14-18, henry’s fork yellow sally 14-16.  Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

West Carson River- Currently at 140 cfs and is fishing well. Try nymphing with size 6-8 golden stones, size 14-16 Pt’s, 14-16 fox’s poopah, 14-16 copper johns, 14-16 hares ears, Wier’s caddis tan 14-16 and San Juan worms in natural and red. Large olive and black buggers can be effective at this flow. For dries try ec caddis 14-18, parachute adams 14-18, hackle stacker pmd’s 16-18, and little yellow stones 14-16. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

West Walker River-  Currently running at around 1000 cfs. This is pretty high for the West Walker. Look for flows to drop below 600 for decent fishing and even lower for wade-able conditions. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

East Walker River- Flows are at 265 and Fishing has been good. Nymphing is still producing lots of fish and there has been some good dry fly action through out the day and in the evenings. Streamers have also been producing some bigger fish. Nymphs- Wiers Caddis 14-16, Fox’s poopaholive and tan 14 -18, Wiers sprinkles in chocolate and vanilla 18-20, tailwater tiny’s in olive and black 18-20, red and black zebra midges in 18-20, PT’s 16-20. Dries- EC caddis 14-18, parachute adams 16-20, elk hair caddis 14-18.  Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Little Truckee River- Flows around 41 cfs and a lot of pressure. There are a lot of anglers on the water this time of year so be patient and courteous while fishing the LT. The flows are low and clear so approach the river slowly and be stealthy. Nymphing has been effective with size 18-22 wd-40’s, zebra midges, baetis and pmd patterns. San Juan’s have also been effective. For dries size 16-20 blue duns, hackle stacker pmds and parachute adams have been working well. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Truckee River- Flows on the Truckee are 176 cfs in the town of Truckee and 698 cfs below Boca bridge. The Truckee has been fishing well above Prosser Creek. Nymphing has been the most effective method on the Truckee but we have been seeing some fish rising mid day and in the evenings. Streamers on a sink tip has also been working. Nymphs- golden stones 6-12, Wiers caddis tan 14-16, Fox’s Poopah olive and tan 14-18, pheasant tails 16-20, Wiers sprinkles 18-20, prince nymphs 14-18. Dries-  EC caddis 14-18, parachute adams 14-18, Green Drake, yellow stones 14-16, ants and beetles. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Tahoe area Still waters

Indian Creek Reservoir- Fishing Well. Try damsels just under the surface on a floating line. Buggers in white, olive and black have been effective. One of my favorite setups is to troll an olive woolly bugger with a prince nymph trailer while float tubing to find fish. Look for some fish rising to terrestrials like ants and beetles throughout the day and try blood midges under an indicator in the evenings. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Caples- Fishing well try streamers and terrestrial from the shore. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Red Lake- Fishing well  try olive and black buggers from shore. Blood midges under an indicator in the evening. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Marlette Lake- Opens July 15th for CATCH AND RELEASE FISHING ONLY.

Spooner Lake- Starting to fish well. Try Rickards seal buggers and small woolly buggers. Aggravator princes and hares ears size 12 -16 have been effective trailed behind a small streamer. Caddis 14-16 have been working on the surface in the evenings. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Blue Lakes- .

Silver Lake- Fishing well. Try natural zonkers, black and olive buggers from the float tube or shore. Guides Available call (530-541-8208).

Sawmill Pond- For kids 14 and under only. Adults can help kids to fish but cannot fish on their own. This is one of only a few ponds in the state of California dedicated to young anglers. It will be stocked throughout the summer. Various nymphs under a bobber and streamers work great here fished with a casting bobber for catch and release fishing. For bait try power bait and worms.

We offer guiding on most of these waters. The shop is fully stocked with all the latest equipment and flies needed to fish the Eastern Sierra and more. Call 530-541-8208 or stop by the shop for more info. We will be updating our fishing report weekly so check back for the most up to date info on fishing the Tahoe Region.

Tight Lines!

Guide Mike Curtis with a 2 to 3 lbs Rainbow on the Indicator

Have you every have one of those days where it seems like you can’t do anything wrong? Then, come back the next day and it seems like you can’t even buy a fish? Even though “Guides” don’t like to admit it, we still do. I fished Indian Creek for four days over the course of a week and hit every range of emotion that one can. So here is the deal, Indian Creek at times can be on fire and other times the fish will be a lot harder to catch, But still catching fish ranging from 10 inches to fish over 20 inches.

Hatches: Damsels, are alot like the fish, one day they are coming off thick and the next day only a few come off.

   Midges: A few Blood Midges in the morning, and Micro Midges: both morning and evening.

Water Temp’s: 62 – 65 degrees and climbing with climbing Air Temps.

Also stripping a small brown or olive Bugger with a type II or Intermediate sink line has been producing fish. I have been fishing Damsels and Midges under the indicator with the bottom fly 2-4 feet off of the bottom. The fish are hanging around the weed beds looking for the Damsels in the mornings and looking for the Midges in the afternoon. Smaller fish are holding in 3 to 15 feet of water with larger fishing holding on average 8 to 15 feet of water.

Cleve Ferguson with a 4lbs. Rainbow

In the Evening with midges coming out, you can also try midges 1-3 feet under the indicator or a floating line with a 10 to 13 foot leader with a single midge on the end of it and hand twist (also known as the figure 8 retrieve) the midge back to you under the surface film. Like Cleve Ferguson did to catch this nice bow in 12 feet of water.

These fish are fighting so hard that they are completely exhausted by the time they are landed they are very hard to revive even though surface water temps have been 63-65 degrees. I REALLY recommend running 3x tippet to be able to get the fish in quickly and limit the amount of time they are out of the water for photo’s or removing the fly. These fish are great fish and I would like to see them around next year!!  

For more information or guide trips to Indian Creek Resvoir feel free to contact the shop.

“See the Fly, Love the Fly, Eat the Fly!”

Mike Curtis

I know, wouldn’t it be great if Indian Creek had a nice beach with a bunch of hotties in ‘kinis?!? lnstead, the rainbows are hot right now. They are shaking their heads fiercely, so be ready for a fight. Between the weeds and the strong fish, landing the bigger fish is tough. They will eat on 4x so definitely use it. Try 3x to your first fly and 4x to the dropper. If your strike numbers dwindle, go 4x to 4x dropper. 5x just isn’t holding the fish. The damsel hatch is great from roughly 9am-1pm. Fishing is tough after that for a few hours. It’s like trying to feed a slender person after they’ve been to the buffet. We caught a small chub yesterday. I don’t know where they came from, but it is a first in Indian Creek. I threw on a white woolly bugger after that and it worked too. It shows up nicely for those fish cruising down deeper. Find slots in the weeds and fish them. Have fun.

I enjoyed a great morning with two great kids, Oren and Chris of Orinda, Ca, yesterday. They both did great and had a great time. Each landed two nicely sized rainbows and had others on for quick releases. The water is freezing, wear a layer underneath the waders. Both took a swim so we did some wardrobe changing mid-morning. The flows are right at fishable, the water is clear. We took wading staffs which helped tremendously. Caddis and drake immitations were the nymph choices of the day. It has to go deep and have a lot of weight so 5 weights or a light six are the tools needed. We were upstream from Glenshire and somehow avoided the typical dog park scenario with the tennis ball getting confused with your strike indicator as the giant yellow lab chasing it swims through your drift, so that was an added bonus. Be extremely careful, more than a minute in these water temps and it is going to get ugly. Have fun out there. Be ready for crowds, as the Truckee is going to start looking like a Cabela’s demo day here pretty soon.

Corey Funk

Guide/Instructor Tahoe Fly Fishing Outfitters

East Carson River- Currently flowing at about 1800 cfs. Look for this to increase as the weather warms. Look for flows to drop below 800 for good fishing. It is possible to wade the river between 350 and 500 cfs but be careful and use a wading staff. We will keep you posted as too when the East Carson is coming into fish-able condition. Guides Available.

West Carson River- Currently at 380 cfs. Look for this to increase with warming weather. Fishing is possible at this flow, but challenging. Try nymphing with size 6-8 golden stones, size 14-16 Pt’s, 14-16 fox’s poopah, 14-16 copper johns, 14-16 hares ears and San Juan worms in natural and red. Large olive and black buggers can be effective at this flow. Guides Available.

West Walker River-  Currently running at around 1800 cfs. This is pretty high for the West Walker. Look for flows to drop below 600 for decent fishing and even lower for wade-able conditions. Guides Available.

East Walker River- Currently holding steady at around 192 cfs and fishing well. The East Walker is one of a few options in the Eastern Sierra at this time so expect crowds and be courteous. There is no reason we all can not enjoy a fun day on the water during crowded conditions as longas everyone is patient and respectful to each other. There is plenty of water and plenty of fish all along this river so respect your fellow anglers and have a great day on the water. Streamer bite has been good at times. Black and olive sculpins and crystal buggers in various colors have been picking up fish. Nymphing has been the most effective method on the EW. Try zebra midges in various colors, barr’s emergers, rainbow warriors, wd-40′s and small caddis patterns. For dries try blue duns, small parachute adams, pmd’s, ec cadis and elk hair caddis all size 16-20. Guides Available.

Little Truckee River- Flows around 41 cfs and a lot of pressure. There are a lot of anglers on the water this time of year so be patient and courteous while fishing the LT. The flows are low and clear so approach the river slowly and be stealthy. Nymphing has been effective with size 18-22 wd-40′s, zebra midges, baetis and pmd patterns. San Juan’s have also been effective. For dries size 16-20 blue duns, hackle stacker pmds and parachute adams have been working well. Guides Available.

Truckee River- Flows on the Truckee are 500 cfs in the town of Truckee and 1200 cfs below Boca bridge. Pretty high for the Truckee. Look for flows to go up over the next few weeks. Guides Available.

Tahoe area tributaries- The Tahoe area tributaries do not open to July 1st. When they open we highly encourage catch and release on all the tributaries to ensure a fun and healthy fishery. Please Report any poaching to Cal-Tip at 1-888-334-2258.

Tahoe area Still waters

Indian Creek Reservoir- Fishing Well. Try damsels just under the surface on a floating line. Buggers in white, olive and black have been effective. One of my favorite setups is to troll an olive woolly bugger with a prince nymph trailer while float tubing to find fish. Look for some fish rising to terrestrials like ants and beetles throughout the day and try blood midges under an indicator in the evenings. Guides Available.

Caples- Ice is beginning to melt try streamers and terrestrial from the shore. Guides Available.

Red Lake- Ice is beginning to melt  try olive and black buggers from shore. Blood midges under an indicator in the evening. Guides Available.

Marlette Lake- Opens July 15th for CATCH AND RELEASE FISHING ONLY.

Spooner Lake- Starting to fish well. Try Rickards seal buggers and small woolly buggers. Aggravator princes and hares ears size 12 -16 have been effective trailed behind a small streamer.

Blue Lakes- No Report at this time. Will update as soon as possible.

Silver Lake- Beginning to ice out. Try natural zonkers, black and olive buggers from the float tube or shore. Guides Available.

Sawmill Pond- For kids 14 and under only. Adults can help kids to fish but cannot fish on their own. This is one of only a few ponds in the state of California dedicated to young anglers. It will be stocked throughout the summer. Various nymphs under a bobber and streamers work great here fished with a casting bobber for catch and release fishing. For bait try power bait and worms.

We offer guiding on most of these waters. The shop is fully stocked with all the latest equipment and flies needed to fish the Eastern Sierra and more. Call 530-541-8208 or stop by the shop for more info. We will be updating our fishing report weekly so check back for the most up to date info on fishing the Tahoe Region.

Tight Lines

Mike O’Dell

Guide/Instructor-Tahoe Fly Fishing Outfitters

On Saturday, June 5th Kids Day 2010 was back at Sawmill Pond. Thanks to the many donations and volunteers there were plenty of great fish and tons of smiling faces. The fishing was red hot and almost every kid at the pond got into some fish. There are still plenty of fish in Sawmill pond so get out there and enjoy some great fishing with your kids. Thanks again to the many people that help make this event happen each year.

Rods rigged and ready to go

Doug, Tom and Joe preparing the bait

Gunnison with his first rainbow

Kids Day 2010

Nice Rainbow

Mike O’Dell 

Guide/Instructor

Had a great group trip today on the Little Truckee with fellow guides Peter Santley and Brenden Burnside. I was paired up with Betsy and Darren from Kansas City. The day started off well with some good action nymphing followed up by some great dry fly action later in the day. Betsy caught her first fish on the fly, a beautiful 18inch rainbow while Darren got a few hookups on the nymph rig. Great weather, good company and some nice fish landed. All in all a great day on the LT.

Betsy making drifts on the LT

Darren's nice rainbow

Troy with a nice rainbow on a dry fly

Mike O’Dell

Guide/Instructor