Cool August Nights
So far August has been fishing surprisingly well with cool nights, residual snow run off, and lots of hoppers. Pretty much all our local rivers are cold and fishable into the evening when the caddis have been hatching and the fish begin to rise. The South Lake tributaries are probably too low to be worth fishing, but the Carsons, Walkers, and Truckee are going strong.
Carson River:
East Fork: This river has really come into shape with dark green pools, and gin clear riffles. The flows are currently mine and many others favorite level, hovering right around ~250 CFS which is perfect for nymphing, streamers, and dry dropper rigs. The fish will readily come up for a big hopper or chubby-chernobyl even in the deepest pools, so before you slam that indicator rig around, try running a dry dropper rig with some presentation through the buckets. Work every little bit of soft water and foam slick with that big dry, and you will be suprised with how often they choose the dry fly over the nymph. For those fish that still prefer the dropper, or only eat at the bottom of the pool, try small stoneflies, flashy perdigones, hot-butts, and caddis pupae.
We are also now running our off-road RZR trips deep into the East Carson canyon, where we have been finding wild fish that are eager to smash large dry flies. The RZRs are allowing us to access some awesome stretches of water, and the best part is there’s plenty of water to access so each trip we are working different areas. Nothing is getting over pressured and the fish are staying uneducated.
West Fork: The meadow sections of the West Carson have dropped to low flows, which doesn’t mean there aren’t any fish around, just they will be hard to fool. These are the flows where we begin to focus on the canyon section below Sorenson’s resort where access can be tough, and getting from run to run can be even tougher, but small wild fish and holdover stockers find refuge in the pools.
Truckee River:
The Truckee is fishing well overall, but it didn’t earn the nickname “tricky Truckee” without a reason. This time of year, the fish will be spread out and often are found in fast oxygenated water, even if it’s not very deep. Euro nymphing, or dry dropper rigs with a deep, heavy dropper can be a fun and effective way to fish the Truckee this time of year. Flies to try are caddis soft hackles, small stoneflies, crawdads, blow torches.
Little Truckee River:
The PMD hatch has transitioned into an afternoon bite with a short, but strong spinner fall in the evening. If there aren’t many bugs flying around, try small emerger patterns, midges, and san juan worms, but once the PMDs get going, try cripples and emerging PMD patterns. Fish are being caught throughout the whole river, so don’t be the guy with their feet planted in one run all day.
East Walker River:
I recently got the wild hair to go check out this tailwater even though the flows are still high. Currently, the runs are few and far between but the fish are concentrated in that holding water. The river is basically uncrossable, so being stuck to one side of the river made it even tougher to find the fishable runs. I did a lot of walking with very little fishing until I found that slow “money” water, but once I found it I normally hooked into several fish. Streamers, and hopper dropper worked best for me, with several fish even coming up for the big hopper. The water temperature was 65 degrees when I got there, but 65 degrees when I left around noon, so the high flows are resulting in a pretty steady water temperature throughout the day. Overall the trip was successful but I probably wont be back until the flows come down a bit and the river becomes crossable.
West Walker River:
Flows are down below 500 CFS which generally means go-time for this Eastern Sierra favorite. Fish have been planted and are being caught, with a few wild fish in the mix. Dry dropper and funky nymph rigs seem to be working best. Flies to try are large prince nymphs, copper johns, stoneflies, and san juan worms.
Stillwater Options:
Many of our lakes are still fishing well, but the fish are being found deep. Dropping a midge with a slip indicator 15-25 feet down off ledges and structure has been producing a few trout, as well as deep stripping wooly buggers and leeches. Shore fishing has been slow so grab that float tube, raft, or canoe are fish a little deeper. A few lakes have a killer callibaetis hatch going on in the evening.
Hot Lakes:
Sawmill Lake - BOOK NOW! Open and fishing hot!
Fallen Leaf - Fishing well especially near the inlet
Prosser Reservoir - Fishes well from shore or boat for trout and small mouth bass.
Bridgeport Reservoir - Big Carp near the dam!
Caple’s Lake- Fishing well near the inlets, chance at a big fish!
Tahoe - Not a numbers game but when we fish Tahoe we are looking for that fish of a lifetime
