Summer begins!

Suddenly the weather went from cold..... to hot. Or, at least it seems hot wearing waders.
Get out of the water and you will seek shade. Don't forget your sunscreen!
Blazing blue skies have caused the flows to rise up into the grass, about a foot.
The water-color is a nice deep green in the morning, and off color in the afternoon.
Water temps are coming up slowly, 47-50 deg. in the morn, dropping a few deg. in the PM with the increased melt.
For those fishermen not averse to larger flows, this is a great time to attack.
Not a lot of fishing pressure yet, but soon....
There are a bunch of bugs around now. They like all the warmth.
The flying carpenter ants have arrived. I always suggest drowning them in these flows.
Saw my first grasshopper of the season. There's are sure sign of summer!
Starting to see a lot of small caddis fluttering in the evening.
There are PMDs too.
Very large Golden stones are near shore, that are about ready to pop.
Green rock caddis are about. Midges too of course.
Some nice fish are very close to shore.
Try rigging at about 2ft. with two flies, and drifting near the bank in soft water.
In these flows, the fish have an advantage. Look where you can run BEFORE you cast, to make sure you have room....to run. You can't run in the water/streambed, and walking around alders
and trees is near impossible.
Hope you get out to the water, it's a good time for it!

Looking around.

Took a walk on the water, in a drizzle. Beautiful flows, no bugs at all.
Water temps holding at 42 deg. We have slipped back into EARLY Spring.
When the fishing is slow, I have a chance to look around.
Today, I noticed all the old stumps in this area were torn apart.
Mister bear has been looking for some grub, or grubs actually.
Hard times right now, no berries popping yet.
Wet, cold, hungry, and can't go back to bed yet.
Pretty much the same for me.
Most locals have stated they are over it.
Bring on the warmth of summer!
Micro flowers are beginning to bloom, but otherwise we are in a holding pattern.
Been having some success with micro may patterns, and Baetis nymphs.
Most Rainbows are post spawn now, and feeling tired/satisfied and are waiting for bugmania.
Some larger Brown trout have been eating the bows eggs.
With the end of the spawn, the browns are searching for another tasty treat.
With higher flows a worm would be a good choice.
Walking in the woods on the way back to the car, I discovered a worm orgy just ending.
BIG worms crawling around, made it hard to walk without stepping on them.
Life force carries on, in spite of the weather.

Fish the flood!

OK, so it's spring again (well almost). We got another dusting last night.
The ground is too warm to accept snow at this point.
The problem is, the water temps drop when it melts and flushes in.
This change retards the bugs, and therefore the fish.
Reset the season by a week at least.
Having said that, they can't leave the water, or give up food totally.
Drive up-stream from town a ways, find the flows that suit your fancy.
Check the bug menu with your seine, pick a portion or two, to serve'em.
Now do the sneaky creep to stream edge.
Find some soft water, near the inside of a bend, and present with light weight, rigged shallow.
Takes are light, so be heads up.
Aquatic annelids abound during high flows, red-brown would be a good choice.
A few BWO's around, and March browns still. Not dry fly time though.
Saw a skwalla this week, so a nymph might still be a good call, or drown an adult on a warm afternoon..
Little black baetis nymphs have been working for me.
You can wait till July this year for dry fly fishin', or learn how to fish the flood.
Speaking strictly for myself, I can't wait that long for a fish.
I always say in these flows, before you make a perfect cast, and a perfect drift, with the perfect fly, consider where you can run first.
Should be a great year for the fish, maybe us as well!

Game on!

Hope you all got out on the water for the 1st day of the season.
It was a big water opener here on the Truckee.
Water flows below-town, are serious.
Above town it's a fish-able 70 cfs, and a sweet, sea-foam green.
Skwallas are still running around. Bwo's, and March browns are out.
Snow is mostly gone in town, a few drifts in the shade. Spring has sprung.
The big water can deter a fisherman who is limited to throwing dries.
But, if one is willing to change it up, the fish are still there.
At these flows it's not time to wade, just get "bank sneaky".
If you think like a fish, you will understand how heavy flows move them to the bottom, and sides of the river.
Slack/edge water is easier on them energy wise.
Water temps are 47-52, so they won't be actively chase stuff very far.
Do a quick seine for a look at the menu.
Then rig with lighter weight, and offer your flies on a perfectly slow drift near shore.
Find a foam-line that looks good, and look for a spot where it bumps a shore boulder.
Drop your offering into the line, and bump line downstream to the good spot.
You might even meet Walter.
Landing him is another story.

Blue Sky

After a long winter of quiet, I'm very pleased to hear the first soothing notes of a mountain blue bird. If you haven't seen one, they are the bluest of blues. Perfect match for our skies. The skwala stone flies have emerged, and are all over the shore rocks. Blue birds often feed on the wing, but the skwalas are a serious meal and worth a foot chase on the ground. Standing in the water floating my skwala dry fly to a gulping fish, I watch the enthusiasm of a blue bird from two feet away. The skwalas must taste good. I counted about 15 consumed in 15 minutes. Just the snack for a bird that flew many miles to nest near this stream. One day the area seems almost devoid of birds. The next, all my feathered friends have returned. Robins, Stellar Jays, Pygmy Nut hatches, Nut hatches, Flickers, and Alder gnatcatchers too. Funny how the weather improves, bugs reappear, and, suddenly there are birds. Every winter, I hang with American Dippers. They are one of the few birds that remain to keep us company fishing all winter. Now they're acting amorous, and playing tag. Even though they mate for life, every spring I watch them reestablish the pair bond. It takes three to tango in a dipper's world. Another male hangs around flirting and posturing and singing. This makes the mated male crazy with "jealousy"? Soon the pair will make a nest in a frothy section of the river. Spray drenched babies will grow to become my neighbors. Wading for fish, I will peak in to see how things go for them. This seasonal change of players announces that fishing season has also begun. The water warms, fish feel better moving to food, and I feel better asking them play.

A guides universe.

I live life on the water, and meet people. All sorts and types.
Many connected to me by fishing. They have diverse styles, chase different fish species, in many locations, and kinds of weather.
A few become friends and stay in touch.
Add to that, a few guide buddies, current clients and fishing companions.
It amounts to a fair number of fishing reports.
As a fisherman/guide this is very useful. I need to know.
No matter how busy I stay, I'm challenged to cover all the water that's in this area, year-round.
There are miles of water to stand in.
The bugs in the river are on different pages in different places.
Elevations, flows, higher pressure spots, and the paths less traveled, this is very important information. I, in turn, share my findings with others. That's how the universe works.
The thing is... the best part for me, is hearing all the stories.
Some of these folks know a few fish by name. Literally.
Many, many tales of repeat attempts on tough fish.
Most of the time, big fish do not come along quietly.
Fish have the home field advantage, and the element of surprise the first time.
After that, it takes practice to work out details of a drift, or fly choice, or different approaches to the fish' lie.
There are technical issues that have to be addressed, and failures to recover from.
But often, when it works, fishermen call me to share.
These are diligent, and talented fishermen, who are setting the bar high, then getting over it.
I give them kudos for perseverance, and problem solving, and an ear for sad stories.
They give me support and reassurance when I talk fish with them too.
Many of us fish alone. No one to witness the epic battles when our strategy does work out.
Perhaps they have no one else in their lives that understands just how difficult this self imposed task really is, or our seemingly obsessive behavior, and repeated disappointments.
The guides universe is a kind of organically grown fish support group/ information service.
We provide therapy for the fish challenged, and tribal respect for individual picean victories. We look out for our own. Tell a bunch of fish stories too!

Spring will come!

Well it's happened, spring has arrived! Right along with the time change too!
I figure I lose an hour of fishing, every time they do that.
Don't mind losing sleep, but less fishing?
The river is close to muddy, with just a hint of deep green.
Snowed like crazy last night, in the classic sierra cement style.
The rain/slush made driving sketchy, and closed I-80 this morning.
Winter is battling back, but I have faith it will be warm again someday.
Saw a couple of feisty Rainbows earlier this week, both showing signs of spawn color.
It has been a great early season, fishing small flies over big fish.
But now, I'm ready for spring.
Searching about for any sign of spring, I'll submit that a Skwala stonefly hatch is a serious one.
Saw them near Glenshire this week, molting, and running around on the snow.
Then they do their seemingly suicidal stroll out onto the surface tension in the shallows.
The females ovi-positing send out little rings that call to trout, saying "Eeaatt mmeee!
This time last year the stream ran clear, and we caught BIG browns with Skwala dry flies.
Not so this year, we will have muddy flows. So it goes.
With the influx of new bugs, I'm seeing more birds everyday.
How do they know? They are making an important bet, that they can't afford to lose.
That kind of commitment helps me believe spring will return.
Watched some Ravens cavorting today, barrel-rolls and playing grab-foot.
Looked like breeding behavior to me. Fun/sexy/risky.
They seem to start that stuff before everybody else.
My theory, is that they feed their chicks, the chicks of others.
So they need a little head-start.
In life, timing is everything, and you have to work all the angles.
On that note, there is a happy hour nearby that I shouldn't miss.
Got a client there last week.
While getting my one meal a day, and frosty beverage at a discount.....
Speaking of angles.