After years of lackluster fishing on the Truckee River due to drought conditions, Nevada anglers finally have something to look forward to when it comes to fishing the Truckee in 2017.
Originating at Lake Tahoe, the Truckee River flows 1100 miles northeast through Truckee California, down into Reno, with the final destination being Pyramid Lake. One of the most heavily fished waters in the state of Nevada, the Truckee River supports over 100,000 angler days per year.
Previous years of drought led to dismal fishing on the Truckee River, with campaigns such as “Rest your River” implemented in mid-summers to decrease stress on native fish species during warmer months and severely decreased water flow.
With the past season’s heavy precipitation and snowpack, current flows of the Truckee in Reno are running at about 5060 CFS with the spring run-off underway. This leads many to believe we’re in for some great fishing this year on the river, with plenty of water still yet to be released from Lake Tahoe to ease snowpack melt.
Ideally the Truckee best supports fishing during the warmer months, when stream flows are at around 300-400 CFS. The Truckee supports a number game fish species including rainbow and brown trout, cutbows, mountain whitefish, and the famous Lahontan cutthroat trout species (LCT). Fish tend to be bigger on the Nevada side of the Truckee, with reports of anglers catching 10 pound plus brown trout during past seasons.
In April, Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) stocked the Truckee at Verdi with over 4000 pilot LCT’s averaging 8.1-8.7 inches on April 6th.
For now, the Truckee is flowing high and fast, and anglers will need to be extremely cautious as we head into spring. When things warm up later in late spring and early summer, the flows should decrease. Be ready for some of the best Truckee river fishing we’ve had in years, especially here on the Nevada side.