Leslie Ajari with Castle Crags in the background hiking to Soda Creek ·
Well, we had a bit of a setback on our start time, so our original trip has been shortened now to about two and a half weeks. We have now decided to fish our way in to Northern California and Oregon. Traveling in a small car with all of the gear necessary to fish streams and lakes and to camp is a site to behold. Also, my daughter’s dog is not making the trip.
We are looking at fishing in the Upper Sacramento River and McCloud River on our way up north to Oregon. It has been warm up there and I am hoping that these waters are still cool enough to fish without stressing out the fish. If they are too warm, we will continue to move north into Oregon. Perhaps a swing up through the Cascade Lakes basin to do a little float-tube fishing in a few of those lakes.
The nice thing about this trip is that we can go wherever we want. Our first stop was at Castle Crag State Park. We picked a river site on the upper Sacramento River and my daughter tried fishing as soon as we rolled in and did remarkably well. She hit a PMD hatch and had a great time catching a good number of fish. She says that it is much easier than the Truckee River.
I, on the other hand, was busy trying to set-up a hip pack with all of the essentials. Why? In our rush to get on the road, I left my fly-fishing vest hanging in our mudroom. Those of you that fly fish know that you generally have everything. Fishing the morning after we arrived, I instinctively found myself reaching for items in my vest only to realize that everything I had was in my waist pack. Not a feeling of confidence.
We fished an area called the Soda Creek area. We walked in about a half-mile and had a great time, although we got there a little late in the day and it was crowded. During the day, nymphing with a pheasant tail or caddis will generally produce during the day. I had some luck with a pheasant tail soft hackle fishing in tandem with a caddis larva imitation. They seemed to want the pheasant tail over the caddis. However, caddis usually does well in this river.
So far it has been a great trip even though my fishing was limited for the first day. The weather is warm and the fishing seems to be good, as well.
Talk about a small world, the group camping next to us was from the Peninsula Fly Fishers in the Bay Area. Their president just moved to Truckee this last winter. It has been a great trip and it is only the first couple of days. One more night here at Castle Crags State Park and we are headed a little more north.
FISHING REPORT
(See Sightseeing for water levels.)
Boca | Inflow is at 41 cfs and the outflow is 27 cfs. Try powerbait or nightcrawlers. Throwing lures from shore also has been working. Fly fishers have been catching some fish near the inlet mostly nymphing.
Donner | Fishing has been good. Nightcrawlers and Powerbait seem to be the bait of choice. Mackinaw and Kokanee fishing has been fair. Fly fishermen are catching some fish with streamers.
Lake Tahoe | Fishing has been fair to good for mackinaw. A guide is highly recommended if you are fishing for mackinaw for the first time. Toplining and shore fishing is fair. Most shore fishermen use inflated nightcrawlers.
Little Truckee River | The flow is now at 41 cfs. This is an extremely low flow for this water. It is barely a subsistence flow for this fishery. Fishing will be tougher at this level. Try a hopper dropper set-up, now that grasshoppers are active, or some other dry dropper set-up.
Martis Lake | Zero kill. Catch and Release only with barbless artificial lures or flies. Some small cutthroats and an occasional large brown and rainbow can still be caught here. Smallmouth bass have also been introduced in this water.
Prosser | The lake is fishing fair to good. Powerbait and nightcrawlers are the best bait. Smallmouth Bass are beginning to bite well with the warming water. Lure and fly-fishermen are also taking some fish from shore and near the inlets.
Stampede | Fishing has been fair to good from shore. Kokanee fishing has been fair. Mackinaw fishing has been good. Smallmouth Bass are beginning to get active. Fly fishermen have been doing well near the inlets with nymphs and streamers for trout and in the coves for Smallmouth Bass.
Truckee River | Flowing out of the lake at 378 cfs at Tahoe City. The flow through Truckee is at 414 cfs as of July 15. Fish have been caught on nymphs, emergers, dries and streamers. The main hatches now are Caddis, PMD and Little Yellow Stones. Nymphs and dries imitating these hatches have been the most productive. Streamers also have been good. A hopper dropper set-up should start working now that grasshoppers are becoming active. Warm weather is causing the water to warm into the 70s by the evening. Try and fish early in the morning to mid-day for the best results while the water temperatures are acceptable.
Other Waters | Davis and Frenchman have been fair to good. Damselflies are now beginning to show is good numbers with the recent warm weather. Fish also are being caught on blood midge patterns and Callibaetis imitations. Water is now warm at these lakes and fish have gone deep as in most of our area.
By Bruce Ajari
Bruce is a long-time area fly fisherman and past president of Tahoe Truckee Fly Fishers.
