Tailwater · Mixed · Northern California, US

Little Truckee River

Little Truckee River — Upper little truckee river

A short, cold ribbon of a tailwater squeezed between Stampede and Boca reservoirs, and it fishes far bigger than it looks.

Tomorrow · About as good as it gets
Czech Nymph
Forecast · Tomorrow
About as good as it gets
On the feed top to bottom — start on the rises with a dry, drop a nymph if they stay down.
75% projected
Today's fly
Czech Nymph
Czech Nymph
Conditions on the water · Tomorrow
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.62 m
Water temp11.5°C
ClarityClear
Weather12°C
WindN 14 km/h
Pressure1016 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead1.2 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Ideal
12°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though insect activity could be better.
Likely species
Mayflies
Caddisflies
terrestrials
Hatch timeline · tomorrowPeak at 11am

12pm(now) — Western Blue-Winged Olive

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 81%
Also:Black Midge45%
Peak emergence window7 food groups active

Peak activity at 11am — Western Blue-Winged Olive (Western Blue-Winged Olive, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 with Pro.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Western Blue-Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Pale Morning DunHatch
2
3
3
2
TricoHatch
2
3
2
Black MidgeHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • CDFW season; verify the regulated-reach rules
  • Flow tracks Stampede/Boca releases.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 4
Martis Lake
10 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Truckee River
12 km
70
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Milton Reservoir
43 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Frenchman Lake
56 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Gallery · 2
  1. Little Truckee River — Upper little truckee river
    Upper little truckee river
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

A short, cold ribbon of a tailwater squeezed between Stampede and Boca reservoirs, and it fishes far bigger than it looks. Stable releases keep it cool when the freestones are cooking, so the wild rainbows and browns stack into the runs and riffles and feed with confidence. It's a technical little stream — fine tippet, careful wading, hatch-matching on the flats — and when the blue-wings or the PMDs come off it can be as good as anything in the Sierra. Just watch the release schedule, because the whole character of the place rides on it.

  • Mixed
Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Impaired
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Truckee River' (CAR6351001019980805112246), 2024 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Not Supporting. Listed impairment causes: Sediment, Nutrients. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · CAR6351001019980805112246

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 90%
How the 86 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time80 × 13%10.4
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity59 × 12%7.1
Conditions total= 86
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout Last Saturday in April → 15 November
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts