The Truckee(s), Part 2: Too Much Water, Too Little Time

If you didn’t catch the first post (link here), here’s a summary: the area around Truckee, and, specifically, the Little Truckee River, is fantastic and amazing!

After a day-and-a-half of fishing, I left the Little Truckee. I went off to find myself an early pizza dinner with a bit of local beer. The downtown strip of Truckee is full of touristy shops, but there is some dang good food to be had, too. Wagon Train Coffee Shop was a great little breakfast diner, and Best Pies was a decent pizza place (get the garlic and parsley topping!).

There are several big bends in the Truckee that you can access right off the interstate near the town of Truckee. The one I hit, you have to be heading east-bound on the interstate out of Truckee, and you will see a big ol’ gravel parking lot. From there, just hike in to the crazy good pocket water are to the big pool by the deep end of the bend.

I was stripping streamers and came up empty but only had a couple hours before dark. I went back to the campground to sleep through the night in the car because it was even colder than the sub-freezing temps the night before.

In the morning, I had to get to the airport, but I wanted to see what the water in the city of Reno looks like. Guess what? The Truckee that runs through Reno is also awesome.

The river has more good water in the abundant city parks than I could hit in a month of fishing. I highly suggest this guide book to explain the water in the city. From pocket water for nymphing and dries to big runs for streamers, I can’t wait to get back to explore it all.

Also, like I said in the last post, if you want to get on the fish in the Truckee area, make sure to check out Frank’s blog and guide service.

I got a couple hours in near Idlewild Park and then had to call it quits after a couple of follows from some big browns.

I could have considered this trip a disappointment with only two fish in the net for two days of effort. But, I can’t when I can have a Dutch-baby for breakfast in a restaurant (Daughter’s Café) just a literal stone’s throw from the river I was just fishing.

That brought me to the end of a crazy week of conferencing, and an extra day+ dedicated to fishing. I really miss fishing out west, but I have to admit, what we have in the east is pretty special.

I was glad to be heading back home. I am sure the folks sitting next to me weren’t so happy with 2 days of camping and living in waders smell emanating from me!


P.S.: One of the fellow scientists from the conference had the same idea as me. It was he whom I had met at the campground. Later, he sent me an email about the next night at the campground. He said that there were police, SWAT, ambulances, and helicopters and such a ruckus. He found this story the next morning. Glad that guy didn’t head towards the campsite. Geesh.

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