Today I fished for a couple of hours at a few spots east of downtown Reno on the Truckee River.  I didn’t get out of class until almost 3:00, so I didn’t have much time to fish before it got dark at 5:30. I got a few 10-12” fish right away, but not the bigger fish I was after.  Last week I hooked a monster in this pool that broke me off, but he didn’t want to come out to play today.  I was fishing an Indi-Caddis (of course) with three nymphs.  A Fox squirrel on top, red Copper John in the middle and a green Hotwire Prince dropper.  After I fished through the first pool I went up to a spot where the river splits around an island into two channels.  I always fish the right-hand channel, which looks real good, but I’ve never caught anything in it.  Today I succeeded in hooking a twelve incher right away, and was pretty happy with myself for finally getting something out of that hole. About midway up the run my bottom nymph snagged on a rock, so I waded out into the middle to free it.  Since I was there, I went ahead and flipped my rig into the swift current that runs along the bank and immediately hooked a strong rainbow.  He jumped once and then tore off downstream into the heavy water where the two channels converge.  He didn’t like it in the fast current, so we fought the rest of the battle within the channel.  It was a long fight, but I finally landed the pretty 18” fish (pictured below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                  Nice rainbow

 

 

After that fish I was especially pleased with myself.  I headed back to the car and drove downstream to another spot, arriving with about one hour of light left.  I started out fishing a nice riffle that is supposed to be loaded with fish.  I talked to a guy last week who had a friend that helped out with an electro-shocking survey a couple of weeks ago.  His friend said that they netted a ton of fish from the riffle, including some big browns.  I fished it hard for about 20 minutes, but ended up with nothing to show for my efforts.  I moved up to fish a nice pool where I’ve had success in the past, but didn’t get anything there either.  With the light fading and time running out I waded up to try one more spot.  this spot is a nice little hole along the bank that is a classic big fish spot (pictured below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                 Good spot

 

 

It is about four feet deep and the current is very slow relative to the adjacent fast rip.  Two weeks ago I briefly hooked a big rainbow as my rig drifted past the rock at the tail.  On my first drift I hooked him from the same spot, and the battle was on.  He immediately shot into the fast current and peeled off most of my line.  I was standing waist deep in heavy water and I almost fell in while stumbling downstream to follow him.  I managed to keep my footing while moving downstream and fighting the fish simultaneously.  I got most of my line back before he took off on another long run, culminated by a nice jump.  At one point my Indi-Caddis got hung up on a rock and I was sure I’d lost him, but I freed the fly and he was still on, lucky me.  I finally beached him after about ten minutes, and he was a fatty!  He measured 22 inches long and probably weighed close to four pounds (pictured below and at top of page).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         Biggie

 

 

It was a beautiful evening tonight and I had a great time battling these beautiful Truckee River rainbows.  My 9:00 class has been cancelled tomorrow, so I might fish in the morning for a little while if it’s not too cold.  Otherwise I’ll be fishing this weekend one day with Rich, and maybe the other with Brian from Gardnerville.