Fishmas Eve 2011

Friday, April 29th marked the date of the 6th annual Fishmas Eve. It was originated by Stefan McLeod. Initially Stefan funded the event with the credits from his window-cleaning business and attendees made donations for the food and tips for the Blue Coyote crew. The intent was, and continues to be, a commemtorative event of California's now defunct & ritualistic "general trout opener" in the Truckee area which occurred the last Saturday in April. That first year, the Wild Trout waters of the BT and LT were officially opened for the "winter season"; November 15 to the last Friday in April.

Stefan is now president of the local Trout Unlimited group, Chapter 103. This year's event was sponsored by TU and the crowd was the biggest yet...guessing 55-60 attendees.

It was a good time to BS and smooze with fellow fly anglers. Plus, over $1000 was donated to local trout conservation efforts. Stefan...good work!

There were also lots of great raffle prizes....

TRUCKEE TRIVIA #1

I'm starting a new game Truckee Trivia*. Hopefully the game will be informative from a regional standpoint & be fun for those who participate. We'll start with a relatively easy trivia:

Question #1----Where is Horner's Corner"?

How much do regional fly anglers really know about the history of fly angling in the Truckee area? How and when did the reality of the great potental for trophy & quality angling come about and who, where, what, & how did it all come about?

A newer generation of local anglers are partaking in the quality of fly fishing that exists here. But, I'm of the opinion that they take the quality fly angling for granted and haven't a clue how this all came about. Who proceeded them and laid the ground work via political lobbying, hands-on projects and funding of local conservation efforts?
*At one time I was a "Trivial Pursuits" fanatic. Almost to the extend that I was going to start
marketing myself as a "Trivial Pursuits" referee. For a fee I would appear at somone's home wearing a striped black/white shirt and have a whistle. It never happened...

Quickie E-Fishing Report # 4

My reply to a client's inquiry about the BT:

"I would say that we currently have marginal conditions. We’re in the midst of snow-melt. We had a really big winter and still have lots of snow in the higher elevations. Last week we were fishing both the Truckee and Little Truckee. Then yesterday’s rain increased the melt & added rain-water. Even along Glenshire Drive the flow has been 500-515 cfs…big.

By Thursday there could be improved conditions, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Keep in mind that spring mountain weather is unpredictable."

Let's not sugar-coat things...the waters are raging even in the small streams & creeks. The issues now and in the immediate future that will determine fly angling conditions are FLOWS & WATER TEMPERATURES. If you don't pay attention to the aforementioned, you will be flailing away to no avail. Time-wise, fly fishable conditions are still a bit away. If only I had a crystal ball............ This is the time of year we do a lot of "scouting" looking for the optium fly fishing conditions

Definition #9 POST-POST-HOLE

Post-Post Hole: The point in time when the snow is receeding and there is diminishing chances of unexpected drops through air holes under the snow that can hyper-extend/injure one’s knee. The activity relates to the non-use of snow shoes.

Independence Lake

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is welcoming public ideas and feedback about the recreation and access management plan currently underway for Independence Lake. The primary goals of protecting the Lahontan cutthroat (LCT) habitat and keeping aquatic invasive species (AIS) out of the ecosystem will guide this management plan. An online survey has been set up to collect input on specific strategies related to management issues. To ensure each person may only fill out the survey once, sign-in is required. The link is:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ILP2011 The Nature Conservancy acquired property around Independence Lake in Spring 2010. Independence Lake is located in Northern California in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is 2.5 miles long, 0.5 miles wide with 5.8 miles of shoreline. It is at almost 7,000 feet of elevation. Independence Lake is home to one of only two wild, self-sustaining Lake populations of LCT in the world. In addition, Independence Lake hosts populations of six other native fishes. Independence Lake also plays an important role in providing clean drinking water to western Nevada.*************Lisa WallaceExecutive DirectorTruckee River Watershed CouncilP.O. Box 8568Truckee, CA 96162(530) 550-8760 (Phone)(530) 725-4407 (fax)http://www.truckeeriverwc.org/lwallace@truckeeriverwc.org On Monday evening I attended a TU "focus group" meeting in Truckee about the Nature Conservancy's planning for recreational usage at Independence Lake north of Truckee. Although I haven't visited/fly fished it in years it is unique in that it currently has resident, original DNA strain (...in miniscule %) of the Lahontan Cutthroat. The main reason why the TNC purchased the land surrounding the lake is to preserve this remant population of the LCT. There are various interest groups involved; some primarily focused on sustaining the existing LCT population, others access to and angling rights at the Lake. I fall into the primary focus of the first group; preserve the LCT that are present, everything else is secondary. I'm a suspicious-type and I'm of the opinion that there are "foxes guarding the hen house" during these discussions.

More Snow?!!...Seasonal Prognosis*

Yeah, it started again last evening on our return from Ralph & Lisa Cutter's new presentation entitled "Lies". It was at the Cal-Neva resort & sponsored by the Tahoe Truckee Fly Fishers. Visibility was dicey, especially driving over Brockway Summit. You lucky skiers & gliders will be in Nirvana into late May. SquawlyWood received nearly 59 FEET of snow this winter, breaking the old record by 29 inches. This has been a wonderful year for snow as it relates to invigorating & enhancing habitat for ALL of our local flora & fauna. As of April 1st the Truckee River Basin's 17 measurement sites has this year's snow-pack at 181% of average. More important to us fly anglers is the water-content for April 1; it was 161% of normal. As far as "wettness", this year trails only '83 and '95; 227% and 182%, respectively. So what do these numbers mean as it relates to melt/run-off into our waters? Multiply 181 x 1.61; hence flows will essentially be 291% of normal. Yikes! da PROGNOSIS: It will be a very 'late' year for the BT and it will negatively impact the fishery (read:crowds) on the LT. The up-side is that the BT big boys & girls will not be stung for a long while because we'll not effectively tempt them down-deep...if we can even reach them. I'm predicting a spectacular Fall season. Another plus is that the smaller streams will be fly fishable for an extended amount of time. There will be plenty of healthy, stream-bred trout available for those who will know the whats, wheres, whens and hows. HINT: take-out your seldom used 3 weight rods so that you can put a proper bend in them when encountering the smallish brookies, browns & rainbows; a 12 " trout is "big". A couple of last thoughts. Expect the aquatic HATCHES to be compressed and intense...but later than usual. Do not forget about terresterials; it can be a banner year as it relates to beetles & hoppers. *I do know about paragraphs...my Google editing seems to be disabled, so above are 5-6 paragraphs without seperation!!