Middle Fork Feather River and Truckee River Fishing Report 5-1-25

Middle Fork Feather River

Fly fishing on the Middle Fork Feather River continues to be good to great depending on the day and anglers experience. I had beginners Tony and Ernest out with me yesterday and we had plenty of opportunities to hook, fight and land trout in the 10-12″ range and lost a couple of bigger fish. Water temps ranged from 50-55 degrees and the flows are good reading 220cfs on the Portola gauge. With runoff starting to wane and ranchers in the Sierra Valley starting to irrigate we can expect to see flows starting to drop fairly quickly.

Dry dropper is still my go to, but all methods are producing. Pick your favorite way to fly fish and get some! March Brown Mayflies are hatching in the mornings along with a smattering of PMD’s and lots of blue wing olive spinners laying eggs. Fish are keyed in on the march brown duns and the bwo spinners. BWO’s are still hatching in the afternoon and getting looks from hungry trout. Caddis are hatching in the evening but not in great numbers yet.

What’s Working

Nymphs: Raindrop Perdigon (14-16), Electrolyte Baetis (14-16), Crystal Warrior (14-16), Plastic Surgeon (14-16), Jigged Pheasant Tail (14-16), Thread Frenchie (14-16), Simple stonefly (8-10), Pat’s Rubberlegs (8-10), Dries: March Brown Dun (14), Sparkle Flag (18-20), Parachute Adams (14-16), Parachute BWO (16-18), Chubby Chernobyl orange (10) Streamers: Wooly Bugger black (8-10), Dolly Llama olive/white (8), Sculpzilla white, natural, tan, olive (8-10)

Truckee River

Flows on the Truckee have been up and down as we continue on this roller coaster like spring weather pattern. It snowed again last weekend whited help slow runoff a bit and flows came down some. As of today, the Truckee gauge is reading 299cfs with Donner Creek adding another 107 cfs to the flows. Boca is a bit higher at 774 cfs as the Little Truckee below Boca jumped up from 6cfs to 210cfs adding a bit more flow. Water temps are in the low to mid 40’s up to the low 50’s. Water clarity is still very good. Surprisingly.

The fishing has been better in the afternoons as the water warms and the blue wings start hatching, but we are still nymphing up some fish in the mornings. All methods are working at this time. but nymphing tactics are going to get the most action. Short line indicator, long line indicator and tight line are all working. Dry droppers are effective in the shallower riffles and runs. Dedicated streamer anglers are getting some nice fish during the runoff. The inlets to the reservoirs offer an option if the Truckee is blown out.

What’s Working

Nymphs: Plastic Surgeon (14-16), Electrolyte Baetis (14-16), Jigged Pheasant Tail (14-16), Juju Baetis (18-20), Pat’s Rubberlegs (8-10), Squirmy Worm pink, red, brown (8), Mop Fly pink, cream, olive (8-10), Pat’s Rubberlegs (8-10), Dries: Chubby Chernobyl orange (8-10), Sparkle Flag (18-20), Parachute Adams (14-20), Film Critic bwo (14-18) Streamers: Dolly Llama olive/white (8), Sculpzilla olive, natural, tan (8-10), Jigged Bunny (8-10)