Headed out to the West Carson for a quick 2-hour evening session. Figured that I would check out my ole’ favorite, the gauging station. Upon arrival, I noticed a truck belonging to one of the guides who works for Tahoe Fly Fishing, so I headed downstream. After about a 10 minute walk I am at one of my favorite spots and am rewarded by seeing fish flashing around and eating.
Weather was nice, winds were light to moderate and flows have been steadily coming down for several days, so this is an ideal evening. For anyone who fishes these canyons, they know that the winds always play a role here, and by late afternoon they can be howling down-canyon. Guess I lucked out. Bug activity was light and I cannot immediately assess what bugs are present, but being the impatient sort, I pick one and hit the water.
Started off with a yellow and orange Stimmie. Figured that I would tie on an attractor dry and do some searching. My second drift rewards me with a solid hookup. It was a smaller fish in the 8-10″ range, but a beautiful native no less. A few more drifts and some half-hearted refusals and I determine that it is time to tie on a proper dry to match the bugs coming off the water. There are a smattering of light colored mayflies hatching, but for the sake of visibility and flotation in the still-runoff-laden waters, I tie on a cream Elk Hair Caddis. Bingo! That does the job and I am rewarded with another nice native. About 6 more drifts and I concede to the fact that this particular hole is probably spooked.
I head downstream to a section where the river splits. There is a very nice flat just above the river split and having a dry on, figured that I should look for, and fish, calmer waters. Second drift in the new hole rewards me with another nice native. I work this hole to the tune of 3 more fish, all under 10″ and notice that it is now 7pm and the sun is edging behind the canyon lip.
I start the walk out as I have no headlamp with me that afternoon. I hit up several more spots on the way out, but do not grab any more fish. Guess I should have changed up to a nymph rig since there were no more bugs on the surface at this point in time. One thing I love about fishing my little local rivers is that they are an easy read and I always catch fish.