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Truckee River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The Sierra's escape artist: Tahoe's outlet river running wild browns through Reno's backyard, with trophy water on both sides of the state line.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
396 cfs
Air / High
49 / 50 F
Wind
NE 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 10346000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Truckee River is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. The river is running 396 cfs, steady over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 7 mph, steady pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 50. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:39 AM-11:39 AM and 10:08 PM-12:08 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 56 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Nevada requires a fishing licence from age 12, from $40.00 for residents. What a Nevada licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with NDOW before you keep anything. The season dates for Nevada, read off the agency, are on the Nevada seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Truckee River at Farad.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 10346000.

388435482396 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 117 years of October 23

At 396 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 10346000 (Truckee River at Farad) is at the 47th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 117 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 407 cfs; the highest was 1,040 cfs and the lowest 45 cfs.

p10 95median 407p90 526

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 10346000; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp49 F
High / Low50 / 37 F
WindNE 7-9 mph
Pressure1019.2 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain5% cloud, 37%
Sunrise / Sunset07:18 / 18:09
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)54 F USGS
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Truckee River this week

The best day on Truckee River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:39 AM-11:39 AM and 10:08 PM-12:08 AM
Minor period
4:04 AM-5:04 AM
Sun
07:18 to 18:09
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 9 mph
Rain chance
37%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Truckee River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

When to come: the Truckee River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Truckee River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 50 F, wind to 13 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 64 F, wind to 14 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 67 F, wind to 10 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Nevada requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

California or Nevada license by bank (interstate reach: check reciprocity rules). Special regs by section: check CDFW/NDOW.

Access

CA: Tahoe City, Truckee town accesses, Glenshire. NV: Verdi, Mayberry Park, downtown Reno river walk, Lockwood.

About this water

120 miles from Tahoe to Pyramid Lake, CA/NV. The Sierra's two-state wild-brown corridor.

Fishing Truckee River: the full guide

From Tahoe to the desert

The Truckee drains Lake Tahoe through granite canyons into Nevada's high desert, dying in Pyramid Lake: no ocean, all character. The California reach (Tahoe City to the state line) runs classic freestone trout water: the Nevada side through Reno rebuilt itself into one of America's best urban trout fisheries: wild browns to trophy size within sight of the casinos.

Reading the two rivers

California's Truckee: pocket water and boulder runs, wild browns and rainbows, technical summer flows (glo-bugs and stones in spring, hoppers and crayfish patterns late). Nevada's Truckee: bigger, warmer, moodier: streamer water for browns past 24 inches, best October-April when flows cool. The whole system rides SierraNevada snowpack: drought years compress everything.

The Reno redemption

Decades of restoration turned Reno's river walk into legitimate trophy water: drift boats float through downtown, browns eat sculpin patterns under casino lights, and access is bike-path simple. The town takes pride in it: fish it once and the phrase 'urban fishery' stops sounding like a compromise.

Flows, heat and ethics

Summer heat stresses the Nevada reach: locals self-impose hoot-owl hours (fish dawn, quit by noon) when water passes 68F: our gauge panel tracks Farad daily. California sections carry special regs (artificials, limits by reach): check both states. The river rewards restraint: its wild browns are the recovery's dividend.

Common questions

Is the Truckee River good through Reno?

Genuinely: restoration built a wild-brown fishery with fish past 24 inches inside city limits. October-April is prime: streamers and stonefly nymphs through the urban runs.

Which license do I need on the Truckee?

The state you stand in: California upstream, Nevada below the line. Border-area anglers often carry both: the best water ignores the boundary.

Is fishing good at Truckee River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Stampede Reservoir6 miSparks Marina18 miCarson River43 miPyramid Lake47 miCaples Lake50 miLahontan Reservoir51 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 10346000 β€” Truckee River at Farad
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 20:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.4270, -120.0330 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.