Unofficial exclusive from Kick-Ass Blaster, Tyler Boutelle.
Unlike a lot of freeskiers in the off season, I like to keep my cross training activities a little less extreme.- There is a plethora of fly-fishing rivers and lakes all around the the Truckee/Tahoe area, with world-class fly-fishing.- The two most exciting rivers in the area are the Truckee and the Little Truckee rivers.- – Both are healthy fisheries with an abundance of aquatic insects and clean cool waters.
The target area for the Truckee is from where Donner Creek enters the river down to just outside of Reno.- Don’t even bother with the stretch between Lake Tahoe and Truckee, its a- waste of time, there are few- catch-able fish and a few- small “truck-trout”.- In the town of Truckee focus on the Glenshire Bridge area between the Glenshire Bridge and the 267 Overpass.- To fish the Truckee use- mostly nymphs ( the underwater larval stage of river insects).- Use a strike indicator, lots of split shot, a large top fly and a smaller “dropper” about a foot below that.- Cast up stream and lets your rig float naturally down stream with out any dragging of your fly line.- If your not snagging the bottom occasionally your not- going to catch anything.- Also use 4x tippet (6 pound test) or you will break off any big fish you hook into.
The Little Truckee is a much different animal.- Much less water (only about 85 cfs now), more fishing pressure and extremely picky, spooky fish.- The target section for the “LT” is the stretch between- the Stampede dam and Boca Reservoir.- Focus on the beautiful high alpine meadow- above the Boyton Mill campground.- – – Here- there is much more dry-fly action (fish rising to the- surface).- A very effective tecnique here is using the dry and dropper method.- Use a large stimulator- (dry fly), caddis, or stone- fly (size#8-10) then tie about 18″ of tippet to the hook with a very small nymph or emerger patter (size#18-22).- Also, the LT requires the use of real small tippet usually 5x-6x, which is about 2-4 pound test.
What does- this have to do with skiing you ask?- I had to think about it for a while, but- there are two things that translate well for skiing and fly-fishing, they are patience and perfection.
Patience,… obviously fly-fishing require lots and lots of patience not everyone has this.- You may fish for 6- hour, make thousands of casts and not get a single bite.- But every cast you have to be- on your toes, anticipating a strike- and ready for anything.- Very frustrating some times.- In- Big-Mountain- Freeskiing you must also have patience (very similar to progression).- You must wait for the the right conditions, the right timing, you have to wait for ski patrol to- finish avy control, etc.- The whole time you have to be ready, on your toes and anticipating to go whenever the time is right.- So many people jump into things way before they are ready or the conditions are right, you must walk away sometimes if your not- “feeling it”, so you must be patient, your time will come.
Perfection,…in fly-fishing everything must be perfect, your- knots, your cast, your drift, the section your fishing.- If your not perfect, you will either not catch anything or break off anything you hook onto,- so you spend extra time re-tying tiny little knots and getting into the perfect casting positions.- In skiing everything needs to be perfect as well, in order to be successfull.- All my friends will tell you- I am the slowest person to get ready in the morning, because I am going over my equipment with a fine tooth comb.- Checking my bindings, waxing,- sharpening,- adjusting readjust my boots and liners,- if it doesn’t look perfect or feel perfect I will spend extra time to make it just- right.- Skiing technical tight lines, with exposure you want your gear to be solid, and every move you make to be perfect so you stick it.- The old saying “practice makes perfect” comes in well here.- Also,- I don’t know- how many times have I seen someone eject a ski and eat it because they did not clear all the snow off their boots.- I will take that ten extra seconds to clear the snow and ice and click in and out several times until it is perfect.
So, get out there and slay it!
—Tyler
PS. Look for the upcoming crawdad molting season- on the Truckee and the grasshopper (hopper-dropper) season on the Little Truckee.- Check Mountain Hardware in Truckee for the latest fishing- report and the hottest flys.