Fishing on the big river continues to improve daily. With the presence of the summer bugs mixed with the waning of the more spring/winter bugs, one can fish a variety of methods and imitations right now and have a good shot at finding some fish. We have seen the ants really begin to kick into gear this week and for anyone looking to throw dry flies on the Truckee River or beyond, we don’t recommend leaving home without them right now. While these are around most of the summer, the winged carpenter ants will often fish best right when they start up and for around a month after. Side note, we hypothesize that the big brown trout must just love their spiciness. We say this because for whatever reason this bug, fished this time of year can dupe some large brown trout on top water. Super fun! Along the lower river we are also getting reports on some evening dry fly fishing with caddis for those that are sticking out until dark. While we are seeing some PMDs start up, we aren’t seeing them with enough consistency to be fishing these adults just yet. In another couple of weeks, these will be the top bug of the summer and a solid fall back for both nymphs and dries if nothing else is putting them in the net. The other noteworthy bug this week would be of the mud variety... Yes, we are catching a good amount of fish on crawdads right now, and anyone who has put in time on this river can vouch for their efficacy.