I’ve heard it said that just over sixty or so little creeks and streams flow into the beautiful azure waters of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains… and only one, the Truckee River, serves as the Lake’s sole outlet in Tahoe City. Because of the efforts to protect and preserve the fish and fisheries in and around the Tahoe Basin, all of these tributaries, on the California side at least, have a late opening for fly fishing, beginning on July 1st!

One creek in particular on Tahoe’s West Shore, Meeks Creek, is an old favorite that I have been visiting, and fishing, off and on for the past fifty-plus years! It is the epitome of a beautiful little mountain stream as it flows precipitously down the side of a mountain in a series of cascading waterfalls and plunge pools that hold a surprising number of wild and feisty little trout. As an added bonus, there are three separate species of trout that inhabit this little gem of a creek, and it is not unusual to catch beautiful little brookies, browns and rainbows in neighboring pools!

Hiked in on July 1st this year and found the water a bit on the low side, but definitely fishable! Got off to a slow start in the first several pools, but the fish finally woke up and started getting active and hungry for my buzz hackle. Mostly brookies that day, with one or two little browns, but oddly no rainbows in sight. There’s always next time…