Nearly two years ago, Trout Creek Outfitters first opened its doors and brought a fly shop to downtown Truckee.

Since then, the shop has hooked locals and visitors alike on the sport, providing guided trips and extensive regional knowledge and tips on the area’s rivers, ponds, lakes and reservoirs.

Owners Miles Zimmerman, Scott Ferguson, and Scott Koper will celebrate the store’s two-year anniversary on June 21, and after first taking a gamble on opening a fly shop in Truckee, the three have recently moved the store to a new location at 10115 Donner Pass Road. The space, double the size as the previous one next door, is filled with everything from reels and rods to boots, bags, nets, and anything else a fisherman would need to get a line in the water.

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“I saw a super big increase in interest in the sport with COVID happening, because it’s basically social distancing before such a thing even existed,” said Zimmerman on opening the store and finding success during the pandemic.

Zimmerman said fly fishing has grown in popularity throughout the pandemic. The goal now is how to keep those new customers interested in the sport and coming back to the store.

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“That’s something that a lot of people in the industry are talking about,” said Zimmerman. “How to basically take that new group of people and keep them interested for the long haul … When ‘A River Runs Through it’ came out, that was really the last big boom in this industry.”

So far, Zimmerman said those who came into his shop as beginners have continued to come back for flies, rods, line, and tips for fishing in the area.

“We get a lot of people saying they only picked it up a year or two ago,” added Zimmerman, who grew up fishing in the Bay Area. “Ultimately, it’s a lifetime sport. It’s something I tell people you’ll always get better at. I’ve been doing it for over a decade now and every time I go out I pick up new tricks and ways to do things differently and a little more effective.”

This summer the shop will offer guided trips and in the coming weeks will announce plans for group introductory-level clinics. The shop also provides a weekly fishing report. In the future, Trout Creek Outfitters plans on taking small groups of people on fishing tours to other parts of the world.

SUMMER FISHING

While sportsmen fish in the surrounding region’s bodies of water year round, Zimmerman said there’s a few key tips when it comes to late spring fishing in the area.

He said at this time of year the focus should be at higher elevations and cooler waters.

“I tend to go up to the smaller lakes that take a little bit of a hike to get to because those are going to be cooler,” said Zimmerman. “Some are just icing out as well. Typically, timing it with when the lake ices out, you can get some really, really good fishing.”

Species of fish in the area include rainbow and brown trout in the Truckee River; Lahontan cutthroat trout and kokanee salmon; brook trout in smaller creeks; smallmouth bass in Prosser and Stampede reservoirs, “which are really fun summertime fish because they are very aggressive and not very discerning,” said Zimmerman.

Around the greater Reno area, Zimmerman identified fishing for carp as an underrated yet challenging fish to haul in.

“A lot of people tend to thumb their nose at it, but really they’re a great fish,” he said. “They’re a super hard fighter. They’re pretty much everything a true sportsman wants in a fish.”

While the summer months provide plenty of opportunities to catch fish, the region boasts yearlong fishing at certain bodies of water.

“The beautiful thing about the Truckee, we always get some pretty nice weather,” said Zimmerman. “The Truckee River, you can fish it 12 months out of the year.”

For those looking to cast a line into the Truckee River or any of the area’s lakes and reservoirs, Trout Creek Outfitters is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“We’ve always tried to cultivate a sense of community,” Zimmerman said. “It’s been a huge thing for us, to have a really dedicated group of local people as well as people from out of town. We want it to be like ‘Cheers’ where you walk in and everybody knows your name.”

For more information on guided trips, rentals, or products, visit troutcreekoutfitters.com.

Justin Scacco is a staff writer with the Sierra Sun. He can be reached at jscacco@sierrasun.com