Truckee River, Nevada

Verdi to Reno

The Nevada water begins at the state line above Verdi, where the river comes out of the Farad canyon and runs beside I-80 through Crystal Peak Park and Mayberry Park toward Reno. This is the best wild trout water in the state, it is the coldest section in summer, and it is a short drive from downtown. The California page covers the river above the state line.

Reno and Sparks

Wingfield Park in downtown Reno, Idlewild Park and Rock Park in Sparks put you on the river with parking, a paved trail and, in the parks, spring stockings of Lahontan cutthroat and rainbows. Nevada holds the riverbed up to the ordinary high-water mark, so the river itself is public even where the banks are not.

Below Sparks: Lockwood to Wadsworth

East of Sparks the river leaves the city for Lockwood, Mustang and the desert canyon toward Derby Dam and Wadsworth, where the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation begins. Rafts launch at Lockwood and Mustang, water warms earlier here, and largemouth bass appear in the lower reaches. Below Derby Dam a small run of Lahontan cutthroat from Pyramid Lake shows up in spring.

Rainbow and brown trout

Rainbows made up about 73 percent of the fish reported by anglers in NDOW's 2025 surveys, most of them 12 to 16 inches, and the population has recovered to pre-drought levels. Caddis and PMDs feed them through summer, golden stones tumble down the river in June and July, and baetis and midges carry the fishing through the winter.

Wild browns are the trophy fish; NDOW's river record is 15 pounds 10 ounces. Fall streamer fishing and egg patterns as they stage to spawn are their season, and the canyon water around Verdi holds the most of them.

Lahontan cutthroat

The Truckee's native trout was gone from the river by the 1930s. Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NDOW stock tens of thousands of Lahontan cutthroat each spring, mostly around the Reno parks, and fish from Pyramid Lake are let up past the lower dams to Derby Dam in April and May. They are not catch and release: they count toward the trout limit like any other trout, so check the rules for the reach you are on.

Season and regulations

Runoff runs March to mid-May and can top 1,000 cfs; the rest of the year the Reno gauge usually sits between 300 and 600 cfs. Fishflywater's local write-up puts optimal fishing at 150 to 400 cfs with 200 to 500 cfs still comfortable to cross, and NDOW warns that summer afternoons over 65 degrees kill released fish, so fish mornings from July into early September. This page compares the Reno gauge to 150 to 400 cfs.

NDOW rules: the river is open all year except the 1,000 feet below Derby Dam. From the state line to the East Mustang Road bridge at I-80 exit 23 the limit is 3 game fish with no tackle restriction; from East Mustang Road to Derby Dam, and from 1,000 feet below Derby Dam to the reservation boundary, the limit is 3 game fish of which only 1 may be a trout, artificial lures with single barbless hooks only. New Zealand mud snails are established, so clean your gear. Confirm with the current Nevada fishing regulations.