As dwindling flow levels on the Truckee force some people to cast their fishing luck farther west, nine-year-old Axel is content to stay along the cool shaded shores of Riverside Drive.
“Look at that crawdad,” he says, holding up a 3-4 inch long greenish- brown crayfish, its pincers waving. “And here’s a bigger one.”
Axel scoops up another one, then places it gently down into the bucket full of river water.
“I gotta go get some more minnows for them,” he says scrambling back down into the clear river water that runs from Lake Tahoe, through Reno/Sparks and empties into Pyramid Lake, or Cui-Ui-Pah as it is known to the Paiute Tribe, on the reservation.
Tom, Axel’s stepfather, says Axel loves exploring and playing in the Truckee. “It’s a great playground for kids,” he says, admiring the catches Axel eagerly raises up in his fishing “cup". The young boy yells out to him when he spies something interesting in the water.
“I sometimes wish kids didn’t have phones for games- they could all be out here,” he says, pointing at the river and trees. Axel brings some more minnows to show Tom. “Very cool,” Tom tells him. They discuss that the crawdads might need to go back in the river as Axel debates keeping them as pets. He can’t figure out what to name them yet, but there are more things to look for in the river and he wanders back off shore, head down to discover more of what the Truckee can offer.