Pyramid Lake - April is Here!!!

April is here but it's still not just about catching, most fish are very focused on the spawn and it can be quite frustrating.  Overall for me its hit and miss for sure, I must have seen 300+ fish Saturday afternoon but only 5 takes, same for others on the beach.

In my experience there are 4 groups of fish this time of year: Summit spawners (most likely to form a big school and the most plentiful group by a good margin), summit feeders (what you you're most likely to hook), Pilot spawners (probably up in the Truckee right now) and Pilot feeders (what everyone and their brother is looking for).  From what I've read, Summit and Pilot fish tend not to intermix, rather they tend to go their separate ways, why I don't know.  According to Fishes of the Great Basin and Great Basin Naturalist, there is also evidence the LCT female is an alternate year spawner, who knows about the Pilot strain, the books are are a couple decades old when only Summit fish were present.  This is interesting to me because I'm always trying to figure out fish behaviour, and alternate year spawning would explain why some schools are in feed mode right now (as would fish just finishing spawning or fish spawning late)

 I really prefer to retrieve big nasties, but most days, indicators with balanced leeches have been consistently out performing.  That said, the the biggest fish for me this month was sight fished on a big streamer.

When you dredge the bottom with streamers and hook multiple dragon fly nymphs, it becomes obvious what to throw on as one of your flies.  These are hearty meals for fish and unlike popcorn beattles and boobies, they actually imitate what fish feed on.

Jan's Draggin is the best dragon fly pattern I've come across, dumbbell eyes get it down fast.

The boys out fished me 2 to 1 this day with 12 in the net on balanced leeches.

Pyramid and her many moods

Normally a storm front like this will get the fish coming in close to shore to ambush Tui Chubs...not today, all it did was turn the lake into an ocean and get everyone soaked.

The colors in and around this lake are amazing, they shift from day to day and hour to hour.

IMHO, she's the most beautiful desert lake you're ever going to come across.  All of these colors occurred over one weekend.

Pyramid Lake - February Update

Its still hit and miss out there at Pyramid, being in the right place at the right time matters, stick and move if you're striking out or wait for that school to come in, they usually do once or twice throughout the day.  Some big fish are being caught, supposedly a confirmed 27 pounder and an unconfirmed of the same size.  This may be the year of the 30 pounder, they say its overdue. April is almost here!

Pyramid - Damn that Dam!

If you think you knew everything about Pyramid Lake, guess again.

Pyramid Lake is Dying from John Pilger on Vimeo.

I found this 30 minute special on Pyramid Lake filmed in 1976 very informative. It tells the sad story of Derby Dam's fatal impact on Winnemucca Lake and the Paiute people. I knew that Winnemucca Lake had water in it as late as the 1930's, but did you know that the water in Pyramid Lake used to flow into Winnemucca Lake via a short section of the Truckee River which has since dried up. In other words, the Truckee River didn't always end at Pyramid Lake. I drive by the remnants of Winnemucca Lake on the way to Gerlach frequently, its hard to believe that as of 1905 it used to be 100 feet deep and that Lahontan Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) used to swim freely between the two lakes. I'll point out two untruths in the video: 1) Coincidentally, in April of 1977 (the year after this film) Kent Sumners of the Utah Department of Fish and Game re-discovered, what taxonomical analysis has proven to be, the original strain of Pyramid Lake Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, scroll to Pg 199. These trout are now being reared at the Lahontan National Fish Hatchery (which I've visited) for eventual reintroductin into Pyramid Lake and other watersheds. 2) The current Summit Lake strain of Lahontan Cutthroat Trout in Pyramid obviously didn't go extinct at the turn of the century, despite the prediction of the fisheries biologist. Hope you enjoy, more to come on resurecting the original (30-40lb) strain of LCT in a future post.