Finding Treasure in the form of big Lahontan Cutthroat Trout at Pyramid Lake,
Nevada (continued)
Targeting
Lahontan Cutthroat Trout:
There are two ways to fish for Lahontan Cutthroats on Pyramid Lake, anglers can
either wade out into the lake from shore or can launch a watercraft, either way
anglers need to obtain the right tribal permits at one of the local stores
situated around the lake.
Mark and Zander wade into the
shallows to get within casting distance of the fish
On this first trip we
decided to use conventional gear rather than fly outfits, and rigged up a number
of crankbait rods from our rod wars test lineup with spoons and jerkbaits, as
well as two swimbait rods to throw big plugs in an attempt to get into some
really big fish. Mark had previously fished the lake many times before and our
initial plan was to fish an area known as the “Nets,” which is adjacent to the
hatchery. Unfortunately, this year the Nets area was closed off until later in
the season, so we head to another popular location called Pelican Point.
A specially customized AC Plug for
Pyramid Lake Cutthroats
If you haven’t been to
Pyramid before this is when it gets surreal, as we rounded the corner and the
bay at Pelican Point came into view we could make out what looked a tightly
packed line of stick figures out in the water. What looks like a row of figures
are actually fly fishermen perched up on ladders and customized platforms. Here
fly fishermen will tote ladders out into the lake, plant them into the sand, and
stand on them to get a better view of fish cruising by as well as increase
casting distance with sinking line. Keeping out of the freezing cold water also
helps fishermen stay out longer as they wait for fish.
Zander lands the first fish...
This highly specialized
approach to fishing the lake has continually been refined over the years, but
there is no doubt that it is effective here at Pyramid where there are long
flats transition into sudden drop offs. When we finally arrived at the waters
edge it was so packed with both conventional anglers with spinning gear and fly
fishermen they were almost were stacked on top of each other. “I’m not feeling
this at all,” Mark said “let’s take a look around and make a new game plan.”
....and it is a nice Lahontan hen
Though Cal and I were
eager to get our feet wet we decided that it would be best to follow Mark’s
lead. After talking to a few anglers who said they had caught zero to one fish
over the last four hours we decided to carve out a little area and give it a
shot. As we donned our gear a tribal fish and game warden rolled by in his truck
and Mark proceeded to walk over to him and initiate a conversation. The officer
was very friendly and as Mark walked back to us he said “Ok, guys were going to
make a move, a 7lbr was caught in an area nobody is fishing, were going to
follow him to the spot,” and just like that we loaded into the truck and made a
caravan back to Sutcliffe.
One fish was all it took to get
hooked on these beautiful big trout
