A few weeks ago Chris Yama (aka "Otter") and I went Davis Lake and then Pyramid Lake NV.
Davis was a little slow, but the fish were averaging close to 20 inches. Chris and I both landed 22"ers which were a lot hotter than I remember them. Two of mine took me into the backing. Chris caught one on a Quigley Cripple while on shore lounging in a chair with a can of (drum roll)... Bud Light. I ask you: does that fish count?
At Pyramid we hired a guide - Jay Clark - to show us the tubing ropes. We met up around 7am at a place called "Shot Dog" just south of Warrior Pt. There, big cutthroats were chasing schools of Tui Chubs. At times the bait balls were visible below our pontoon boats as clouds of 4" minnows being thrashed by ogre sized trout. With a fish finder you could see that some of these schools extended 20+ feet in all directions. The average cutthroats were about 4-5 lbs although Chris landed one that Jay weighed in at 9lbs. Most of my 7 fish were caught using one of Jay's flies he calls a "drunk perch" - a play on words from the Crowley fly called a "punk perch."
The next day Chris had to go home so I was on my own. First I tried Shot Dog again, but the bait had moved out and after 2 hours of nothing, I decided to row North quite a ways to a tufa lined point that had a lot of float tube activity. Lucky for me the point was chock-a-block with schools of Tui Chubs and hungry, obese cutthroats that were recklessly hammering anything that looked chub-like. First I caught them on olive clousers then after these all got shredded, chartreuse worked and finally white clousers were getting bit. One of the keys was using a type 6 or 7 shooting head and letting the fly sink for a minute (fish were mostly around 25+ft deep) and then stripping it in as fast as possible. The biggest cuts were around 8lbs, with an average size between 5-6lbs. For about 2 hours I got a grab on every cast and ended with 22 in the net and 30+ hooked. This was the best trout fishing day of my life!
If you haven't gone to Pyramid it is worth the effort since there is no place I've ever fished where you get a little disappointed by a 4lb trout! I think we were somewhat lucky, but I can easily imagine even better fishing days once we get more experience under our belts. Next month is supposed to be prime fishing.
Just a word of caution if you are new to fishing Pyramid and you want to use a ladder (a common practice at Pyramid). Here are the new regulations for 2015:
New Tribal Regulation effective October 1st 2015
15.6 USE OF LADDERS, ETC. Any ladders, milk crates, boxes or other objects used in the water as a fishing aid must be occupied or closely attended (i.e. remain in the area) by fishermen at all times. Any person who leaves such objects unoccupied in the water for more than one hour will be deemed guilty of littering.
15.6.1 Fishing aids described above must have a permanent tag affixed that has the name, address, and phone number of the owner of the fishing aid. If the permitted angler using the fishing aid is not the owner, the owner will be the responsible party for any infractions by the permitted angler.
There is also another regulation worth heeding. You can not park your vehicle within 100 feet of the water. Whether this means you can't drive to the water, unload your gear and then park your vehicle 100 feet away has been a subject of discussion and I haven't heard what the answer is.
-- Edited by Nohackle2 on Thursday 22nd of October 2015 01:48:10 PM
BTW, I'm going back there next Saturday for a clinic with Matt "Giligan" Koles and Paul Ouellette. There are still a few spots open so if any of you guys have $200 to blow and the time you should take a spot. If the fish have come close to shore by then, it will be about fishing from the beach. Otherwise, it will be 'toon fishing with big salt water flies like clousers, surf candies and other abomination flies.
I'm going from Fri-Sunday and staying at the Nugget casino in Sparks which is a very nice place for $50/night. The plan: catch giant cutthroats until I hate fishing. Gorge on sushi and sake afterward. Wake up the next day and repeat. Wake up the next day and repeat.
-- Edited by iamamultitasker on Sunday 25th of October 2015 02:43:55 PM
The second guide is Doug O. I think that is the guide that taught Mitch the floater no indicator setup. Make sure to ask them about that method. Last year Mitch sent me a few photos that made my fish look like a minnow. Anyways sounds like you are hooked on Pyramid. Take lots of notes so I can figure out how to fish from a ladder. Don't drink too much sake or you may miss out on a few fish in the morning. Get out there and catch that 20 pounder!
fished Pyramid last year with my club for the first time,
day one wind and waves 8 guys 70 fish day two no wind and flat 6 fish hope the wind blows for you, fished from ladders it was fun, biggest fish caught 15 pounds
Right, one of the guy's names is Doug Oullette. I probably accidentally stuck in Paul from the name of a previous poster on this thread.
My goal isn't to catch a 20lb cutt, but wouldn't that be nice? My goal is to learn a plan B, C, D and E. Right now I only have plan A which I have plenty of confidence in, however, if that isn't working it would be great to have several other techniques that work based on the weather conditions, water temps and food source. You'll have to pay for the notes!
Also, FrankC, we won't necessarily need the wind if we're in our pontoon boats, but if there's wind in the right direction, we might be able to fish from shore. Would like to learn more about how to do that well.