A Day In The Life Of A Pyramid Angler: Part One

A Day In The Life Of A Pyramid Angler: Part One

By Jay Clark

The alarm jolts me awake. 4:30 am on the dial. Seems like I just closed my eyes, but alas it’s time to get up. The smell of coffee wafts across the trailer as the coffee maker drips its brown liquid into the decanter. From the other end of the trailer my fishing partner for the day is starting to get dressed. I pull on long underwear, heavy duty socks and fleece pants. The sound of the wind outside tells me today that this could be a rough morning on the water. We drink our coffee and eat a quick breakfast of oatmeal and sweet rolls before stepping out into the pre-dawn darkness to warm up the truck.

With lunch packed and coffee in hand, we drive make the short drive to the North Nets from the Marina RV Park where the trailer is set up. Driving onto the beach, there is only one other vehicle parked at the number 1 hole. It’s long time Pyramid angler, Ed Smith. Ed has been fishing the lake 5 days a week for years and is usually the first one on the beach.  Its 5:15am. We jump into our waders, pull the hoods tight over our heads to protect against the chill and head out into the darkness with our ladder chairs. Wading into the 44 degree water, we are mindful of the waves breaking at our feet. A stiff northeast wind is building the seas and waves are breaking as they roll onto the shallow flat. The white tops of the breakers are illuminated by the cone of light thrown from the headlamps that we use to see in the predawn darkness. We set up our chairs at the edge of the drop off in about three feet of water and start fishing.

Stripping line off the reel, I make a quick roll cast to get the line in front of me and then water load the rod to get the connection of the shooting head and running line past the tip top. One more water load and I fire the cast into the unknown of the early morning darkness. There is plenty of time to ponder the day ahead as I wait for the T-11 head to sink into the depths. What will the day bring? Will we catch fish? Will the crowds show up today to try their luck at catching the next record Lahontan Cutthroat Trout? These questions will be answered as the day unfolds. I start to retrieve the flies with a varied retrieve adding a pause in here and there. Today, like most days, I am fishing a popcorn beetle and a midnight cowboy wooley bugger. These are my go to stripping flies and are proven beyond a shaddow of a doubt. I finish the retrieve with a quick lift of the rod tip to suddenly bring the flies to the surface and pause waiting for a grab. Pyramid LCT are famous for following flies all the way in ad grabbing at the last second right in front of the ladder. No grab on this cast so I recast and start the process all over again.

Its always great to get a tug on the first cast, but this is something we have come to call the “kiss of death” at Pyramid. More times than I want to recall, a fish caught on the first cast of the day has resulted in a meager day of fishing, hence the nickname. Today is not that way. The fish are in and I am tight to one on the second cast. After a short battle the 20” trout is released to live another day. What other stillwater can boast an average size offish around 20”? The sky has transformed from grey to a mixture of reds, oranges and purples as the sun starts its ascention in the eastern sky. On this day the lineup is pretty solid as many folks are out enjoying the fine fishing experience that Pyramid has to offer. The fishing is pretty solid with about 8 fish to hand before the sun peaks over the distant mountains. Ernie has switched to a bobber set up and is just hammering them on midges. He is getting a takedown on about every cast and hooking many of those fish.

To be continued…

Current Pyramid report. 3-7-13

Fishing is starting to get interesting with fish being caught on a variety of flies and methods. Hot flies have been popcorn beetles and black buggers along with midges in wine, rootbeer, snow cone and Trojan in sizes 6-12. Midgeing in 10-12’ of water has been very consistant with most anglers landing between 5-10 fish per day and some days producing many more fish. Plenty of fish over the 10lb mark are being caught.

The south end of the lake has been gaining poularity lately with easy access to deeper water, but spring fishing is mostly centered around the Nets area in Sutcliffe as fish return to the hatchery to be spawned. Expect crowds at the popular beaches and please be mindful of other anglers. If you have to ask if you are too close you probably are and remember a friendly smile and and kind gesture will go along ways!