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!
