Here is an article from Fly Fisherman Magazine of this nearby trophy fishery. The GCFF is hosting a Fish Out here on February 15th. It will be hosted by Ed Tom and David Bear.
A rare trophy cutthroat just 40 miles north of Reno, Nevada.
An Article from Fly Fisherman Magazine by Stephen Traft
A critic once told me that a trout habitat restoration project I was working on was destined to have no more lasting effect than creating an artificial "museum" for native species. Although his reasoning was flawed, the phrase is apt. The native trout that live in rare and isolated patches of undisturbed landscape are relicts, and like many objects typically found in museums they have acknowledged value but receive few visitors.
Pyramid Lake is a glorious exception to that rule. The native treasures of this museum's fabulous Lahontan cutthroat trout fishery are easily accessible and available to any fly fisherman.
History
Pyramid Lake, named for a triangular rock formation just off its eastern shore, is a fragment of ancient Lake Lahontan. Over the millenia, most of the vast prehistoric lake's water was succeeded by the parched deserts that persist to this day, but at Pyramid Lake a happy accident of geography ensured that the regenerative flows of the Truckee River, replenished by snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada range, maintained water levels and a relict microcosm of Lake Lahontan's native fish species. In 1844, the explorer John Fremont's Paiute Indian hosts fed him trout "as large as the Columbia salmon." Pyramid's Lahontan cutthroat had the Truckee River watershed at their disposal in which to spawn and rear, and they grew to reported weights in excess of 60 pounds.
As eastern California and western Nevada were settled in the 19th and early 20th centuries, water diversions, dams, commercial fishing, and pollution took their toll. In 1938, the last significant spawning run of Pyramid Lake cutthroat was eliminated in the few moments required to completely divert the Truckee's flow at a Bureau of Reclamation diversion dam a few miles upstream of the lake. Even then, the fish that suffocated in the dry riverbed that day averaged 20 pounds.
Today, thanks to the efforts of the Pyramid Lake Paiute tribe (on whose land the lake rests), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Nevada Division of Wildlife, Lahontan cutthroat trout survive in Pyramid Lake. Legal action by the tribe combined with the Lahontan cutthroat's status as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act has ensured that flows from the oversubscribed Truckee River reach the lake and maintain water quality.
Since the early 1970s, Pyramid Lake's recreational fishery has been managed exclusively for Lahontan cutthroat trout, reintroduced after a 30-year hiatus. Lake-run trout are today captured and artificially spawned at lakeside hatcheries, producing juveniles for release a few months later. An ambitious wild trout restoration effort by resource agencies, the tribe, local stakeholders, and conservation organizations like Trout Unlimited hopes to return the Truckee River to some semblance of its historic incarnation as a nursery for giants.
Tactics
One of the chief joys of fly fishing at Pyramid Lake is its lack of complexity. From late fall through late spring, Pyramid's cutthroat trout feed within range of wading anglers.
The technique is to wade into the lake and position yourself so that your casts send your flies well out into the deep water beyond the shelf that drops off toward the lake's 370-foot depths. After making a cast, allow the line to sink, and strip your fly back. Few places in the world can offer a visiting angler such large trout that are so readily available using the most basic of methods. That said, there are certain refinements of technique that will increase your chances of catching more, and bigger, trout.
Long casts (60 feet or so) are necessary to place your flies into the deep water from which the big Lahontan cutthroat come to feed. The trout can be anywhere, sometimes taking the fly at the farthest extent of your cast while on other occasions hunting minnows in a foot of water behind a line of earnestly casting anglers. Short casts can catch fish under the right conditions, but long casts significantly increase your chance of catching fish: The longer a fly is in the water, the greater the chance that it will be seen by the fish.
This is where the most curious piece of Pyramid Lake fishing equipment, the stepladder, becomes valuable. Stepladders are considered by many Pyramid regulars to be as basic a piece of equipment as rods and flies. Friends have used mere milk crates, however. The advantage of a few inches (once the crate or ladder has sunk into the sand of the lake bottom) of elevation is typically enough, either physically or psychologically, to enable you to throw your offerings a few extra feet.
Finding the right depth, however, is more important than making long casts. A shooting head (I use a fast-sinking head almost exclusively) backed up by running line is the most effective tool for finding Pyramid Lake's lurking cutthroat. Sinking-tip lines and full-sinking lines will work as well, although only the most skilled casters or dare-devil ladder climbers can cover as much water as an average caster using a shooting head. After the cast, count out the seconds while you allow your fly to sink. Vary your timing until you begin to catch fish. Start the searching process again when the action slows.
Experiment with a variety of retrieves, from short erratic jerks, to slow crawls, to steady strips. Start with steady 4- to 6-inch strips. Then, to help shorten your learning curve, look around and see what is working for other fishermen. A friend has caught many large cutthroat using fast retrieves and flashy streamers after watching successful spin fishermen. One word of advice on retrieving: Keep stripping until you can see your fly and can confirm that it is not being stalked by a cutthroat. Pyramid fish are notorious for following flies until they are virtually at the rod tip. Sometimes they will take the fly at the last second, particularly if you suddenly vary your retrieve to provoke the strike. If the trout turns away, make a short cast in the direction that the fish retreated.
Although many gear fishermen and a few fly fishermen fish Pyramid from boats or the occasional float tube, the general consensus is that the difficulties in battling the wind on this mammoth body of water make this method more trouble than its worth.
Big Lahontan cutthroat are aggressively piscivorous, and the basic Pyramid tactics described above imitate baitfish and will catch fish under any conditions. But, the lake's rich invertebrate population ensures that even large trout do not feed exclusively on fish. During the warmer months, anglers using floating lines and light rods can sometimes fish midges to delicately rising fish, or slowly twitch nymphs along the lakebed.
There are water beetles, midges, dragonflies, damselflies, a few mayflies, and small scuds in Pyramid. Beetles and dragonfly nymphs can be quite effective, as can Woolly Worms (that probably look like buggy nymphs). Scuds and mayflies are not high priority food items in the lake.
Gear and Flies
Pyramid Lake's Lahontan cutthroat can be large. Although a typical day's catch will range from 14 to 18 inches, fish from 3 to 7 pounds are common. Pyramid regulars do not raise their eyebrows for fish under 8 pounds.
The lake is also extremely windy. With that in mind, the basic Pyramid Lake fly rod is an 81/2- to 10-foot, 7- or 8-weight with the backbone to throw long casts using heavy lines and to fight big fish. Some anglers use Spey rods, and any steelhead or heavy trout outfit should do.
Although even the largest Lahontan cutthroat are doggedly stubborn in their fight and rarely run for long distances, reels with a solid drag and a good supply of backing are indispensable. Shooting heads and running line complete the ensemble, although a floating line on an extra spool can be useful. This gear should be rinsed thoroughly after use to avoid damage from Pyramid's thick, alkaline water.
Size #4-#8 Egg-sucking Leeches, Articulated Leeches, Woolly Buggers--anything buggy, sinuous, fast-sinking, and large--are the most commonly used flies. Clouser Minnows and even flies stolen from striper and bluefish fly boxes can be effective imitations of the lake's forage fish. Many anglers use a #10 foam beetle as a dropper behind their streamer. The Pyramid Lake store on Route 445 just inside the Paiute reservation boundary always has a selection of brightly colored flies, and the man who knows what works ties at a table just inside the door. I catch more fish at Pyramid on black marabou streamers than I do with all the other flies in my box.
I don't recommend using anything less than 3X tippet. I often simply use 5 to 10 feet of 0X (15-pound) tippet material as my leader, bearing in mind that these trout are rarely leader-shy and that casting big flies into the wind on a long leader can lead to diabolical tangles.
Pyramid is open from the first of October through the end of June. The months at the beginning and the end of this season can be balmy, but the middle block--from November through March--is often characterized by brutal winds, numbing temperatures above and below the beleaguered angler's waterline, and storms that turn the lake a forbidding dark green and send waves crashing into those fishermen who stay perched on their ladders. But there are fish to be caught even in the most unlikely conditions.
Layers are the key to staying comfortable and on the water: Heavyweight polypropelene underwear, fleece jackets (and possibly pants), and water-resistant wind shells combined with neoprene waders are essential (breathable waders can work if they are combined with sufficient insulating layers). Gloves and a wool hat are also indispensable. Sunscreen and polarized glasses complete the gear list.
Where to fish
Pyramid Lake is enormous. At nearly 30 miles long and greater than 10 miles wide in places, this vast expanse of water looks more suited to trawlers and long lining than to fly rods. Nevertheless, you can locate foraging cutthroat virtually anywhere along the lake shore.
West shore. Most of the west side of the lake is skirted by state Route 446 and, north from the junction of 446 and 445, state Route 445, providing easy access to the lakefront. Many dirt roads allow anglers to drive very close to the lake at certain spots, while other locations require hiking through the sagebrush to reach the water. Except in places where the lake is bordered by low cliffs, getting to the shore on foot is easy, and any spot can produce good fishing.
Certain west-shore locations stand out as excellent starting points. The most famous and popular fishing location is known as the Nets. Named for offshore rearing pens that have long since disappeared, the Nets are just below the tiny town of Sutcliffe and are easily reached by turning right off Route 445 onto Sutcliffe Drive and immediately veering off to the right onto a dirt road that leads to the lake. The Paiute tribe’s egg-taking station is located on the lake shore here, and a pair of buoys mark a corridor that is off limits to angling directly in front of the station. The areas on either side of the buoys are known as the North Nets and South Nets. Here the shallows gradually deepen, the lakebed is sandy and snag-free, and a steady supply of cruising cutthroats are attracted by the influx of water from the hatchery operation.
The presence of many large trout at the Nets ensures that there is almost always a lineup of anglers, mostly on stepladders, stretching for several hundred yards well out into the lake. Etiquette is simple: find a reasonable opening, scan the water for any floating or partially submerged objects that might indicate an unoccupied ladder (whose owner would be grossly insulted to have his spot poached while he was temporarily ashore), wade in, and start fishing. If the lineup is too thickly populated, head to the end of the line or to another location.
Just north of Sutcliffe on Route 445 a road leads to the improbably named Windless Bay, and a few miles farther north another road leads to Warrior Point. Both of these areas can provide superb fishing and, like the Nets, are good places to fish the lake.
East shore. Pyramid’s east shore is unsettled and more challenging to reach than the west shore. A road runs parallel to the lake for much of the eastern shore’s length, providing access to numerous bays and beaches. That road, though, can be rough and, in places, impassable. Drive as far as you dare and then hike.
Dago Bay and the area in the vicinity of the famous pyramid formation are two spots for prospecting. The solitude of the east shore is a striking contrast with the communal atmosphere of west shore locations like the Nets.
Pyramid’s Lahontan cutthroat can be caught virtually anywhere, west shore or east. On most days the shore-line dropoff is clearly visible from the road or a similar vantage point and any spot, but especially those places where casts place flies beyond the dropoff, is worth trying. Beware of wasting time losing flies in rocky or snag-filled areas; either fish closer to the surface or move until you find a sandy area. Moving can mean walking a short distance to a new position or driving several miles to an entirely new part of the lake.
Trip Planning
Pyramid Lake is accessible from Interstate 80 in Reno/Sparks via Route 445 (“Pyramid Way” exit). Alternatively, the lake can be reached on Route 447 from the town of Wadsworth, about 30 miles east of Reno. The lake is just over 40 miles from Reno on Route 445.
The fantastic Lahontan cutthroat fishery at Pyramid Lake is a testimony to nearly 30 years of initiative, effort, and investment by the Paiute tribe. This priceless native fishery is fortunately available at a bargain price: a tribal day permit costs $6, a season permit $40. Anglers do not need a Nevada fishing license to fish on the reservation. Permits can be purchased at many sporting goods stores in the Reno area, but are best acquired, along with the latest word in flies and advice, at the Pyramid Lake Store on route 445. Read the regulations to familiarize yourself with bag limits and off-limits areas.
For flies, gear, and advice visit the Reno Fly Shop (775-825-3474), the Gilly Fishing Store (775-358-6113), and Mark Fore and Strike Sporting Goods (775-322-9559). Several shops in the San Francisco Bay area also offer information on lake conditions as well as flies and tackle. Fish First! (510-528-1937), with its famous “What’s Hot and What’s Not” website (www.fishfirst.com), and Western Sports (415-456-5454) are excellent sources of information and gear.
Hotels and restaurants are available in Reno and Sparks, less than an hour from the lake. Anglers should bring whatever food they need to last through the day, but Crosby’s Lodge in Sutcliffe has a small bar and hot food (and a few motel rooms). Camping is allowed on the reservation. Check at the Pyramid Lake Store for regulations.
The long route to Pyramid Lake from Reno is via Wadsworth. Not long after you leave town heading east on Interstate 80, there is an exit for Derby Dam. A short drive along a frontage road leads to a fence, over which the ugly form of a dam can be seen. For years after Derby Dam was built the remnants of one of the world’s greatest runs of native trout leaped onto the dam apron each spring in a futile attempt at migration. Finally, this surprisingly small and unimpressive structure extirpated Pyramid Lake’s Lahontan cutthroat.
But today Derby Dam, not the Lahontan cutthroat trout, belongs in a museum. The dam’s fangs have been drawn: laws require that water be allowed to pass the dam in even the driest years and a fish passage facility will soon be constructed. Although Lahontan cutthroat trout disappeared from the lake for a time they clung tenaciously to life elsewhere. Now they flourish in Pyramid Lake once again, a magnificent species in an equally stunning environment that is at once amazingly primitive and surprisingly accessible.
If this is a museum, then native trout need more like it.
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