BY DAVE HURLEY
SUTCLIFFE, NEV. – The month of March brings high winds to the high desert in northern Nevada, but even the wind hasn’t slowed down the hot cutthroat bite at Pyramid Lake. Fly fishermen or spin casters from the shoreline along with trollers are finding quality Lahontan cutthroat, and the action will only improve as more and more fish move into the shallows with the warm trend on the horizon.
J.D. Richey of Richey Sport Fishing was out on Saturday with an all-star crew of top women anglers including Captain Virginia Salvador of Gatecrasher Fishing Adventures and Cat Kaiser, event coordinator of the Golden State Salmon Association, and he said, “Pyramid has been very solid lately despite heavy winds most days this week. Today, the ladies rocked it in spite of 4- to 5-foot waves and snow flurries, but we managed to land probably 30 cutthroat. The trout all came on Flatfish in either green or frog patterns with nothing huge the past few days, but plenty of action with all of the cuts in the 3- to 5-pound range. I have heard of a few 15 to 19 pounders hooked lately both on boats and by fly fishermen.”
Captain Robert Hagerty of the Pyramid Fly Company (PFC) in Reno said, “It was another great week out at the lake. Does this mean every angler caught double-digit fish? No, but the chances were there for those with some knowledge, determination
and time on the water. Let’s just say, there were an impressive amount of 10 to 15 pounders’ caught this week. The Summit-strain Cutthroats are starting to cruise the shallows in their spawn mode. The fish are averaging 3 to 5 pounds, and chances of bigger Summits and the largest of the Lahontan strain, the Pilot Peak Cutthroat, is definitely there. Pelican Beach has been a very good area as well as North Nets, but with that said, don’t rule out the deeper beaches on the South end of the lake. When the winds haven’t been blowing, float tubers and kayak fisherman have been having fun times with streamers, jigs and lures. For fly fishermen, indicators with a midge below it or stripping Woolly Worm/Popcorn Beetle combinations have been producing. Our guide Chris Van Tassel and I have been stripping the beaches with Woollies and Beetles after his trips and we’re hooking up to nine 10-pound plus trout each within 2 to 4 hours on the water. Chris landed the top fish of the week between us at 20.2 pounds by stripping black Woolly Worms on the Main Lake Beach. It has been incredible to say the least.”
