I wanted to say a quick thank you to all that responded to my question about fishing Pyramid Lake. I met a group of guys out there last week. From what I was told, the fishing was slow, but we did indeed get into fish. We actually had multiple quads (four bent rods at the same time). Made for some interesting landing of fish without crossing lines etc. My buddy’s first fish was actually two small ones at the same time. That explained his difficulty in trying to net the fish. I first thought he simply forgot how to net a decent size trout, but I soon realized he had two fish on… made for lots of laughs.
I did manage to land some great sized fish, but my most exciting fish was not the largest one. Midday when the fishing got slow, I decided to walk the lake edge. The sun was high and clouds were intermittent. This allowed me to watch huge trout swimming the shoreline from a 20’ high vantage point. I know that not many of these fish are caught top-water, but being a dry fly guy at heart, I had to try. The fish were cruising in the shallows, (not spawning).
I tied on a Dry Fly Leader, I then added floatant to one of the large white streamer patterns I had success with. I then sat and waited for a cruiser to come by. After what seemed like an eternity, two fish came swimming by. One decent and one HUGE. I begin to cast and realized that my fly line was tangled in brush along the shoreline. Missed that one. I gathered myself, organized my line and waited.
Again I wait, approx. 7 minutes; here comes two regular size fish and a third monster. This time I am better prepared. (Line is organized and not tangled). I make a cast about 8 feet in front of the three fish. I wait, once the fish get close, I begin stripping line in. This puts the fly directly in front of the pod. Happening In slow motion, I see the largest of the three fish open its mouth and take the dry fly and then he makes a run for deeper water. The adrenalin is now pumping, as I get the fish onto the reel, I remember I did not adjust my drag for the lighter tippet used for the dry fly fishing….. SNAP. Even though I lost the fish, just seeing a huge mouth open up in slow motion, to take a dry fly while sight casting, was enough for me.
I caught many more fish after loosing that Big one, but I am guessing that one fish on a dry will be what motivates me to get out there again. Thank you.
The image of me on the shore is where I was sight casting from.