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Literary accounts of fishouts in the recent past,
to make you sorry you didn't go.

Pyramid Lake, Nevada March 18th - 26th
by Harry Petrakis

This club is so diverse. We have people from many walks of life, who joined primarily to satisfy any number of needs, bringing with them, uniqueness and different degrees of skill in fly-fishing. In my own case I was a self -employed businessman short on time who wanted to learn more and catch more and bigger fish when I joined the club in 2000. I set my goals low and have met and surpassed my expectations and I'm feeling real grateful about that. After 7 years I am in a position to give back some of what I received to new members. I also realize that listening to what the new members have to say about the sport can teach and inspire as well.
The first person I saw at the lake's edge was Pete Thomas. He had arrived 45 minutes before me saying, as I was climbing my ladder that he already surpassed his grand total for last year. I watched him catch another and couldn't help notice how smooth and effortless his casting was and then I thought of Walt. Pete caught another one and left to finish putting his stuff away and I moved my ladder over into his spot.
The story new member Chris Walters told at the Animal House (name given to an 8ft wide by 40 ft. long trailer that sleeps 7 men) dinner table one night of hooking and landing a 60 - plus pound giant Trevally at Christmas Island many years ago on a fly was inspirational...and he's not that old! Chris Petrakis is a fledging fly fisherman who has an uncanny ability to look into a fly box and pick a fly to start a rally with. So I'm always sure to include some of those flies I bought but never got around to trying in boxes I make up for him.
Troy, another new member brings Zen to the club. Talk to him about the physics of casting or what is going on in fishes' little minds some time if you want to start the wheels turning in that direction. He also brought to us the handshake used for landing two fish at once. Tim Livingston, who inherited the catching gene from his father Jim, brought us a case of home made brew (see pic top of this article) which the airlines lost in baggage but much to their credit found and brought out to the lake. Tim left fish biting on Sunday to head for home, a terrible thing for a young man to have to do. His dad Jim busied himself in between fishing taking pictures as he did last year. Several of which you saw in the January slide show.
Howard Power, after watching Loren land more than a few fish when it was slow and having caught none himself he moved over to Loren's ladder while Loren was on shore saying "I just want to see if it's the spot or if he really is that good." Howard never stood a chance. He went fishless, in part because of what he said and in part because we were all wishing the fish away from him for beating us to the ladder. Yes, Loren is that good.
While there were no winners in the annual ladder diving contest this year, Sam Bishop comes closest and wins honorable mention for standing erect in a 6 foot Dinghy while playing a fish without incident. He also received the smallest and only well-done New York steak for the part he played in burning the garlic bread.
Duwayne Norton was voted best dinner for magnificent lasagna made with prosciutto and Gruyere. Animal House is not worthy. Please never ask him to tell the Harry and Linda in San Francisco story when he has had too much to drink.
Pelican Bay was the hot spot when we arrived but the RV trailers were parked 3 deep along almost the entire shoreline due to the big fishing contest. I've never seen it so crowded. A sample of what is to come maybe.
Did you know that you could receive a free drink if you bring a 5-pound or larger fish into the bar at Crosby's? This year there was a ladder-naming contest. The winner: Ilene. Pyramid Lake never ceases to entertain or provide a natural spectacle. Last year the blanket of snow was awesome and the rainbows spectacular. This year we were treated to cloud formations like I had never seen. Lenticular clouds as Sam and Howard told us, shaped like soft dinner plates. Quite something to behold.
After being on the lake for two days with marginal success I started wondering if I was ever going to reach the goal I had set for this year of a four fish rally. Then along came Big Tuesday. The weather went cold rain and wind and the fish went on the bite. I made my modest goal and then some. I heard persons in our club who have been coming for years comment that Tuesday was one of the best bites ever. The fish were nice too.
Tim Loomis brought a tackle shop with him and was generous to a fault. He also presided over Animal House after dinner bull sessions, which went late into the evenings, and having the bedroom next to the bathroom was awakened by late night toilet flushing activity, which he reported in detail at breakfast in the mornings. Think about this next year when you ask for room and board.
The water level of the lake was higher than last year, which meant that no matter how much duct tape he had wrapped around his sleeves and jacket Marcus Lavenson wasn't going to be able to wade out far enough to reach the drop-off. I didn't hear but I'll bet he still managed to catch his fair share. Richard Kline was there, as was Tom Donovan, Jeff Locke, Paul Schraeder and Tom McMillan.
Jim, Duwayne, Dougald, Howard, Loren, Chris and me drove to the other side of the lake as we have for the last three years, to fish, pay our respects to the stone mother and to get a close look at the Pyramid with the lake as a backdrop. The fish were few the, trip was great one even counting the flat tire Jim got in his truck. Ever try to change a tire on one of these newer vehicles? YouÕd have been amused if you were a fly on the windshield watching two engineers, a biology professor a truck driver a carpenter, a boat mechanic and a horticulturist, manual in hand changing a flat tire. The job got done but not without a lot of laughs and a beer to celebrate. That was one beer between 7 guys.
Another moment of inspiration for me was Elaine telling her experience south of the nets spotting then casting to then HOOKING! Fish. I put that right up there with the best of the best. Ed Marcillac one of the founding members mentioned that after 31 years he finally, that day landed, weighed and released a Pyramid fish over 10 pounds. If you ask him what and where he will tell you. He is generous with advice and information. Gil Santos introduced his guide and friend Allen Montello from the east Coast to Pyramid cutthroats this year. Allen had a bad cold the entire trip but was rarely fishing. His philosophy was I could be in the cabin miserable or out here miserable. Food for thought.
Betty, who had her worst day catching and largest Pyramid fish to date plus several more nice ones brought determination, raw fishing skills and a quiver of homemade flies to the lake. Look for a picture of that fish in the annual slide show. Speaking of flies if you were at the last general club meeting you heard Denny Rickart say in a patronizing high-pitched voice with sexist overtones "Oh I'll take one of the pretty ones". This was his description of the response a woman would have if he handed her his fly box to select a fly. I couldn't help but think "you poor slob", try that on some of the ladies in this club and you'll get your box back with more flies in it than when you handed it off.
John Steele, Norm and Scott Bedell were present again as a trio for the cutthroats to reckon with. The picture in the roster of the three of them holding nice fish together at the same time speaks for the fishery and the gauntlet the fish have to run when these guys are fishing ladder to ladder.
Dougald e-mailed me an excerpt and I pulled some information out of it I thought was interesting. According to David James Duncan in his book, My Story As Told By Water, Pyramid Lake is 26 miles long, four to ten miles wide and up to 350 feet deep. The largest cutthroat, 41 pounds was taken in 1925. During that same era commercial fishermen were netting 15 tons of fish from the lake each week. In 1906 water that flowed into Pyramid Lake was diverted by Derby Dam, which was built by the Bureau of Reclamation. The water went to the Carson Valley for agriculture and the town of Fallon, Nevada. The negative results were the loss Winnemucca Lake, the reduction of habitat in the Stillwater Marsh, resting place for huge numbers of migrating waterfowl and a 40 foot drop in the level Pyramid Lake which prevented access to spawning grounds in the Truckee River. As a result "some time between late 1940's or early 50's, the last of these lunkers sank to the bottom of the lake and the Primordial Cutthroat strain was extinct." Later fish from Summit Lake, a different strain, were introduced and spawned by the Paiutes. That is what we are fishing now. The largest fish produced from this strain was a 36 inch 23 pound fish.
Over the last 10 years, The Nature Conservancy, with the goal of another 40,000 has purchased 35,000 acre-feet of water from the Truckee and Carson Rivers watershed. Marginal farmlands are being returned to desert and the water that supported them sent to the Stillwater and onto Pyramid Lake. Water flows at Derby dam has been turned over to the Paiutes to benefit downstream fish, riparian vegetation and water quality. Reno and the Paiutes have each put up 12 million dollars to purchase more water rights to benefit Reno and the lake. Things are looking up for the lake and marsh. "The tribe has begun planting Lahontans in the lower Truckee and fish are doing well." Fish and Wildlife is talking of reintroducing Lahontans to the entire watershed. It's nice to hear a good story once in a while.
Jim Otis and Sam Nigh found a new resource for lodging, it seems Crosby's Lodge has brought in smaller trailers for lodging. This is a good time to make reservations for next year but only if you are certain you are going to go. Crosby's Lodge (775) 476-0400. March 2008.
Thanks Jim Hall, for hosting a great fishout once again. Thank you for your generosity providing flies and information especially the secret information. Go ahead ask him, he'll tell you too. Tom Eckert will vouch for that. There are no secrets in this club. The mantra is: bring everyone along as fast as they want to learn. Don't hold anything back. It will only make it better club and who knows you might learn something yourself in the process. So to the new members, participate and learn and have some fun on the way. Apologies to anyone I forgot to mention.

Sure, we went for fishing, but we got so much more. The week began with desert summer heat and the bass moving around enough to allow us a number of hook ups. This ended with a snow storm that was preceded by with wind that closed Highway 395 East that tested our casting. (Do you have a class for this, Walt?)
Doug, Kennette, Bob, Kathy, Betty, Harry, John and I laughed and told stories around the campfire, under a Milky Way-streaked sky. Fickle fishing was poor to excellent and kept us challenged. New fishing regulations now allow fishing Hot Creek year-round and proved to be a real treat, with lots of good fishing despite snowflakes and wind.
The water level in the Lower Owens was perfect and allowed crossing to the other side in many places. Harry and Doug tried some Czech nymphing, but will need to hone their skills a little more. The PVC fly came through again. Kathy proclaimed with delight that this was the best fishing she's had on this particular trip. Betty had another bobbercating clinic for Bob, Kennette and Harry, which produced the largest fish of the trip. Look for the evidence of Harry with fish at the next January slide show.
The last day in the gorge presented some particular fishing challenges. Someone must have screamed the "W" word from the highest mountaintop! John Cook just wants everyone to know that he was really only dry fly fishing and the only reason that he had attached a weighted nymph dropper was to keep the dry fly from being blown off the water surface. Yeah, right!

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