The reason why I did so much editing is because last week I went on a wonderful trip to Nevada. We went to Pyramid Lake which is on the Paiute Reservation about 40 miles northeast of Reno in the high desert. Because it was still winter we hit snow going over Donner Summit Pass before we spent the night in Reno. We had snow in the morning going into Pyramid Lake.
Our first stop was at the Pyramid Lake Store to buy a tribal fishing license and then it was on to the lake.
Pyramid lake is the terminus of the Truckee river that flows out of Lake Tahoe. Because it has no outlet and flows have been cut by irrigation dams the lake is saline. It is about 1/6 the saltiness of the ocean.
The lake is bounded on the west by the Virginia Range
and on the east by the Lake Range
The lake itself is named for a Tufa formation that is Pyramid shaped on the east side of the lake. It was discovered by the first white mountain man John C. Freemont in 1844.
The terrain around the lake is high desert with the wonderful scent of sage in the air. I love that scent!
The lake is home to the Lahontan Cuttthroat a native species which was transplanted here from another Nevada Lake after the native species here died off in the 1940s.
It is also home to many migratory birds and there is even a federal wildlife refuge on Anaho Island where many species of birds nest including one of my favorites the American White Pelican.We only saw six of them but they come by the hundreds in springtime. It is really hard to keep them away when you get a fish on your line!
Upon our arrival we unpacked at our lodgings at the Crosby Lodge in the little town of Sutcliffe. The lodge rents out single wide mobiles for fishermen and others to use. They have fully equipped kitchens and are heated. A plus in the winter time.
Sutcliffe
Crosbys Lodge
After unpacking we got down to the serious business of fishing. Fishing on Pyramid Lake can be done in boats but most of the time it seems to be too rough for that. Besides I don’t own a fishing boat anyway! The majority of fishermen use fishing chairs or step ladders which is what we did. I got my step ladder out and walked out into the lake about fity yards to the edge of a drop off and began fly fishing. Using a step ladder makes it easier to cast farther and it gets you up out of the cold water.
We mostly fished for four days with shooting head flyfishing lines on 8 wt. rods or we indictor fished on 6 wt. rods with floating lines which is a lot like bobber fhing except you use a strike indictor instead of a big bobber. On the really windy days some of us used black maribou jigs on spin casting reels.
Weather wise we had pretty much everything from beautiful sunny days to raging wind and dust.
The sunrises were beautiful and I spent a lot more time doing photography than fishing which is why I only caught six fish during four days of fishing. Most of the fish that we caught were in the 3 or 4 pound range though Joe Benoit caught a 11 and a half pound monster and Dave Patula caught a fish that was well over six pounds.
Each day we would arrive before the sun rose and then fish until lunchtime and we stayed fishing until sunset.
We spent a great time fishing and sometimes just hanging out when the fishing was slow. We even got to see a coyote one day and a Crested Duck as well.
A superb trip in God’s great world! More to come.
God’s tremendous love and blessings to all,
chris
What lovely photos. I loved fishing as both a kid and as an adult. Learned flyfishing in my thirties and was utterly fascinated by it—even though my husband's line belled out so beautifully and mine was up in a tree branch. Bless you, dear Chris.
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