"March Madness Turns Into Chironomid Craziness at Pyramid Lake" 4/13/2023
/The spring weather has finally arrived and oh boy has it put these ginormous cutthroat on the chew! The warmer weather has the midges popping throughout the day and the fish have been going absolutely bonkers this week! The cold winter has delayed the tremendous fishing, but now is the time to fish Pyramid Lake! The crowds are here today for Easter weekend as all the rage lately has been focused on Pyramid Lake. With rivers swollen, lakes froze over and high alpine lakes snowed in for months, makes for some tough fishing during the opener in the upcoming weeks. Meanwhile, Pyramid Lake is just heating up and is kicking out some monster cutthroat with multiple fish caught in the 20lb plus range last week. It’s that time of year that has us giddy like little kids, as the schools of large Pilots have been pushing in close in numbers. It’s been downright silly this last week, and we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
As the water temps rise throughout the day, we are starting to see schools of huge cutthroat come in and start roaming the close ledges as they school up in numbers preparing for spawn. Quite often the large schools draw competition among the fish. As would a few ladies amongst a group of teenage boys. For us anglers, competition for our flies is a good thing. More often than not, that feeding frenzy creates the typical seagull saying, “mine, mine, mine”. Therefore at times, creating a race to see who can grab those midges first as they fall through the water column down through the piles of trout. At times it seems as if the bobber just hit the water and it’s already disappearing. Are all days like this? Of course not, it’s still fishing. But the more days one allows themselves, the more opportunities present themselves to line up that one day we all talk about as anglers. Every few years we stumble upon one of those days as an angler IF we spend those countless hours on the water. More time on the water equals more fish.
It’s still that time of year where the middle of the lake is going to produce fish in numbers. Of course one can catch them all over the lake. But the middle is going to be where the majority of the trout are mingling. Like salmon fishing a busy river, there’s generally a reason the people are piled up. If you don’t wanna join the crowds go find a secluded beach, wet a line and enjoy the amazing spring weather that has finally arrived. There’s fish everywhere in this large inland sea, you just have to keep your line wet to catch em.
If you’re going to ask us, this time of year, and the majority of remainder of the season, the bobber is going to remain king! Your flies are always in the zone and you're always fishing. Ditch that leech if it’s under the bobber! That time is long gone. Sure you may catch a random fish here and there, but it’s midge season. Your midge box should look like a bag of skittles. A plethora of colors that you fish and can change with the lighting and weather patterns will have you in the money. Yesterday’s sunny day fly isn’t going to work as well in today’s stormy weather. Think like a fish. Why are they in close to the shore? What’s the water clarity like? What time of year is it? Do they have a reason to be deep or shallow? In order to be fishy, one needs to think like a fish. Sure, we get lucky every once in a while. But time on the water often allows us anglers to grow and develop those fish-like senses. When a person is fishy, it’s because they spend countless hours on the water and often try and think like a fish when they are off the water. Constantly pondering the reasons fish do what they do.
With the chills of fish piling in and the weather warming up, everything is aligning itself to be an epic spring out here at Pyramid Lake. The prolonged winter temperatures have the Lahontans hotter than a hot tamale. This will keep them in close and allows for amazing float tube fishing as we follow the fish into the deeper water once the lake begins to turn back over toward the end of the season.. It’s getting great out here and is only going to get better. Load up the family and friends, pack up the trucks, and come join us out on the water for an amazing spring with bent rods and reel screaming cutthroat! After all, you can’t catch 'em on the couch.