Patience at Pays off.... Hopefully

    This fall, with severe drought plaguing us in the Sierra Region, I have been left with very few fishing options compared to normal years. I can usually count on fishing the Truckee river, the East Walker, and many small creeks. They are all far to low to risk the fishes health. However, i have on option, that provides and irresistible allure.... 25lbs Cutthroat trout!

     With the amazing emerald jewel just 45 minutes from home, a 27 mile long graveyard for the Truckee river, Pyramid lake currently contains some of the best Trout angling on the entire planet. What makes it so special is the ability to catch large fish, from shore! Casting spoons, or slinging buggers, could easily get you a 10lbs, 15lbs or even a 25lbs cutthroat. Personally, they are not usually the most stunning in beauty, nothing like a fall brown, or spring bow', but sometimes, these cutties can be on fire, and truly beautiful! Its their size, the fight, and the possibility of a 20lbs cutthroat on fire, that draws me to this lake.

    You are probably thinking to yourself, this guy is an idiot for considering fishing anywhere else! why pass up the chance at 36" cutthroat, for 20" Browns on the East walker? Well, its simple really. First, i consider myself a good angler, but not a pro. I can catch fish with the best of them, but I'm not they guy who can go to Pyramid and catch 10+ fish a day slinging buggers. For me, it takes some work. And that often means standing on a ladder for hours, and hours, and oh, a few more hours. Sometimes not getting a tug for 3-4 hours straight. when is 45*, wind gently blowing in your face, and your feet going numb, it can get a little, tiresome!

     But i am hanging in there. My biggest fish of the season is about 24", although i have lost several fish that would have been over 30". Thanksgiving weekend really tested my resolve. On Thanksgiving day, i lost a 10lbs+ fish on my spin cast rod. Friday  i stood from 7am, to 3pm, in wind that reached 60mph gusts.  I watched the blue waters around me become littered with tumble weeds, and a huge dust storm arise at the north end of the lake. But nothing special on my line. On Saturday, i sat in cold winds, and cloudy conditions, from 7am to 430pm. Just as i was getting ready to leave, rain showers arriving, i got the tug. A big one to, probably 15lbs, quickly ripped line from my spool, until my knot broke, and my line fell slack. It was so heartbreaking! Finally on Sunday, i stood in the rain, all day, soaking cold to the bone, slinging flies all day, hoping, hoping, and nothing came. 

     I am hoping all this patience pays off. If i land the 20lbs fish of my dreams, all this will be worth it. But until then, i question my resolve, and once spring arrives, if i haven't landed at least a 10lbs fish, it will be very difficult, with water back in the river, to keep at it! I will be out there this weekend though, search hing for my hog!