Eagles, Pyramids, and Craters

[Devan S.]

@Prifish and I managed to pull off a short notice run to Reno, NV. We had 2 primary goals: Eagle lake rainbows and Lahontan Cuthroats at Pyramid lake. We hoped for a couple side species but really only wanted the 2 species. The weather forecast looked great for fishing but not for catching. 50/60s for highs and lows right at 30 mostly sunny and light winds.

The itinerary was to fly in mid-day Friday and then run 2 hours to Eagle Lake. I had some intel where fish were at and catchable from bank. We fished hard from noon until dark and only had one bite. We really hoped to catch our Eagle Lake fish day one but knew we had additional days if needed.

Day 2 was guided at Pyramid. We fished hard and did a lot of bobber watching and caught 2 cutts, biggest fish was 3lbs and fished sun up to sun down nonstop. I did not get a picture of the bigger fish. It slipped from my hands and right out of the float tube. 

[BilletHead]

8 minutes ago, Devan S. said:

@Prifish and I managed to pull off a short notice run to Reno, NV. We had 2 primary goals: Eagle lake rainbows and Lahontan Cuthroats at Pyramid lake. We hoped for a couple side species but really only wanted the 2 species. The weather forecast looked great for fishing but not for catching. 50/60s for highs and lows right at 30 mostly sunny and light winds.

The itinerary was to fly in mid-day Friday and then run 2 hours to Eagle Lake. I had some intel where fish were at and catchable from bank. We fished hard from noon until dark and only had one bite. We really hoped to catch our Eagle Lake fish day one but knew we had additional days if needed.

Day 2 was guided at Pyramid. We fished hard and did a lot of bobber watching and caught 2 cutts, biggest fish was 3lbs and fished sun up to sun down nonstop. I did not get a picture of the bigger fish. It slipped from my hands and right out of the float tube. 

                Congrats Devan on your two more quarries. Well done man. We caught our Lahontan's in a stream. Would like to fish that lake someday. 

[Devan S.]

Day 3- back to Eagle Lake for what seems like round 7 or 8. We started early but there was already a lot of people fishing from the bank. Right off the bat I hooked up using a roaring river special under a bobber. I had a knot failure as I was bringing the fish in that ended the fight. Shortly there after I broke off another on a hook set. @Prifish then catches a nice Eagle lake rainbow. 

We commited to bailing Eagle Lake by 9:30am. We wanted to get @Prifish his pryamid lake fish. I had been told of another lake(crater lake,ca) within the Eagle Lake rainbow distribution map. Rumor has that it counts for WNTI but not for the California Heritage Challenge. A nice little lake with eager fish.

 

[Devan S.]

5 minutes ago, BilletHead said:

                Congrats Devan on your two more quarries. Well done man. We caught our Lahontan's in a stream. Would like to fish that lake someday. 

Unfortunately I don't feel great about checking the boxes the way we did. I feel like I got by Eagle Lake with a technicality and feel like Pyramid lake did not live up. We're really thinking stream Lahontans are going to be an itch to scratch.

[Devan S.]

After Crater lake, we raced back to fish Pyramid before dark. Again nothing. We had 6 hours this morning to fish again. @Prifish had one hookup but the lead to braid knot I tied came loose so he lost his one good shot at Pyramid lake.

Overall we had 3 bites at Eagle Lake and landed 1. 3 bites at Pyramid and landed 2.  We fished the better part of 25-27 hours. We think the great weather and bluebird skies hurt us. It was a grind and we're both pretty bummed.

I've technically finished Nevada and Northern California but not overly excited about the picture of my Pyramid lake fish or my crater lake fish.

@Prifish still needs a Lahontan Cut and a Nevada fish.

 

[BilletHead]

You can get that lahontan in Nevada streams I should be able to look that up sometime. If I can find my paperwork for our Western challenge it has the creek name on it.