Behind most great Pyramid Lake fishermen is a custom made ladder. Pyramid lake is famous for fishing from ladders. Over the last 40 years, Ladder fishing has evolved from its beginnings when anglers would stand on milk crates in deeper water to allow them to wade deeper and cast farther. Pyramid lake is surrounded by…
After weeks of windy weekends, I finally made it to the Racks during a still day. Yesterdays report from Brian and Tim had me “pumped” for the racks. This time of year, the fish are big and fat and ready to spawn. When the racks are good, its non stop action and…
Hoping to get on those stripers in the trench again, I called up Pee Wee to see if he wanted to join me and take a chance on a small window of opportunity. Unfortunately, we only had a hour of somewhat calm before the white caps started rolling in. The fish were in the trench…
The winds of March 2021 have been relentless and it’s been tough to coordinate my off days with the calm windows. Two Days ago, Brian got his PB at the trash racks- an 18 lb beauty. God know he’s put the time in. I think he fishes San Luis and Forebay more than any of…
The winds at San Luis Reservoir and Forebay have been very unpredictable this weekend. I tried to arrange a day of fishing with my old friend Pee Wee Marshal but as it would turn out, there is no such thing as a firm fishing date on San Luis since the winds can build up…
It’s been months since I fished the Lake and I felt very rusty. I had to unlearn some striper habits fishing for big cutthroat trout at Pyramid Lake. Three weeks ago I fished the forebay and I can’t remember the last time I fished the lake. While in Hawaii last week, Brian was texting me…
“Pilots” – the largest growing trout native to North America also known as the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout once thought extinct but resurrected in the last decade. In 1995 a genetic reservoir of the Lahontan Cutthroat was discovered near Pilot Peak Utah. Known as “Pilots”, monster catches in the last couple years point to the unprecedented…
Two years ago at the Pleasanton Fly Fishing Show, I decided to upgrade my float tube. Convinced by Don Cheserek that the ultimate tube was a Dave Scaddon Zonker, I bought one and mounted a Bixby Jet on it to fish Henderson Springs last year which got cancelled. This year’s Henderson Springs trip…
I hope that after I die, a small group of friends might meet every year after my death and have a good time in my memory Two of the group are gone now, 8 remain and all are pushing 80 or more. Sometimes I feel like the historian for this event being the youngest at…
I left the house optimistic that the wind would finally die down so I could fish the Racks. Like last year this month, this is the time when the water starts to warm and big stripers start getting aggressive as they begin to spawn. Full moons, wind currents and warmer water (around 60) makes those…
My memories of the first time I ever fished Pyramid lake are bit fuzzy. It was on a fishout with the San Jose Flycasters around 1973. The 5 hour drive from San Jose made me think that it was on another planet at the time. The stories I had heard about easily catching fish…
I had to look back nearly two years to find out when I last caught a trout. Half the equipment I own is geared towards trout fishing and this last weekend I was ready to start a new love affair with this fish. My cousin Wayne’s invitation, we decided to fish the Yuba…
Friday March 5 2021 – Fishing has definitely picked up on the forebay today. Catching 25 is always better than catching 2. The water temp is up to 59 degrees but the visibility is still about three feet. Last night there was a big moon and the solunar table was pretty pessimistic today. The weather…
Monday February 22, 2021 – After scouting the Forebay on Friday, I was about to cancel Monday with Don on the Forebay. It’s getting hard to catch fish and I had my doubts about being able to catch fish basically blind casting from a chair. But as it turns out, I got out-fished by…
February 19, 2021 – The difference between a really bad day and 21 fish can be the last couple hours of the day as it was today. I remember many “magic hour” sessions on trout streams when the whole day boils down to half an hour of crazy fishing. It felt like that…
Valentines Day – Feb 14, 2021 – I didn’t really massacre the fish today but it was better than Minimum Wage. Just one of those titles that makes you read the post. Fishing from 11:00-4:00, I hooked over 20 fish and landed 18. It was definitely an improvement over my last trip to the…
Sunday Feb 7, 2021 -After a pretty good day Friday on the Forebay and some good report on Saturday from the lake, I decided to go check out the lake to see if its turning on. Tim had a decent minimum wage day at the lake and the water has been reported to be…
Friday Feb 5, 2021 I really enjoyed fishing the forebay today. Today I had the honor and pleasure of fishing around Brian, Vaughn and Dan most of the day. We even cornered some stripers between the boats like we use to years ago. Yesterday Vaughn told me Bryce Tedford was going to be at…
Sunday January 31, 2021 – The last day of January 2021 was a beautiful day. I caught 12 stripers, I fished with Brian, Vaughn and Dan Blanton and met some new fly fishermen. I’ve decided to call a day that I catch only 1 or 2 fish an hour a “minimum wage” day. It was…
Friday Jan 29, 2021 – The seemingly longest week of work always falls after a great day of fishing. This week was especially long with the first big chain of rain storms that drenched the bay area all week. I was aiming at Saturday to get back out but the storms cleared up a…
I’ve been a gear head for most of my fly fishing years, always looking for the better rod or flies, the newest lines, the best boat I could afford and electronics -lots of electronics. The first fish finder I ever owned was a Fish Lo K Tor flasher (the little green box). One of…
Saturday Jan 23, 2021 -For most of the week, it looked like the weather would prevent me from fishing Friday through Monday. It seemed like everyone was fishing the Forebay with some success on my work days this week. Friday was blown out and it looked like rain and wind from Saturday to Monday. The…
Perhaps the most memorable clip of film and music I have ever heard, that brings tears to my eyes everytime I hear it, especially in these dark days, is from Richard Harris at the end of the movie Camelot (1967). Arthur stumbles across a young boy who begs to fight in the “last” battle and become a…
Sunday January 17, 2020 Perhaps the best January Forebay Trip ever, yesterday Ken Oda and I fished O’neill Forebay and found large schools of good fish cruising the shallow depths of the Forebay. I was very excited to have Ken in the boat yesterday. It is not often enough for me after knowing him…
Sunday Jan 10, 2021 – I’m beginning to think that 10 days into 2021, this year is going to be crappier than last year but not so the fishing at O’neill Forebay. I dont remember a past January day on O’Neill Forebay that was as fun as today with my good friend Don. It didn’t…
