Outdoors with Don Q: Pyramid Lake trout season opens Oct. 1

Pyramid Lake, located about 30 miles north of Sparks, will open on Saturday, Oct. 1 to fishing for Lahontan cutthroat trout.
That large, desert lake (roughly the same surface size as Lake Tahoe) has a three-month trout closure, each year, from July 1 to Sept. 30.
Here is all kinds of interesting information on that lake:

Pre-historic Lake Lahontan:
Pyramid Lake is one of two remaining remnants (the other is Walker Lake near Hawthorne) of a huge pre-historic lake, known as Lake Lahontan, that once stretched across the Great Basin, all the way to the Sierra Nevada of California.
At its peak size some 12,000 years ago, Lake Lahontan had a surface size of more than 8,500 miles.
At that time, its depth was about 900 feet in the area now occupied by Pyramid Lake and approximately 500 feet deep in the Black Rock Desert area of northern Washoe and Humboldt Counties.
During that pre-historic time, it would have been one of the largest lakes in all of North America.

To reach Pyramid Lake by two different ways:
From Carson City, take U.S. 395 north to the “Spaghetti Bowl” interchange in Reno. Take I-80 east to Sparks. Get off I-80 at the Pyramid Way Exit in Sparks. Then, take a combination of Pyramid Way and the Pyramid Highway north for about 30 miles until you reach the lake.

Or, do as I do: From Carson City, take U.S. 395 north to Longley Lane in Reno. Turn right onto Longley Lane and drive to McCarran Boulevard.
Turn right onto McCarran Boulevard and travel all the way around to Pyramid Way in Sparks. Turn right onto Pyramid Way and then take the combination of Pyramid Way and the Pyramid Highway (Nevada S.R. 445) to Pyramid Lake (this part of the trip is about 30-35 miles in length). Then when it is time to return home, just reverse the process.
By taking this route, you avoid all of the high-speed traffic and insane madness of the “Loony Tune Drivers” on the U.S. 395 freeway in Reno.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Reservation: 

You will be on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Reservation, which is thirty five miles northeast of Reno in a remote desert area located in the counties of Washoe, Lyon, and Storey.
The reservation contains 475,000 acres or 742.2 square miles, and out of that acreage, approximately 112,000 acres cover the surface of Pyramid Lake.

Pyramid Lake:
The lake is the terminus of the Truckee River which begins at Lake Tahoe.
Pyramid Lake is one of the most valuable assets of the Tribe and is entirely enclosed within the boundaries of the Reservation. It is approximately 15 miles long, 11 miles wide and measures about 350-400 feet deep at its deepest point.

Tribal permits:

You will need a tribal fishing permit (and a boat permit if fishing from a boat) which can be obtained at a number of different locations.
You do not need a Nevada fishing license or a Nevada Trout Stamp.

Current fishing rules and regulations:
You must fish with artificial flies or lures only.
Barbless hooks only (Fishermen can crimp their barbs back to comply with the regulations).
Fishing is prohibited within 500 feet of all docks.
All land access is now restricted on the entire east side of the lake due to recent problems with graffiti.

Lahontan cutthroat trout:
The limit is two per day: Two fish 17-20 inches in length or one fish 17-20 inches in length and one fish over 24 inches in length.
The length is measured from the tip of the nose to the fork of the tail.
Cutthroat trout that are less than 17 inches in length or between 20-24 inches must be released unharmed. These are known as “Shakers.”
Cutthroat 17-20 inches in length or over 24 inches are known as “Keepers.”

Sacramento Perch:
The limit is 10 per day. Season open year-round.

Cui-ui:
It is a lake sucker found only in Pyramid Lake and nowhere else in the world. You are not permitted to keep any Cui-ui that you catch. They must be released, unharmed, back into the water immediately.

Commercial Fishing Charters:
Eagle Eye Charters at (775) 358-5431.
Cutthroat Charters at (775) 476-0555.
Just Rite Fishing at (775) 575-7850.

Fishing information:
Call any of the above fishing charters or:
Crosby’s Lodge at Sutcliffe at (775) 476-0400.
Pyramid Lake Marina and RV Park at (775) 476-1156.

Special note for boaters:
If your boat is large enough, and ONLY if it is large enough, you can travel across the lake to such locations as “Hell’s Kitchen,” Anderson Bay, the Pyramid, Anahoe Island, etc.
However, be prepared to return to the boat launch IMMEDIATELY if the wind begins to blow. Pyramid Lake is extremely dangerous and life-threatening for boaters when the wind is blowing. Watch the “Pinnacles” at the far north end of the lake, and if you see dust beginning to fly, head for the dock ASAP. Do not delay!

Finally:
If you go to Pyramid Lake on that opening weekend of the 2011-2012 Cutthroat Season, good luck to you, whether you fish from shore, from chest waders, from a float tube, from a canoe or from a boat.
And, if you do catch a very nice “Cutt” be sure to take photos and submit them to www.carsonnow.org for the Outdoors section.

Bet Your Favorite Pigeon
Bet your favorite pigeon that he can’t tell you about the largest Lahontan cutthroat trout ever caught at Pyramid Lake.
If he grins and says, “It weighed an astonishing 41 pounds, it was caught way back in 1925 and it is not only the Pyramid Lake record but also the current world record for a Lahontan cutthroat trout,” he could have been reading the list of Record Fish of Nevada.

— Writer Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now. He can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com.