A blustery winter day out at Pyramid

As Bob mentioned in his post on Friday, we were all planning on heading out to Pyramid this weekend for some early "Spring" fishing. That's right. The first day of Spring was Saturday, but you couldn't have guessed that with the snow flurries we've been getting over the last 2 days.

I got out to the lake around 9 am, and decided to hit Indian Head since we've had some decent success there over the last few months. Brandon notified me that gusts were supposed to be up to 50 mph, and that watercraft were not advised. A ladder is far from watercraft though, so I wasn't too worried.

I quickly realized that I had the whole beach to myself, so I setup shop right at the point and began my day. It was cold, and drizzling, with sustained winds around 5 MPH, and early on the swells were between 2 and 3 feet. Perfect fishing weather! Good thing I packed the heavy jacket and gloves.

On my first cast, I hooked into this little guy:

 

I thought it was an absolute monster, but as I got him closer to shore I realized that I foul hooked him on the belly, and was bringing him in sideways.

About 10 minutes later I hooked this one:

 

A little bit larger than the first, and much more aggressive. This one took a Pyramid Beetle with a red estaz underbody.

Over the next three hours, I managed to land 2 more fish and lose another 3. Bob showed up around noon, and managed to lose one on a nymph shortly after he got there. I tried to run out and net it, but it spit the hook before I got there.

We decided to hit Shotdog around 2, where we both managed to lose a few more fish. On my last cast of the day, I did land another 18 - 19 incher, and decided to call it quits. Bob stuck around for a bit longer, and will post his updates later.

All in all, we had 5 fish to hand, and another 5 or 6 that gave us the fisherman's release. Most of my success came on an Olive Bugger with a Black and Red Pyramid Beetle. I also had hits on a Chartreuse Cactus Leech, Black Bugger, Midnight Cowboy, and a White and Chartreuse Beetle. Bob will update you with what he was throwing. Here are a few more fish that I managed to snap some shots of:

 

 

*Bob's Update*
Well, Tom left me out at shot dog and for the next hour and a half I tried to hit the shallower side of the point. I ended up just getting snagged on up rocks and foul hooking myself. When Tom left he took the manageable winds with him so the end of my day was more an exercise in dodging small arms fire / streamers than fishing. That said, the more subtle side of shot dog has allot of rock and makes for more amiable nymphing conditions, but I was trying out some of my new big ugly streamers and getting my hopes up when my strip stopped dead on rocks. Be careful on that side of the point, an intermittent clay bottom will help you find your ass in a heart beat, that's a cold walk back to the rig.
I spent the day trying out a couple different things. For one, the Bellyache minnow that I posted in our previous update. The two fish I hooked up with on streamer took that minnow (Black / Gold) with a Chartreuse/silver crystal bugger. There was some chop on the water when I got out around noon and my hands started numbing up so I took these as my que to soak a nymph stack while I pocketed my hands for a few minutes. Due to general laziness I left my nymph stack on from the last time I hit the Truckee. Skwala stone with a no name midge pattern I've been playing with did the trick. It was a good fish but I got hit with irritable knot syndrome and lost bowels.. fish..

Here's that little midge, click the picture for a better description.