Pyramid Lake

Pyramid Lake fills a desert basin about 35 miles northeast of Reno, the end of the Truckee River and a remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan. It is about 27 miles long and over 300 feet deep, and the whole lake lies within the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation. The tribe runs the fishery and its hatcheries, and every angler needs a tribal permit, not a Nevada license. The fish are Lahontan cutthroat, including the Pilot Peak strain, and they grow larger here than anywhere else: fish of 10 pounds are caught every season, and the old record weighed 41.

The trout season runs from October 1 through June 30, and the best of it comes from November through April, when the cutthroat cruise close to shore. The local method is to stand on a stepladder in the water off one of the west-shore beaches and cast a sinking or shooting-head line, stripping a woolly bugger or a leech, or to hang a midge or foam beetle under an indicator. Fishing is slow hours of casting broken by the chance of a very large fish. The wind can rise fast and turn the lake dangerous for small boats, and the water is cold through the winter, so waders and layers matter. Only barbless hooks are allowed, and no bait.