As we got him closer and finally netted him , we could see why – he was 31 inches long and weighed 10 lbs . 8 oz . – too big for the pelican to swallow !!

I have never experienced trout fishing like this ! I have a “ clicker counter ” hanging at the side of the boat , otherwise , we would never have had an accurate count of how many fish we caught !

There have been a few times when we got into a very hot kokanee bite , but never with fish that were averaging over 4 pounds ! In 2 days , John and I landed 145 Lahontan cutthroat , and released all of them !

John got the largest fish at 10 lbs . 8 oz . on the digital scale . We also landed four trout over 9 pounds and seven over 8 pounds ! We didn ’ t bother to weigh all the 5 , 6 , and 7 pounders ! Mark and Gary had very similar results , but without the counter it was easy to lose track of exactly how many they caught .

The amazing thing to me was these fish were in 40 feet of water , with a surface temp of 72 degrees ! We couldn ’ t figure out why they were there and so active . We didn ’ t see any big bait balls , and none of the fish we released coughed up any minnows or anything . The cutthroat were acting like sharks ! You could see them on the Lowrance graph actively swimming from the bottom to the surface , all over the place ! I had Vance ’ s cannonball flashers on my downrigger from when we were fishing deep , and when I hooked a fish I would bring the cannonball to the surface .

Many times , I would look over at the flashers swimming 6 inches under the surface , and only about 2 feet from the prop on the Evinrude kicker motor and saw bright streaks of trout zooming back and forth looking at the flashers !

It didn ’ t really matter what lure you had on your line . Our best lures were the chartreuse / orange and watermelon colored

4-inch Silver Horde spoons , “ Canberra Killer ” Tasmanian Devils , red dot frog Lyman ’ s , and 4 inch chartreuse / red dot Apexes . We were trolling about 2.5 mph and the trout were hitting like a freight train ! We caught fish from 40 feet to 17 feet deep , all in pretty shallow water .

Last year , we fished in late June and had a great

Fish Sniffer publisher Paul Kneeland and Rackerby with a fat cutthroat that slammed a Silver Horde spoon . Photo courtesy of JOHN BRASSFIELD , Auburn .

day , landing about 40 cutthroat averaging about 2 ½ pounds . This year there were more trout , and the average size was a good two pounds larger !

I can ’ t wait till Pyramid Lake opens again in October . I am sure the fishing will be fantastic again , and the trout will probably be bigger than last year ! The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe has been doing an excellent job of taking care of this fishery . It is one of the few fisheries in our area that is actually getting better each year !

For more information about the fishing at Pyramid Lake , go to www . pyramidlakefisheries . org /.

Check out Crosby Lodge there in Sutcliffe . They have an excellent selection of lures for Pyramid Lake , and their prices are lower than many retailers . They also offer lodging at the lake , as well as a fun bar and restaurant . Call them at ( 775 ) 476-0400 or see them at www . crosbylodge . net

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