Pyramid Lake Cutthroat Slam
After reading an article by Dennis Isbister titled “Trout Royal Slam” my brain went into overdrive so I called my buddies and stated an idea for a Pyramid 10 pound slam. We talked it over and excitement grew as well as the task. We are not looking for different species but for different techniques 8 to be exact. In our minds that would set an angler in a class all their own.
So you ask what is the challenge? We laid the Gauntlet down on this one! The angler needs to pull 10 pound cutthroat with 8 different styles of fishing. Here is how it lays out you need four from the boat one from downrigger trolling, trolling with out a downrigger, vertical jigging, and casting from the boat. Now for the shore you must get one marabou jigging, casting hardware (spoons, flat fish, stick bait etc.), fly rod stripping and lastly fly rod indicating.
We know from Facebook and Crosby’s Lodge there are specialist that know how to pull good fish consistently but very few have mastered all the above techniques. Note there are a few, including my friend Brad who sealed the deal last year. Now keep in mind there is no committee or judge you do not receive a hat pin nor sticker you and your buddies are the only ones who will know that you made the grade. It is up to you to take accurate weights to claim the prize which is self satisfaction of achieving the goal. I mean who wants to stare at a 9 1/2 pound fish on the wall for the rest of your life telling everyone it is a 10 pound over, you know yourself you did not achieve your goal but anglers true to themselves and the sport will do it right.
Brad with a 20 pound cutthroat
Now it is not really the challenge we do it for it is all the experiences we encounter getting there so I will share with you my adventures, note I am only half way there but it has been a blast getting this far and can’t wait to see what the next four adventures bring. Picture a trip where you are out with two good buddies and the mission is to bounce around the lake jigging for cutts, here we are three guys with rods in hand (no lures in the water) moving at about 2.5 mph as soon as we see a fish on the sonar we stop the boat,drop our jigs and race each other to the fish catch it and move to the next. The entire time this is going on trollers are passing by looking at us like we are crazy and we are but very productive. The funniest part of the whole trip is listening to your buddies and yourself curse and laugh when you miss a fish. Jigging can be very productive and fun when there is a good jig bite it almost feels like you are doing something illegal what a thrill.
Author with a jig bite cutthroat
Brad and I got together for a week end trip we hooked up his camping trailer and my boat, now we get to fish this lake quit often but usually pull off the water right at dark not getting that last hour in so that was the intent for this trip. We fished all day checking out new areas and ended up near the boat ramp pushing dark, that is when the phenomenon took place the lake glassed off and Tui Chub started boiling all over the bay Brad and I looked at each other with frantic on our faces knowing it would not last long we rigged up stick baits and began speed trolling swerving around the boils Brad hooks up and lands a good Cutt we release the fish and I hit the gas to get our gear back in as fast as we can at this point we are doing 7 mph I just reached down to slow the boat when Brads rod nearly gets yanked out of his hands crazy he lands another good Cutt by the time we CPR the fish the bay went flat game over we rode around revealing in what we just discovered hopefully you will get the chance to see such a spectacular site as Brad and I continue to look for these type of evenings realizing they are few and far between.
Adventure not done yet we load the boat and head to Crosby’s Lodge met up with some friends explained the phenomenon so later that night we met a new angler who went by the handle of “Stick Man” who would appear to be a true angler as every word from his mouth was stretched a little, my favorite stretch was how his 16′ boat could do 45 mph! As the night wore on the crew told Stick Man how Brad and I like to troll at 7 mph sounds like a stretch but was true in this instance so Stick Man asks Brad “what do you troll at that speed” now here is the real stretch Brad explains “We troll Kwik Fish top lined 300 foot behind the boat making the lure swing in a big circle going 40′ below the surface and back up to 40′ above the surface.” Now everyone is looking in astonishment as Brad continues “We even hook a bird now and again with this method” As beer flies out of the nose of one of the crew the rest of us hit the deck laughing with Stick Man standing there trying to visualize. These are the times you can not replace so Brad and I get up the next morning (Mid) to see a small craft gas it from the dock this boat hit plane instantly and shot like a rocket we looked at each other laughed and said “Stick Man”.
Stickman
Next adventure Brad, Todd and I realized that fish are surfacing around the boat so we stop the troll Todd goes to vertical jigging as Brad and I proceed to cast at them, I’m on the nose of the boat when I hook an 8 lb fish we are all so amp’d up that no one would net my fish they just kept at it laughing the whole time I finally got the fish close enough to touch my barbless jig and pop it out of the fish’s mouth thinking so this is how it’s going to be! Brad proceeds to pull a good fish out of the school but can’t get the fish to commit with each cast he draws the fish closer and closer after the third time the fish chases the lure to the boat without hitting, I smiled and realized I had pay back for not netting my fish so I flung my rig out and he snapped it up. It wasn’t the thrill of landing a 10 pound cutt casting from the boat but the excitement raining over the boat and the look of disbelief on Brad’s face saying “You poached my fish!” “I was working that fish and you poached it from me.” ” that should be illegal ” That is a story we will never forget and continue to laugh about thou each time we tell it I still see that look of disbelief on Brad’s face it will haunt me in a funny way forever. Months later I told Brad I did not have a picture of that 10 pound fish to go with the others he smiled and said he did after he waved the carrot for a while he gave in and shared the picture can’t beat good buddies!
Author with a Stolen Cutt
The next two stories are my favorite as they are about watching your friends get their fish. First from the boat my friend Todd and I took a little vacay from work and hit the season opener we had a great trip and produced a lot of good fish the first two days on into the third around noon Todd’s rod loaded so I cleared the boat and asked if it was a good one “oh yeah” the speechless look on his face told it all as I netted and he weighed the fish we all look for a 20 pound cutthroat and what ended up as being big fish of the first week. Later that day he had the same look on his face when the wind blew his hat off of his head and we lost it, I said no big deal I have a new hat in the truck when Todd finally spoke he said “my hat pin was in that one” ugh! Crosby’s was kind enough to extended him another.
Todd’s monster cutt . largest for opening week 2014
The last adventure I spent by myself it was an evening fish last year I went to a favorite shore spot with only two hours of daylight left, with not much time I left all gear in the truck no net, ice chest, camera nothing just my rod. Off in the distance I noticed a couple fly fishing. It was pretty cool watching silhouettes cast a fly, I was throwing marabou and the wind was blowing out of the north with 2 foot waves I would catch the calm and wade out and cast and back up to miss the soaking, on my third cast I hooked up! It ran me all over and a couple of times I brought it right to my chest realizing it’s a good fish I relaxed and began to laugh as I had no one around to help I finally landed it and realized I had my 10 over on marabou, knowing there was not a soul around to see, I just laughed it off and knew my soul is the only one that needs to see and my good friends will know I did because I said I did.
Now I grew up in the woods so the desert scene was not really my bag until I met Pyramid Lake. Probably my favorite time is when the sun sets while I’m setting on the boat watching all the monuments light up as the land around them turns black, but there is also early morning on the beach watching the skylight just before the sun rises knowing you’re going to get a good fish! I sure hope you have the opportunity to enjoy this lake in several different ways whether it’s you and a few buddies in a boat or a whole row of new buddies you just met on the shore, you can try this slam, create your own or just catch a fish set your own goals and enjoy every minute you achieve them.
