Lahontan Time 2-04 to 2-06

[Bduck]

My son Josh and one of his fishing buddies Levi decided to beat out the storm Monday afternoon hitting Calif getting over Donner Summit before chain controls take effect. Anybody that knows the Summit like I do is no place to be when a winter storm hits. I have rerouted to Lake Tahoe from Truckee when I-80 Donner Summit closed due to heavy storms & accidents.
Josh & Levi got on the water that next morning Tuesday starting out with a light wind. The storm that was looming over the Sierras was approaching which started churning swells. That day ended in a bust before they could get started. They knew to stay close to the launch facility for a fast exit. Wednesday morning, they launched with some chop on the water, winds settled down as morning progressed. It didn't take long for the Lahontan's come to play. They caught some really beautiful looking cutts. Here is some pics he supplied. I wouldn't mind if Utah would intro these brutes to some of our waters.

     

       Josh 6.3lb                      Levi 7.2lb                  18.8lb                        12.8lb




 

[TubeDude]

Great fish, for sure.  But they do not automatically prosper and grow to great size wherever they are planted.  The cutts in Pyramid Lake these days are not from the original population.  Those fish all died out as a result of over harvest and water problems...which the tribe ultimately got fixed.  The current population of cutts are descendants from a rare pure strain Lahontan habitat in the high mountains of far eastern Nevada.  And in those waters the fish rarely got into the teen-inch category.  But several generations of living in the favorable ecology of the newly regulated Pyramid Lake allowed them to grow into their genetic potential.   It has been estimated that they would grow to about the same sizes as our Bonny cutts in the same waters.

When I lived in Sacramento...mid 1970's...Pyramid was a fave winter water.  And I caught Lahontans up to almost 20 pounds...on big articulated black bou-flies.  Broke my heart to read of the decline of the lake and the Lahontans after I moved away.  Happy to see it coming back so well.  BFTer GSP  has made a few successful trips over there in years past.  Really quite a neat fishery.  And some good videos on YouTube.  YouTube Videos

[joshomaru]

Man those are some awesome looking fish.
I can't open the bigger pics from the thumbnails, though.
Are they trolling for them or casting?

[Mildog]

Tube Dude you are mostly correct. There actually is still a remnant population of “native” strain lahanton strain that was just hanging on in the Lake ( don’t hold me to that terminology) that is coming back due to some improvements in the river that supplies water. They are also coming back due to recovery efforts. So there are two distinct populstions.  The big rejuvenation in the lake is in great part due to the discovery of lahontan strain that were “discovered” in an isolated stream in the mountains near Utah Nevada border . Thanks to a dedicated Utah biologist (now retired) and Nevada property owner that co-operated in a project to recover the native strain after failed attempts by federal fish and wildlife. There is an interesting video about the whole story! Great success story for sure. A buddy of mine used to go there most every year. Here are a couple pics of fish he caught and released . If I remember correctly his largest catch was 24 lbs? 




 from 2016.

To follow up on what Pat said when first “rediscovered” they attempted to get eggs and milt to reproduce them, they were too small due to the limitations of the small stream they lived in and efforts by Fed F&W failed. The Utah biologist had an idea, he talked with the landowner who had a small pond on his property, and asked him if he would allow some of the stream fish to be put into his pond to see if they could grow to larger mature fish. The added room and increased food of the new environment they were put into worked!!, the fish grew to a much larger size and maturity quite nicely. At that point egg and milt harvest was successful and that’s how the restoration/recovery could begin.
Here’s a link to Pyramid Story Adam Eakle did that tied into story that Doug Miller did about the recovery effort spearheaded by Bruce Nielsen he doesn’t get recognized as much as he should for what he did. Also big shout out to the property owner who co-operated in this great effort!

https://youtu.be/XCf01u-GmxU

[TubeDude]

Thanks for the added info. HERE IS A LINK   to an article with more of the history.  Also, a pic from the past.  I used to have an old black and white pic of a wagon load of those cutts that were caught for commercial sale.  Some were huge.  And I think the record is somewhere around 40#.

[2knots]

Great report Roger, glad to see Josh and his buddy getting some of those pigs. Fished it many winters when I lived over in Cali but it was before the “new” stock had taken a hold in the lake. Yes I would like to see some of those brutes in the lakes around here also

[Mildog]

Thanks Pat Tubedude! More good info. Here’s another link to
A little more about Lahontan in Utah and the role in getting them back into Pyramid Lake!
A great fish story for sure! I hope to make a trip back to fish it with my buddy, who knows how to do it in the next year or so . I fished it once in 1975 as a “kid” got skunked, I saw a guy catch a 6lber that trip. Now I would love to touch one of those double digit monsters!
https://www.utahcutthroatslam.org/other-...t-in-utah/

[Bduck]

Man those are some awesome looking fish. 
I can't open the bigger pics from the thumbnails, though.
Are they trolling for them or casting?

I have fished Pyramid a few times finding hard times when I used to live in Sacramento back in the 80s occasionally but once hooked up it was a blast. My son has a 18' Duckworth and was trolling. You can also bank fish bringing a tall ladder and wear a pair of chest waders to fish in deeper water. This is an Indian reservation where you have to comply with reservation licenses for fishing & boat only. A state license will not be honored. The history previously posted I have read upon in the past. When I fish Bear Lake, I have thoughts of its similarity to Pyramid. Both lakes are very large natural water bodies with Pyramid being the largest, in my mind they are like sisters. I'm still support the idea of Lahontan Cutts in some lakes here.

[joshomaru]

Milldog, I have heard your friend's stories about Pyramid, too! He is amazed how people get in certain mindsets about tactics for those fish and seem to get stuck in them without exploring different methods. That dude is a lot of fun to fish with; he has the energy of an Excitable Boy (to quote Warren Zevon).

Bduck: Thanks again for sharing. They really are remarkable fish. I would love to see them in some waters here, too.

[Mildog]

Yes, I see many who do the exact same thing I saw there when I fished it in 1975, it works for sure
But so many options and other techniques to try! I’m hoping maybe a trip this year or next to try it again!
Good to hear from you Joshomaru. Hope all is good for you!
Pyramid is a neat lake and a great success story on the turnaround of the lahontan cutts!

[wormandbobber]

In response to a TU article a few years ago, my father wrote a letter to try and give the proper credit of the Lahontans discovery. Here is a copy of that letter: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dHik...ail_thread

In the letter he states: "Bryce Nielson, also a Utah biologist, played another important role in this story. He followed up on Kent’s discovery, gained approvals, and moved a few trout from Pilot Peak to a nearby Utah ranch pond. None of the trout in this small stream exceeded about 10 inches, but once in the pond they grew dramatically to over 32 inches and 14 pounds in a relatively short time." This is a great example of the differences between indeterminate and determinate growth. It shows that fish growth is more of a product of environment rather than genetics and is very plastic according to environmental factors.

[BoatBallast]

Just curious, what is the draw to go to Pyramid in February?

[Bduck]

From June 30 to Oct 1 fishing for Lahontans is closed

[Mildog]

In response to a TU article a few years ago, my father wrote a letter to try and give the proper credit of the Lahontans discovery. Here is a copy of that letter: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dHik...ail_thread

In the letter he states: "Bryce Nielson, also a Utah biologist, played another important role in this story.  He followed up on Kent’s discovery, gained approvals, and moved a few trout from Pilot Peak to a nearby Utah ranch pond.  None of the trout in this small stream exceeded about 10 inches, but once in the pond they grew dramatically to over 32 inches and 14 pounds in a relatively short time." This is a great example of the differences between indeterminate and determinate growth. It shows that fish growth is more of a product of environment rather than genetics and is very plastic according to environmental factors.

** worm and bobber That’s a great letter. Thanks for sharing that! I’ve always felt that Bryce deserved more credit for his actions and efforts in the recovery effort. It seems so many other get credit. If not for Bryce efforts they may not have had success.

[BoatBallast]

From June 30 to Oct 1 fishing for Lahontans is closed

I've heard that.  I'm just wondering why I see people headed to Pyramid in February and March, specifically?  It seems like the weather would be better in May/June and October than February/March.

Are the fish closer in now?  Seems like most of the guys I see are fly fishing and might have trouble hitting deeper water.  But in a boat, that's not really an issue.

[Mildog]

I think much of the draw is the lahontan spawn brings the fish in shallower where the wade and “ladder” mostly fly anglers have better access to fish as they cruise in the shallower areas. The spawn period is considered to be December through May. There are winter and spring run spawning activity. The Feb through March is popular I think because weather is not as severe and the spawn activity starting allows easier access to the big fish especially for Anglers without boats. Fishing activity sure picks up in Feb and March. That’s my best guess.

[Bduck]

The last time I fished Pyramid was late Oct 2010 and my son also likes that time of year. He does 2 trips starting in Oct and in winter. The weather at any time can change, it’s not a matter if better thru the time of open season. I’ve been in that part of the country numerous times in bad weather. During the summer months if not the wind, it’s the power squadron. ?

[BoatBallast]

Ok, good to know. Congrats on a great trip Bduck!

[Bduck]

Ok, good to know.  Congrats on a great trip Bduck!

Thanks, I wish I could take credit for the trip; I'll pass on the congrats to my son.

[BearLakeFishGuy]

I had the wonderful opportunity to work with both Kent Summers and Bryce Nielson on the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout Project on the Pilot Mountains when I first started with the UDWR back in 1992. We also were part of the feature that Doug Miller did with the landowner (who is a friend of mine to this day). It was a magical time and great project. If you go back to the Doug Miller shows, you will see me in those videos, complete with no gray hair and sporting a mullet). However, we often got asked, "Why doesn't Utah (UDWR) plant the Lahontan Cutthroat in a water in Utah?". The answer is disease. The Pilot Peak stream and Lahontans have at least one disease (it was either whirling disease and/or BKD (bacterial kidney disease), and therefore, it was not possible (against the Dept. of Agriculture laws) to take any eggs and/or Lahontans and move them within Utah since it was simply against the law. Additionally, the Lahontan Cutthroat are not in their native basin here in Utah, so that presented an additional question to the USFWS in allowing it. But the disease issue shut it down before we could get that far. (note: Bear Lake cutthroat trout in Strawberry are not in their native basin either) (second note: Utah's fish disease status is far more conservative than Nevada, or even Idaho for that matter), so they continued to bring Lahontan eggs into both the Nevada state and federal hatchery systems).