Pyramid Lake April 2017

I just returned from a quick trip with a group of friends up to Pyramid Lake outside of Reno. The lake is controlled by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and fishing and camping licenses are purchased through the tribe. The Lake hosts the Pyramid Lake Lahontan cutthroat trout which is thought to be the largest of the cutthroat species. Pyramid Lake did not escape the assortment of issues that has led to a decline of many of the west coast fisheries and the native cutthroats were wiped out decades ago. Cutthroats were then hatchery raised and stocked into the lake to revive the fishery. The strain of the stocked cutthroats was different from the original giant Pyramid Lake Lahontans and they never achieved the record sizes of the original fish. Then a biologist studying a small stream hundreds of miles away on the Nevada/Utah border discovered some fish with the same DNA as the original native Lahontan cutthroats. This strain was introduced back into the lake in 2006 and the giant cutthroats of old have returned creating a world class fishery for these fish. Here is an example of a slightly bigger than average Lahonton cutthroat:

Fishing is done either from the shore or by boat. Fishing from the shore is done by placing ladders in the water so fisherman can stand up out of the water which makes it a little warmer and also allows for increased casting distance with a fly rod.

Camping by permit is allowed in a variety of spots on the lake as long as the general area is open. If you are looking for solitude, forget this place. It’s mobbed with fisherman and RV’s. However the pop up campers have the usual advantage of getting into places that the bigger RV’s cannot go. But that won’t get you solitude if your camping near the fishing spots on Pyramid Lake. One night I had my camp spot basically to myself, but the next night some kids pulled up about 2 am and apparently decided it was too much of a hassle to go to sleep. They were not rowdy and they had every right to be next to me, but they liked to talk…and talk......for hours. But all in all it was a nice site for the most part.

There are some pretty cool rock formations around the lake with the most famous being the pyramid rock which can be seen in the first photo of the truck above. It's across the lake and cannot be accessed by anyone other than tribal members.

The bottom line is that Pyramid Lake is fun place to head up to with friends for a few days of really good fishing. I'll do it once or twice a year but now I'll start planning for some trips with a little more solitude.