It is getting to be that time of year that ladder fishing in the shallows of Pyramid Lake should be getting very good. Spring is the time of year that skilled anglers can expect to catch quality fish if they put in their time. This year, the amount of time it takes to catch a quality fish, or any fish for that matter, has gone up significantly. Not only have trophy fish been extremely hard to come by in comparison from the last few years, but even the numbers of fish have been down quite a bit.

I drew my first Pyramid skunk in several years back in December. I spent more time rowing my new drift boat on that day than I did seriously fishing, but at the end of the day, I had nothing to show from a lake that usually doles out at least a couple of fish. I kept hearing dismal reports from some of the best anglers on the lake, and finally the reports started getting a bit better in the last week or two. I decided it was time to try again.

I fished on February 25th expecting good things. The weather has been an issue this year, or more to the point the lack of weather. We finally had a little breeze to riffle up the surface a bit, and I figured the bite should be on. Long story short, the wind was a bit more than expected and most of the lake was unfishable. I found ideal conditions behind Pelican Point, complete with a nice mud line for the fish to cruise, but very few takers. I had one short flurry of activity, and hooked a few fish but only landed one. After only 4 hours of fishing, I packed it up and decided it was back to steelhead fishing for me until things pick up.

Despite the slow fishing, there have been some true trophies caught this year, including a 19.5lber in January, and my friend Brad Stout's 17Lber in February. The bottom line is that the fishing is going to catch fire soon. It always is at its best in March and April. The question is how big a fire are we to expect? I would say it is going to be more of controlled burn than a wildfire this year, but there are some super pigs to be had. There will be more reports to come as we are just entering the prime season.