Fishing Tips, Heritage Trout Challenge

Heritage Trout Challenge: Through The Coast and Mountains

by Matt

In 2018 I completed my first California Heritage Trout challenge. This journey was by far one of the most memorable fly fishing experiences. I encourage all fly anglers in California to take the challenge and experience it for yourself. Not only do you get the feeling of accomplishment as an angler you also get an amazing printed certificate and an awesome old man hat.

My first heritage trout challenge was completed with:

Coastal Rainbow Trout
Coastal Cutthroat Trout
Lahontan Cutthroat Trout
Goose Lake Redband Trout
McCloud River Redband Trout
Warner Lakes Redband Trout

Time: Time is perhaps everything when it comes to the trout challenge. You need it in order to start and finish. The majority of the trout species that qualify live hundreds of miles away from most urban areas meaning hours either driving, hiking, or perhaps both. Most of the qualifying species are open to angling all year round however be sure to always check regulations before heading out.

Summer is your best bet to attempt fishing for the heritage trout. Depending on the amount of snowpack within the year the seasonal runoff will usually run from May to June leaving the rest of the summer and early fall open to exploring. Drought years can be difficult due to lower than average flows therefore going earlier may be better than later.

Planning: The planning is probably half the fun of the heritage trout challenge. Not only is it good to know where you’ll be going but it can also be fun to learn more about the species you will be pursing.

Heritage trout are found in watersheds which means they can be found in more than one stream within a system. Having more than one stream on your list can go a long way if you are unable to find the fish you are looking for.

Pack for the long haul as you never know if you’ll need to stay a few extra hours or even an extra day to find the either the right or perfect fish. Having the right amount of snacks and other necessities can go a long way.

Resources: Here are a few sites and resources that I found invaluable to my first heritage trout challenge success.
DFG Heritage Trout Challenge -By definition the origin for all things California Heritage Trout. There is a great Angler’s Guide to the Heritage Trout Challenge PDF that gives you a bit of history for each trout and locations of where to find them.
Fly Fishing the Sierra – A great website for general information of different creeks and streams throughout the Sierras and Northern California.

Fishing Tips, Pyramid Lake

Pyramid Lake Fishing Access Map

by Matt

Pyramid Lake is a remnant of an ancient lake that covered the majority of northwest Nevada during the Pleistocene/ice age era. Pyramid Lake covers over 120,340 acres and is one the largest natural bodies of water in Nevada. The lake is home to the world’s largest cutthroat trout the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout. This particular species of cutthroat trout spent thousands of years evolving into the most dominant predator of the Pyramid-Tahoe-Truckee River system. Unfortunately due to over fishing, damming, and the introduction of other species, the original strain of these fish were nearly declared extinct until recent rediscovery of the strain near the Utah-Nevada border. This strain of Lahontan’s that evolved in the lake today are called the Pilot Peak strain. The Pilot Peak cutthroats grow at an astonishing rate and reached over 20 pounds putting this fishery on the map as one of the greatest in the world.

Pyramid Lake is a large lake that is has many beaches and points where anglers gamble to try and catch the fish-of-a-lifetime.

I’ve created a Google map to show different beaches and points of interest. I used GPSnauticalcharts to mark the depths on beaches. I self calculated the distance between the shore and 4′ of depth (average water an angler would fish in with a ladder) to identify a rough average fishing depth. The longer the distance to get to 4′ the shallower, the shorter the distance to get to 4′ the deeper. Clicking on the marked colored areas will show the fishing depth.

Light Blue = Shallow with an average fishing depth of 6-9′.
Dark Blue = Moderate with an average fishing depth of 6-12′.
Purple = Deep with an average fishing depth of +15′.

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