The Lahontan Cutthroat of Pyramid Lake

On Friday, the Vin-Man and I made our first-ever trip to Pyramid Lake. It’s funny that we’ve lived within 3 hours of the place forever, but neither of us had ever made the trip over the hill. Friday’s mission almost didn’t happen — I had a last-minute guide trip cancellation and I made the call to the Vinster at about 9 p.m. Thursday night.

So, a few hours later, off we went — woefully unprepared in terms of tackle and knowledge.

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The BogaGrip for Oakies!

If you’re going to fit in with the “brush oakies” fishing up along the coast, where wild steelhead are loathed as much as squawfish (because you can’t bonk ‘em), don’t even think about leaving home without the most essential piece of equipment…

No, not your 15-foot leaders…

Or your 1-ounce cannon balls.

I’m not talking about that big ol’ box of beads, either (I heard that they’ve really been hitting the purple ones in the morning and then the guys have been switching to a red-over-2 chartreuse combo in the afternoons).

No, silly, the one thing you have to keep on you at all times is the “Oka-Grip,” which is perfect for schlepping around all those dead hatchery steelies. With an Oka-Grip, you’ll find that the forked stick or chain stringer may just be obsolete (perish the thought!).

Order yours today!!! (Gill ripping tool sold separately, operators are standing by)

Awesome!!!!

Okay, so I admit — this has absolutely nothing to do with fishing (though there is a paper fish on the chalkboard in the background if you look closely). It was just one of those things that I randomly stumbled onto that made me laugh until Gatorade was coming out of my nose.

Don’t feel obligated to watch all 9 minutes of this (it gets kinda addictive, though), but you’ve got to check it out — it’s just so rare that one gets the opportunity to watch a 7-year-old kid in Japan doing a cover of Green Day’s epic Jesus of Suburbia. High praise for the song selection — he had the cajones to go with the nearly 10-minute anthem from American Idiot rather than settle for an easy , three-chord, 2 1/2 minute song like When I Come Around!

He’s got Billy Joe down to a T and even has a Marshall amp!!!

Oh yea, be sure to check out the teacher grooving!

The 1-Day Roadie: Salvation for the Soul!

Sometimes, the real world gets just hectic enough that you just have to say F-it all and check out for a day. Go back to the basics like eating junk food, talking about spots and celebrity hotties… and, oh yea, maybe mix in a little fishing, too.

To that end, nothing beats a road trip. Of course, with jobs, family and all the other stuff that keeps us so busy these days, extended roadies are tough to come by. One-dayers, however, are easier to pull off. That’s exactly what trusty side-kick Reilly and I embarked on yesterday.

With most Coastal rivers blown out from the big storms and the majority of stuff close to home either muddy or snowed in, we opted for a little wild trout fishing in the “upper” Lower Sacramento River near Redding. After stocking up on high calorie, low nutritional value snacks, we dumped the Red Rocket in at the Posse Grounds and started hunting trout…

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YAAHOO!!!, Part 2 (Fun with jet boats in Alaska!)

Okay, so finding and posting that picture last night of my jet boat guiding days on small creeks in Southwest Alaska got me all hot & bothered and I had to root around in the archives for more pix. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of film from those days, but I found a few lost pictures. Good times!

The overhanging trees weren’t much of a problem…just something to aim at to give the clients a bit of a rush. It was the fallen ones that were 4/5ths of the way across the creek that created some navigational issues.

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YAAAAHOOOOOO!!!

Ah yes, on a cold, wet wintery night, you sometimes have to reflect on some of the warm, fish-filled days of yore. I just stumbled onto this picture from my guiding days in Alaska. Man, those were some good times — ripping down tiny creeks in a jet boat, sliding around the turns (check out the lean that the guys have going), dodging trees, gravel bars and moose (while holding the camera!). All that after catching a bunch of kings, rainbows and grayling.

Ah, I feel better already!

Road Trip!

Sometimes, just getting to the fishing spot is an adventure in itself! That was definitely the case when I made the 19-hour, nearly 900-mile pilgrimage to Redmond, OR to pick up a new boat. As you might imagine, I got a little bored and started snapping pics of the journey with my camera phone….

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Fish Porn…is it wrong??

Hey, it’s none of my business what goes on between consenting adults. If the fish was a halfpounder, however….

Partial nudity, lots of gore and blood-thirsty vermin….JD’s small screen acting debut!

Watch for me closely…all the way to the end. Blink and you’ll miss it!

Sucker for a Kwikfish!

Here’s a little “bonus” catch from a recent salmon trip…

I’m not exactly sure what this suckerfish was thinking, but I’m guessing that his assault on my pink Kwikfish had something more to do with lust than hunger.

Hey Baby, How YOOOOU Doin’?

Wish I could say that this was an isolated incident, but I have, over the years, proved to be quite a proficient catcher of suckers on salmon and steelhead lures.

I’ve hooked more than a few while flat-lining plugs like Kwikfish and FlatFish for Chinook and several others on Wiggle Warts and Hot Shots intended for sea-run rainbows.

Perhaps the most embarrassing one occurred when, about 15 years ago, I walked up to a lineup of anglers who were all steelhead fishing — and not catching anything. They were all drifting bait, so I busted out a silver Little Cleo and immediately hooked a fish on my first cast.

Well, I guess one maybe should hold off on the trash talking — at least until you’re sure what you have on is actually a steelhead. I’m still not sure why that big orange, rubber-lipped turd with fins smacked that spoon, but he did. You can imagine the ration of grief I incurred when the assembled throng of anglers caught a glimpse of it…

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