I forgot (forgot means I was watching football and didn’t feel like it) to post an episode from my wildly popular Building the Otter series. So this week you get two. See, I got your back! Anyway, enjoy!
Click here and scroll down to find Building the Otter – Parts II and III
Warning: The Superbowl is next week so don’t hold your breath.
Filed under: Building the Otter | Tagged: boat building, China Syndrome, D4 Dingy, epoxy, Otter | Leave a Comment »
One of the quirks of fishing for the world famous Lahontan cutthroats at Pyramid Lake is the ladder. Why the heck do you use a ladder, you might ask? Well, Pyramid has a series of drop offs, usually easily seen from shore as a distinct change in the tint of the water from greenish-brown to deep blue. Most of the year, the trout hang out near this drop off, ambushing food in the shallow water then returning to the relative safety of the depths. Now Pyramid is cold most of the fishing season and standing in chest high water to be able to reach the drop offs with your cast, especially when fly fishing, sucks. So you get a ladder and get out of the water, at least mostly out of the water anyway. This has a two fold effect for fly fishers. Not only do you stay warmer and dryer, but you can more easily keep you back-casts out of the water.
My Pyramid Ladder Setup
Now, you will see a lot of ladders out there. Some guys even rig them for sitting and a couple of outfits sell specialized ladders with chairs attached. I’m not that fancy. Above is my ladder. Its a Werner and can hold 250 pounds (actually, I prove it can hold more). I did a lot of shopping and this ladder has some features I really like.
First, it has wide steps. Try standing on a standard ladder with those narrow steps all day. Ugh! Second, it has a an even bigger top step, so if I really want to go deep I have a big stable platform to stand, though I usually stand on the middle step sometimes with one foot or the other resting on the top step. Third, the work platform is a great place to put that little stripping basket on. I can cast further without the drag of the water on my fly line. Last is a great little device made for hanging drills and such from the work platform. Basically a bungee with a ball attached that hangs from a slot in the work platform. I slipped it over the handle of my net and its secure and handy.
I drilled holes in the feet to make sure the water gets out of the uprights. We don’t want those rusting! I also plan to permanently mount the stripping basket and add some kind of fingers inside to help prevent tangling (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, look here). I also have an idea to make a bigger base to keep it from sinking to the first step into the sand. That will allow me to go deeper and still remain warm and dry. I would also love to add a R-A-M mount for my camera, so I can take pictures of myself holding fish and a cigar holder.
If you have a great Pyramid ladder leave a comment with a link to a picture, or send me the info and picture and I will post it.
Filed under: Tackle and Gear | Tagged: drop off, Fly Fish Nevada, ladder, Pyramid Lake, stripping basket | Leave a Comment »
I have decided to discontinue the dual postings in both a regular post and the dedicated page for the Otter. I will just post notices that a new episode was posted with a link.
Click here and scroll down to find Building the Otter – Part I
See, wasn’t that easier? Well, it was for me and that’s what counts!
Filed under: Building the Otter | Tagged: boat building, D4 Dingy, Otter | Leave a Comment »
As promised, I fished Pyramid lake on January 15th. I took my youngest son, Owen, his first trip to Pyramid! My oldest son, Hank, went skiing. Whatever! Anyway, Owen had a little bit of beginners luck. We fished from about 11:00 am to about 3:00 pm. We started at Wino, one of my favorite beaches. I was using the fly rod, Owen was throwing metal.
Owen Waiting for the Big One!
We fished Wino until about 1:00 pm and then decided to leave. Neither of us got so much as a bump and we didn’t see the any of the other fishermen nearby get anything either. This wasn’t a good sign.
Anaho Island from Wino Beach
We headed north and almost stopped at a few beaches, but then I decided to see what the Nets looked like. I usually avoid the Nets because of the crowds, but the south Nets wasn’t bad. We parked, grabbed some lunch and hit the water, ladders in tow. While eating we hadn’t seen any of the other fishermen hook any fish, but it was only about 20 minutes. Still, I wasn’t expecting much. We set up and on the third or forth cast Owen hooked into a fish right in front of his ladder. I rushed over with the net and scooper her up.
Owen and First Pyramid Cutthroat
...and the Money Shot!
Pretty sure it was a hen and she looked to be filling with eggs. Or maybe just had a big meal. Either way she was about 20 inches. Owen got it on a big chartreuse Daredevil with orange spots. Not bad for a beginner! As it turned out that was the only fish of the day. We didn’t see any of our new neighbors at the Nets catch anything either. When Owen broke off his second lure on something out in the deep, we decided to hit the road. All in all, not a bad trip despite the lack of action. Owen got his first Cutthroat and his biggest fish ever! I still have only caught one fish each trip since December 2008, even if I didn’t hook it myself. Paying my dues, I guess.
Our Neighbors at the Nets
The Famous Pyramid
Filed under: On the Water | Tagged: lahontan cutthroat trout, Owen, Pyramid Lake, The Nets, Wino Beach | Leave a Comment »
Because I work for the State of Nevada, I get to take one furlough a month, or a day without pay to those not fluent in human resources speak. Anyway, I am taking the furlough this Friday and I also get the MLK holiday on Monday. By my calcs, that’s a four day weekend. So, I am going to go fishing.
Friday is Pyramid. I have a streak going back to December 2008 of not getting skunked, but not catching more than one Lahontan cutthroat trout either. On the bright side they have all been decent fish, maybe 18 to 22 inches. I hope to break that streak…and not get skunked. Since I’m looking for numbers, it sounds like the south end is the ticket as the north end is slower, but giving up the bigger fish.
Monday I want to go to Topaz and take the boys. That means I need to get all the remaining snow and ice out of the boat and makes sure the motor fires without having to clean the carb. If it doesn’t fire and I don’t have the energy to clean the carb, the we will float tube. Well, the boys will float tube. I will sit high and dry in the pontoon. Ahh… the joys of having an income. The fish are in shallow according the reports, so we shouldn’t have to get out too far. I may try fly rodding it, but I will have the spinning rod for back up.
Expect the first new reports on the blog this weekend or early next week. If I remember to bring the camera, you might get some pictures too.
Filed under: General | Tagged: float tube, lahontan cutthroat trout, pontoon, Pyramid Lake, Topaz Lake | Leave a Comment »
Due to the fact that about half the hits on here are related to building my D4 Dinghy, the Otter, I have decided to try and post one episode a week complete with pictures and annotation (in green and bold). If you miss a week, they will also be added to a dedicated page called, The Otter. May you learn from my mistakes!
Introduction
I don’t know about you, but I am not Bill Gates. Anymore, the cost of pontoon boats for fishing requires that you own a company listed on the Nasdaq exchange. I, for one, wasn’t ready to fork over that kind of dough. (I did eventually. Paid $1000 for a Dave Scadden Skykomish Sunrise) That’s when I ran across Bateau.com. They have dozens of plans for building plywood stitch and glue boats. They even have a free set for a 7′10″ pram called the D4. (Get them here) I went ahead and bought the plans and the epoxy kit for about $275 and the plywood cost about $75. That’s about all you need, besides the tools (power saw, sander and drill).
I began by ordering the plans and the epoxy and flotation foam kit. The epoxy covers the boat to keep the plywood safe from water and adds strength to the structure. The kit also include fiber glass tape for the seams between the plywood panels, wood flour for building fillets and the flotation foam. The foam is added beneath the seats and makes the boat unsinkable.
Once I was in my new house and had taken care of an infestation of moving boxes, I purchased the plywood, or rather tried to. Apparently, A/B plywood in the thicknesses required has not made its way to Nevada. Maybe the new Transcontinental Railroad will improve this situation when it is built…what they finished that about a hundred and fifty years ago? Then what’s the #@%&* deal? I finally settled for some expensive 1/4″ oak plywood and some crappy 3/8″ Douglas fir rough faced siding. I am guessing 3/8″ plywood is an endangered species east of the Sierras. Nice! Guess who gets to sand those smooth! (Big mistake, spend the dough to get quality wood. If you aren’t sure, do a little research online. Try the forums below)
I did, however use the forums at Bateau2.com and got some nice suggestions. One was an outfit called Edensaw.com. (They sell plywood on Bateau.com also) They can get some really nice marine plywood to you for a reasonable cost. A bit much for this little project but not to bad if you were building a bigger boat (luckily the D4 can be built with just about any decent plywood product). (I did not get a decent plywood product. Oak veneer paneling is not oak plywood!) Other suggestions included special ordering from your local home center/lumberyard and one I can’t mention on these family oriented pages (just kidding).
Next time, the building begins!!
Filed under: Building the Otter | Tagged: boat building, D4 Dingy, Otter | 1 Comment »
Wow, I’m amazed at the number of hits I have gotten already. Mostly people redirected from the flyfishnevada.com URL looking for general information on the web about fishing the area and my site comes up, or rather the old site. Sorry, I haven’t got all the stuff transferred, but most of the popular stuff is here now (the Journal, Waters and the East Walker River). I will get more transferred soon.
For those of you looking for my pages about building the Otter (D4 Dingy), I will get something up soon. Not sure how it will work in the blog format, but something will be up. Unfortunately, the otter is no more. The wood I used was not up to snuff and she cracked badly. She now provides a home for my cats. 
Thanks for visiting!
Filed under: General | Tagged: D4 Dingy, East Walker River, flyfishnevada.com, Journal, Otter, Waters | Leave a Comment »
I haven’t been updating my website, Flyfish Nevada (and in fact took it down), for a while now. I started this blog about a year ago, but never found the energy to begin blogging. Honestly, blogging was new to me and I wasn’t sure how to go about it. Now, I have another blog, Naked Liberty, and I have learned a lot. Anyway, this is the beginning of the new Fly Fish Nevada.
The old URL, flyfishnevada.com, points here and all my old readers (both of you) finally have a new place to go. This format, I think will allow me to write more about my trips and share more photos, maybe even video. I plan to migrate some of the old stuff over here too, especially my old Journal, though it’s missing a year or so.
So, welcome to the new home of Fly Fish Nevada*. Hope you enjoy your stay and come back often.
*The old spelling “Flyfish Nevada” is technically incorrect, hence the difference. The URL is flyfishnevada.com, so you can’t really tell where the spaces are and it still works. OK, enough of the inside blogging stuff.
Filed under: General | Tagged: Fly Fish Nevada, flyfishnevada.com, Journal, Naked Liberty, welcome | Leave a Comment »
Welcome to the new home of Fly Fish Nevada. While the old site is still up at flyfishnevada.com, this site will allow me to just post without all the upkeep. soon the old site will be taken down and most of the pertinent content move here. Until then, enjoy both.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
