Landing a Big Pyramid Lake Cutthroat

[gene goss]

How do you land a Big Cutthroat in the line of ladders at the nets?
In one of the clinics that i teach at the fly club is on how to fight and land a big fish at Davis Lake this fall and part of that clinic we talked about Pyramid Lake.
I didn't have a answer about how is the best way to land a Big Cutthroat at the nets in a ladder line up without pissing anyone off.
Any help on this would be great.

Here's a video on hook set and fish fighting skills that could help you land that Big Cutthroat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afN9i6gEhec

After looking at the reply's to this post, getting CONTROL of your fish with the down and dirty is the first thing to do, (this is how i do it) after you get control most fish will give up at this point, (the fish is still full of fight) and with the down and dirty the only way a fish can move now is toward you. At this point i try to calm the fish down with a little less pressure on the fish, if the fish is calm i can start walking straight back toward the beach while slowly cranking the fish in (keep your movements calm and the fish will be calm). At this point the fish will see the bottom and it will get really excited, this is where i roll the fish with the down and dirty( point the rod toward the side with tip of the rod in the water and pull),you need keep about 20 ft. of line out and once the fish rolls keep walking back(its roll and pull, roll and pull) at this point if there are any waves on the beach use the waves to help push your fish onto the beach.
This is proper ETIQUETTE and hopefully other people in the ladder line will see this and move out of the way.
Thanks DennisV and Dug for your reply

[Doug O]

Gene,
That's a very good question. In my opinion it is proper etiquette for the anglers on the ladders to move their ladders out of the way when a BIG fish is hooked and in jeopardy of getting tangled in their ladder. Unfortunately, I have seen trophy trout lost because an angler is too lazy or inconsiderate to get off their ladder and move it out of the way. As the season progresses and the beaches become more crowed this scenario is bound to continue to happen, especially with the increase of numbers of BIG fish. Thanks for the post!
Doug O.

[DennisV]

Gene

Teach your students how to "steer" a fish in the direction they want it to go by holding the rod parrallel to water and out to one side
instead of vertically as they normaly do. Get them to apply pressure horizontally instead of vertically.

In the early stages of the fight when the fish is still green and hot, holding the rod horizontally out
to the right will induce the fish to move to the angler's left as they tend to swim away from the pressure being exerted on them.

At the end of the fight as they tire, that same horizontal pressure to the right will turn their head around and lead them to the anglers right. And vice versa of course.

This also tends to make the fish give up a bit sooner and they get released in better condition than they would be if the fight drags on and on. This concept is absolutely essential for finishing off Tarpon at the end game and there are lots of videos out there that you
could find to drive the point home to your students.

The whole trick is keeping those fish away from the other guy's ladder in the first place.

Works well to keep fish out of anchor lines while bobber fishing chironimids too.

[Doug O]

As far as fighting a big fish at Pyramid, it is essential that the proper rod and leader is used. An 8 or 9 wt. rod with 12 to 15 lb. test leader is recommended to be able to control the animal and to get him in as fast as possible. Fighting and wearing out a fish can be lethal to the fish. Keep as much pressure as possible. When fighting 150 pound tarpon for instance the "Down and Dirty" tactic is a must. I have fought many big tarpon from the hip and have had great success in landing them. This tactic works very well on the big cuts at Pyramid.