JAWallace
11-08-2016, 11:32 AM
This past weekend, two of us attended Doug Ouelette's Clinic at Pyramid. Here's the rundown of how it came down.
This was a rescheduled clinic, as the winds were too high for the original October date. Good news and bad news--only two of us were able to make it, so it was like a semi private two day guide trip for the price of the clinic. The bad news was for Doug, only two guys for the weekend. We gave him an out as we felt bad for him, but he would not hear of it, and cheerfully said let's do it. That alone should tell you something about Doug's character.
Day 1--
We met at Crosby's Lodge, which as a sidebar is a very trippy and active place and worth the trip alone. VERY friendly people working there, and the customers were loud, funny, friendly, and a pleasure to hang with.
Most of the day was spent in a casual classroom setting. Doug hands out a highly detailed instruction package which is part Pyramid technique and gear specific, and part general instruction for stillwater fishing. Both of us have done mostly stillwater and are pretty experienced--or so we thought. Incredible instruction, as detailed as we needed or requested, and we came away realizing we knew a lot less than we had thought before the day with Doug. We wrapped up around 4 pm, Doug offered to take us out fishing, but we passed as it had been pretty slow (we did see a 15 lb. cuttie weighed in though), and we had a lot of material to digest, as well as an outright killer sushi dinner at the Drunken Monkey in Truckee. That was after a few beers in the lodge, watching Doug work the crowd as he seems to know about everyone who was there, and seems to be the go to guy as well.
Day 2
We started a little late at our mutual agreement, I think we were in the water around 11 am. Doug selected a beach that had been doing better than most of the others, and there were maybe 15-20 fishermen, plenty of room for the ladders. Doug supplies those, and they are the good ones with comfortable seats.
We experimented with different lines, but kept the same flies as Doug says they're proven. One is his popcorn beetle, the other was a #8 black bugger. We were fishing shallow. He recommended keeping the casts to around 60' which wasn't very hard for me at all as I was using fiberglass rods and the lines I'm used to seemed a little heavy, especially with two flies, one being quite wind resistant. But with very light winds we were able to reach the dropoffs he wanted us to fish, and got to it. I think we were fishing in a maximum depth of about 15'.
Fishing was slow all over, due to the bluebird days over the weekend. One man on the beach reported getting a 17 lb. fish earlier; most everyone was fishing with indicators and a balanced minnow. Doug feels the same way we do about bobber fishing, so we cast and stripped. And again. And again...until finally I got a bump and quickly did a knee jerk trout set, and lost it. Then Doug got one, a nice 20" fish. We had invited Doug to fish--he would not have done so without our encouragement. The winds came up a bit, and we had a little more action, not much, but still did better than most people on the beach that day. Six on, three to hand, 18" - 20"- 22" so nothing big but still better than the average lake trout elsewhere. The 22" cuttie didn't fight well, but the 18" was a terrific battler. All fish were caught VERY close to the ladder. I missed one as I was bringing in the line to recast--it hit on the point fly and the popcorn beetle was literally out of the water when it hit so i had nowhere to go to strip set. You really have to adjust your retrieve technique there and fish every hang. I found a Teeny T-200 to be the best line in those conditions.
We were a long ways from disappointed in the fishing. We were new to Pyramid, and felt like we could now return on our own, especially with the specific fishing location recommendations by the season and water temp in his guide. Both of us agreed it was one of the best trips we've ever had, largely thanks to our cool, engaging, and knowledgable mentor, Doug Ouellette. A soft spoken gentleman who has a laser focus on not just catching fish, but understanding the client preferences and bringing them to the next level to become better Pyramid fishermen. And, he's just a fun guy to hang with too.
Highly, highly, recommended. We shall return. If you haven't fished Pyramid, DO IT. It's nothing like any other place, and just a very cool experience. Find Doug at http://www.calvadaflyfishing.com/
This was a rescheduled clinic, as the winds were too high for the original October date. Good news and bad news--only two of us were able to make it, so it was like a semi private two day guide trip for the price of the clinic. The bad news was for Doug, only two guys for the weekend. We gave him an out as we felt bad for him, but he would not hear of it, and cheerfully said let's do it. That alone should tell you something about Doug's character.
Day 1--
We met at Crosby's Lodge, which as a sidebar is a very trippy and active place and worth the trip alone. VERY friendly people working there, and the customers were loud, funny, friendly, and a pleasure to hang with.
Most of the day was spent in a casual classroom setting. Doug hands out a highly detailed instruction package which is part Pyramid technique and gear specific, and part general instruction for stillwater fishing. Both of us have done mostly stillwater and are pretty experienced--or so we thought. Incredible instruction, as detailed as we needed or requested, and we came away realizing we knew a lot less than we had thought before the day with Doug. We wrapped up around 4 pm, Doug offered to take us out fishing, but we passed as it had been pretty slow (we did see a 15 lb. cuttie weighed in though), and we had a lot of material to digest, as well as an outright killer sushi dinner at the Drunken Monkey in Truckee. That was after a few beers in the lodge, watching Doug work the crowd as he seems to know about everyone who was there, and seems to be the go to guy as well.
Day 2
We started a little late at our mutual agreement, I think we were in the water around 11 am. Doug selected a beach that had been doing better than most of the others, and there were maybe 15-20 fishermen, plenty of room for the ladders. Doug supplies those, and they are the good ones with comfortable seats.
We experimented with different lines, but kept the same flies as Doug says they're proven. One is his popcorn beetle, the other was a #8 black bugger. We were fishing shallow. He recommended keeping the casts to around 60' which wasn't very hard for me at all as I was using fiberglass rods and the lines I'm used to seemed a little heavy, especially with two flies, one being quite wind resistant. But with very light winds we were able to reach the dropoffs he wanted us to fish, and got to it. I think we were fishing in a maximum depth of about 15'.
Fishing was slow all over, due to the bluebird days over the weekend. One man on the beach reported getting a 17 lb. fish earlier; most everyone was fishing with indicators and a balanced minnow. Doug feels the same way we do about bobber fishing, so we cast and stripped. And again. And again...until finally I got a bump and quickly did a knee jerk trout set, and lost it. Then Doug got one, a nice 20" fish. We had invited Doug to fish--he would not have done so without our encouragement. The winds came up a bit, and we had a little more action, not much, but still did better than most people on the beach that day. Six on, three to hand, 18" - 20"- 22" so nothing big but still better than the average lake trout elsewhere. The 22" cuttie didn't fight well, but the 18" was a terrific battler. All fish were caught VERY close to the ladder. I missed one as I was bringing in the line to recast--it hit on the point fly and the popcorn beetle was literally out of the water when it hit so i had nowhere to go to strip set. You really have to adjust your retrieve technique there and fish every hang. I found a Teeny T-200 to be the best line in those conditions.
We were a long ways from disappointed in the fishing. We were new to Pyramid, and felt like we could now return on our own, especially with the specific fishing location recommendations by the season and water temp in his guide. Both of us agreed it was one of the best trips we've ever had, largely thanks to our cool, engaging, and knowledgable mentor, Doug Ouellette. A soft spoken gentleman who has a laser focus on not just catching fish, but understanding the client preferences and bringing them to the next level to become better Pyramid fishermen. And, he's just a fun guy to hang with too.
Highly, highly, recommended. We shall return. If you haven't fished Pyramid, DO IT. It's nothing like any other place, and just a very cool experience. Find Doug at http://www.calvadaflyfishing.com/