Pyramid on full moon Friday

[Chris Evison]

Everything stacked against us as far as conditions go. Full moon, little to no wind and warmest day of the year. 5 of us in water at moon set/sunrise. I managed to get 4 fish to hand by 10:30. 3 under the cator and one stripping at south end of lake. 2 friends got 6-7 fish by 11am, they did alright stripping dark flies and beetles.

Dave and I moved to west side around noon. I picked up 2 more fish, one on beaches south of Blockhouse and one at Blockhouse under the cator. Only one other fisherman at Blockhouse, this spot is normally packed. Checked rocks at Pelican and fished there for an hour with no luck. Saw some cruisers, but no takers. Wino had 7-8 fishermen on it and saw a guy playing a fish as we drove past.

Left lake at 3:30, not a bad day considering conditions and the full moon. Got 6 and missed a few opportunities. Tougher day for Dave as he only got one and missed some chances. Friends that stayed on south end of lake wound up in low teens for numbers. IMO we would have caught more fish at south end if we would have had more wind but who knows for sure. I have had worse days when no full moon so that theory still needs some testing if you ask me. Lake temp at hatchery still 49F. I took temp at noon at Blockhouse and temp was 50F six feet down, still needs to warm up.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

When do you quit fishing Pyramid?

[Chris Evison]

Season closes end of June. Latest I have fished it was on a June 28th. Caught fish from shore and saw cruisers then. This was after last big winter, rivers were in flood stage in June that year and lakes were best bet. Late storms kept water temps cool later that year.

Fish start to return to deeper water as water temps hit the 70F mark and the spawning urge winds down. This is different timing every year. I have had good fishing into June during cool, wet winters and have seen fishing shut down in mid April due to warm temps. Most years it is good thru May.

Crowds seem to really thin out same weekend as the California trout opener. When I was out yesterday there were few anglers on the water. If you do not like the crowds, now thru late May is good time to hit Pyramid.

[SHigSpeed]

Everything stacked against us as far as conditions go. Full moon, little to no wind and warmest day of the year. 5 of us in water at moon set/sunrise. I managed to get 4 fish to hand by 10:30. 3 under the cator and one stripping at south end of lake. 2 friends got 6-7 fish by 11am, they did alright stripping dark flies and beetles.

Dave and I moved to west side around noon. I picked up 2 more fish, one on beaches south of Blockhouse and one at Blockhouse under the cator. Only one other fisherman at Blockhouse, this spot is normally packed. Checked rocks at Pelican and fished there for an hour with no luck. Saw some cruisers, but no takers. Wino had 7-8 fishermen on it and saw a guy playing a fish as we drove past.

Left lake at 3:30, not a bad day considering conditions and the full moon. Got 6 and missed a few opportunities. Tougher day for Dave as he only got one and missed some chances. Friends that stayed on south end of lake wound up in low teens for numbers. IMO we would have caught more fish at south end if we would have had more wind but who knows for sure. I have had worse days when no full moon so that theory still needs some testing if you ask me. Lake temp at hatchery still 49F. I took temp at noon at Blockhouse and temp was 50F six feet down, still needs to warm up.

I'll add another moon datapoint.

I fished Friday all day at Pelican from a ladder with a group of friends and got three. Most of them got zero or one. All of mine were under a 'cator and all after lunch. Saw lots of cruisers too but few players. The bite would definitely turn on and off depending on glass or wind. We never did get any chop to speak of. I welcomed boat wakes!

Still had a good time with beautiful weather and good friends.

I did manage to fall off of my ladder and tear my waders fighting a fish, then I ran afoul of the Sutcliffe speed limit heading home making my low fish count that much more dear. I guess the full moon doesn't only affect the bite...

_SHig

[jigger]

Here's another data point.
I fished pyramid yesterday (sat). First couple hours dozing in my lawn chair at a southern drop off. Nice chop but no love. Moved up to pelican beach for the rest of the day. I was lucky to get three (all males on black beetle) since the fish seemed to have something else on their mind.
Saw hundreds of fish cruising in groups of 2 to 10. They would just swim right past, over, or in between my bugs. Not even a sniff. By mid afternoon nearly everyone had left from the rocks. Warm day with very little wind. Summertime was in full swing with boats blasting stereos and jetskis.
It was interesting to see all the big cutts doing their thing, but I probably should have stayed down south. A full moon cycle doesn't help, but I believe dead calm high pressure and fish in full spawn mode were more the cause of the tough bite.

[Chris Evison]

Two of my friends fished the weekend and got 10 fish apiece on Saturday and on Sunday. Good enough for them to stay another night and fish today before going home to SoCal. See, full moons are not all bad at Pyramid.

[Dan Harrison]

I for one will never fish pyramid again on the full moon. Three of us fished Sat started off at pelican only one fish for three of us stripping buggers from 530-800. There was another group of about 8 ladders out there and think I see one fish on for the same time frame. Went out to Wino and my buddy landed his biggest and only fish of the trip. The guys out there said we didn't miss a thing there for the morning bite. Basically same story 2 fish there all morning for 8 anglers. We moved back to are camp site at pelican my two friends fished there and I decided to check out the north nets. Got there around 1 pm and talk two nice guys for fairfield they said they had been there for 3 days with there fishing club. Total of 10 guys and only had 4 fish. They said nothing at the north nets, went out to the ladder with my indi and a beer. To my surprise there was fish visible in groups of 6-40 a constant stream of cuts going by my indi but no love. The guy next to me was baffled said he has been out all day for a big zero. They had complete lock jaw. I finished my beer and they guy next to me got his first follow and then one down the way hooked up stripping. That was enough for me went back and got my stripping rod and texted my two friends that there was fish down here. Turns out they were happy to leave pelican no fish and it had turning into a mad house rap concert. It was very cool to see all the fish but couldn't get any interest. So I down sized my set up put on at lighter sink tip went down to 5x and put on a single size 10 olive simi seal bugger. Well the fish started to show interest. Started to have fun getting these guys to chase all the way to they ladder. Nice slow strip then when I seen one turn I would strip like mad and they would make chase. Ended up catching 5 there. My other buddy got five there as well on small offerings. Still had a great time but I am definitely a believer and the full moon hurting the bite. Never again full moon never again.

[Bull_Dog]

Dan, we are lucky to be a hour drive from the lake. I have seen it all over the map on a full moon. Wind and water temps are #1 and #2 and then the moon. The biggest factor is we are all comparing the lake to 5-8 years ago when the lake had way more fish. There is factuall study as to the decline of the numbers of fish in the lake. in the last few years. I give over 20 presentations to clubs, organiziations and shows trying to help anglers understand this change each year. The full moon is tough but there are other factors involved as well. My friend Chris has a couple of good days following the wind and catching what I would consider good numbers this full moon. I spend over 100 days at the lake each year and log all of them. I help with creel cencus and spawning. Dont give up just yet. Give us some time on spawning etc. the future looks bright. I have some awesome pics from last Sunday during the moon. over 40 fish.

Rob

[jigger]

I for one will never fish pyramid again on the full moon. Three of us fished Sat started off at pelican only one fish for three of us stripping buggers from 530-800. There was another group of about 8 ladders out there and think I see one fish on for the same time frame. Went out to Wino and my buddy landed his biggest and only fish of the trip. The guys out there said we didn't miss a thing there for the morning bite. Basically same story 2 fish there all morning for 8 anglers. We moved back to are camp site at pelican my two friends fished there and I decided to check out the north nets. Got there around 1 pm and talk two nice guys for fairfield they said they had been there for 3 days with there fishing club. Total of 10 guys and only had 4 fish. They said nothing at the north nets, went out to the ladder with my indi and a beer. To my surprise there was fish visible in groups of 6-40 a constant stream of cuts going by my indi but no love. The guy next to me was baffled said he has been out all day for a big zero. They had complete lock jaw. I finished my beer and they guy next to me got his first follow and then one down the way hooked up stripping. That was enough for me went back and got my stripping rod and texted my two friends that there was fish down here. Turns out they were happy to leave pelican no fish and it had turning into a mad house rap concert. It was very cool to see all the fish but couldn't get any interest. So I down sized my set up put on at lighter sink tip went down to 5x and put on a single size 10 olive simi seal bugger. Well the fish started to show interest. Started to have fun getting these guys to chase all the way to they ladder. Nice slow strip then when I seen one turn I would strip like mad and they would make chase. Ended up catching 5 there. My other buddy got five there as well on small offerings. Still had a great time but I am definitely a believer and the full moon hurting the bite. Never again full moon never again.

Thanks for the detailed report of your experience. Good job on switching it up and getting them to grab. The water was super clear that day as well. The trails my line left on the bottom persisted for a long time, ended up making a funny radial pattern. Wind waves and current would have made a big difference. At least it would have canceled the floating rap concert