The weather couldn't have been nicer for the 18th Annual Fish The West Classic and roughly 50 people descended on Pyramid Lake Nevada in search of Cutthroat Trout. While the weather was exceptional the fishing was a little on the slow side for our shore anglers. The flat water conditions allowed anglers to see literally hundreds of trout cruising the shallows both North and South of the Nets but very few were interested in taking the flies, spoons, jigs, ect. Those of us in boats had better luck finding fish on the bite. Having not been to the lake in nearly 2 years (my schedule prevented me from making the 17th Annual) we started out working the West shore near Warriors and Wizzard Cove with some limited success. The needles was our hottest bite the first day producing slot fish on spoons, Stingkings, and Lymans at 12 to 25 feet. Day two we ran to Hells Kitchen and had a phenomenal day. We actually started South of the Kitchen toplinning Stingfish in the shallows with great results. Most of the fish were running about 23 inches with several that broke the 24 inch slot. As the day progressed we moved out over deeper water and dropped Lymans down on the Cannon Downriggers to 25 feet and increased our speed to nearly 3 mph. We continued to boat fish as we moved North to just past the Kitchen. With the exception of a few, all of the fish ranged from 23 to 25 inches and all were released. While we didn't place in the money we probably experienced the hottest bite of any one in our group. Hopefully there will be a 19th Annual, however there are some big changes to the rules that are currently being proposed. To see the proposed regulation changes CLICK HERE

Squid Wars'07

In an effort to feel a tug on the line and get out of the frozen mountains myself and 5 good friends (Uncle Johnny, Jeff the Chef, Danny the Quail Hunter, Mat the Gambler, and Ed "Rock Fish") met up in Bodega Bay to do a little fishing on the big pond. We gathered at Will's Bait and Tackle around 5:30 am and met up with a good friend of mine Capt. Les Fernandes, owner and operator of Fish On Charters. After some coffee and conversation we headed to the dock to board his boat the "Samantha Irene" a 27 foot 6pack charter boat. We departed the marina just as it was getting light and headed towards the Cordell Banks. This was one of those days, wind at 1-4 knts and a 5 foot swell on about a 30 second interval, pretty nice! After about a 22 mile ride out and hearing reports on the radio of other boats being "on the squid" we dropped our gear. A "foot long" squid jig was the tackle of choice. With 6 lines in the water and metering a pack of squid on the graph it wasn't long until John (Uncle Johnny) was Squid On! Seconds later Ed (the Rock Fish) had one on as well. With 2 hanging the other 4 of us struggled to get bit. Just as fast as the squid were there they were gone and we were on the move in search. After a short run, spotting a whale blow and some dolphins, we spotted birds working the surface and tentacles out of the water (Yes I said tentacles). We dropped in and it was ON! SQUID ON! SQUID ON! SQUID ON! was all you heard around the deck and before you knew it we were 6 hanging. Captain Les had a full time job jumping from side to side working the gaff hauling the calamari on board. I'm not really sure who was winning this battle as we continued to hook squid after squid the deck was getting full but we were getting tired. The action slowed, so we again went in search of more. We hooked up with another 6 pack boat out of Will's and found another good group of the "Sea Monsters" to do battle with, and it wasn't long until all of us were hooked up again. After putting several more on the deck my "light tackle tendencies" got the best of me and I sent a small squid jig down on a light Rogue Rod with an Abu 7000 series spooled with 20 lb test. I sent it down, and didn't get hit, down a little further, nothing, down some more (around 180 feet) and looked over my shoulder to my buddy Matt (who was filming the events) and said "I really hope I don't get bit this deep on this rod". The words were barely out of my mouth, and as Matt would say "Biter!" Fighting a good sized squid on that light of a rod really wasn't practical but it sure was fun. After packing the fish hold full and with us still calf deep in squid on the deck Captain Les informed us that we had reached the weight capacity for the boat and we headed in. On the way home we swung in and pulled a string of Captain Les's crab pots (the day just keeps getting better) and averaged over 6 keeper Dungies per pot. Fresh crab and calamari, does it get any better? Back at the dock we totaled up 67 squid up to 40 pounds and 6 limits of crab. What a trip, good fishing and good friends. If you like calamari and crab I highly recommend it. If you would like contact information for Fish On Charters shoot me an email to bryan@bigdaddyfishing.com and I will be happy to put you in touch with Captain Les.

The "Quail Hunter" with a 40 lb Sea Monster	Myself hooked up again	Capt. Les hauls one over for the "Chef" while Uncle Johnny is hooked up	The squid slayers taken by Matt
"The Chef" with a nice one	From Left: "The Quail Hunter", "The Gambler", "Rock Fish", "Uncle Johnny", and "The Chef" taken by myself