Model Dairy 11th Annual Charity Fishing Derby

March 12-13, 2005
Benefiting:

• Local Childrens Charities
• Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Nortnern Nevada
• Batten Disease Support and Research Association (BDSRA)

Dates & Location:
Saturday, March 12 and Sunday March 13, 2005 at Pyramid Lake, Sutcliff Nevada

Cost:
$50.00 per-person. Includes 1 Raffle Ticket for a chance to win a 2005 Polaris Ranger and othe Valuable Prizes. VISA, MASTERCARD and DISCOVER ACCEPTED.

Registration:
All participants must be registered before fishing.
Pre-registered anglers need not check in before fishing.
Each person is responsible for all applicable licenses and registration fees required to fish by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. Teams may consist of one to four members.
Sign-ups at the lake will be from:

• 3:00pm - 6:00pm Friday, March 11
• 5:00am - 5:00pm Saturday, March 12
• 5:00am - 10:00pm Sunday, March 13

Pre-Registration:
Please pre-register as this eliminates lines and delays in the morning so you can spend more time fishing. Pre-registration is available at:

• Model Dairy - (via phone) 775-788-7900 ex. 263
• Mark-Fore & Strike - 490 Kietzke Ln Reno
• Winners Corner - Pyramid Hwy-Spanish Springs

Events:

• FOOD - Complimentary food and beverages (coffe, soft drinks, water) both days from 5:00am. Barbeque from 11:00am - 2:00pm on both days included. ($10. extra - Steak Dinner Saturday 5:00pm - 8:00pm).
• FISH POOL - ($10.00 entry fee per-person on the team) open to all teams. This is an "all or noe" pool meaning all team members must participate, or none on the team may enter.
• FISH POOL PRIZES - $2000 for the heaviest fish, $1000 for the second heaviest fish, $500 for the third heaviest fish and $500 for the lightest legal fish.
• TEAM CASH PRIZES - $1000 (1st), $800 (2nd), $600 (3rd).
• HEAVIEST FISH PRIZE - Gold and Silver Ruby Belt Buckle for the heaviest fish.
• RAFFLE DRAWING - to follow presentaiton ceremony. 80% of the raffle prizes will be "PRE-DRAWN" and the winning ticket numbers posted by 1:00pm. You could win a Polaris Ranger, Sportsman Weekend packages, plus many terrific sporting goods items.
• WEIGH STATION - Final weigh in at 2:00pm sharp Sunday, March 13. Anglers must be in line at 2:00pm to have your fish weighed. NO EXCEPTIONS!
• A maximum of two legal fish per-person will be allowed at the derby.
• The presentation ceremony for trophies and prizes will begin between 2:30pm - 3:00pm.

Note: For the purpose of this derby only artificial bait is allowed.

tr.v. Slang skunked, skunk·ing, skunks

February 20, 2005

Pyramid Lake - all be it - it was only for a few hours but COME ON...

skunk ( P ) Pronunciation Key (skngk)n.
1 entry found for skunked.
tr.v. Slang skunked, skunk·ing, skunks

1. To defeat overwhelmingly, especially by keeping from scoring.
2. To cheat (someone).
3. To fail to pay (an amount due).

Almost the Perfect Day

All right so now that I started this BLOG thing, my mind has been racing backwards to actually write down all of these fishing moments that I’ll never recover completely. Bare with me through this whole thing, I don't promise to be a genius Creative Writer or a genius Fisherman...the only thing I do promise is to provide you with a worthy account of some local's love of Nevada.

Semi fragmented but still memorable would be a time in May 2004, when we were planning another weekend adventure to our favorite reservoir, Squaw Creek.

We rushed around assigning each other certain tasks to help ensure the proper packing order got done and got done fast enough to get an early start on the road. Honestly, I can't ever recall a time when packing was a painless task especially when both sexes are involved.

After the compromise of how much toilet paper vs. how much Beer we needed, we where off to the races for a peaceful yet highly profitable fishing weekend...

Our arrival almost seemed as if someone had planned it especially for us - it was more than P E R F E C T.

It was warm for early May and it was oddly strange that there was no wind. It always seems to be a trend with these desert reservoirs that if you don't fish in the early morning or in the early evening you might as well bait fish because there's no way your getting your line out without having to walk it out.

We parked the truck, dropped the trailer, let the dogs out and went to the water to take a look. WOW. They're everywhere. There had been a giant hatch that got these babies all kinds of jazzed up.

We dropped everything and ran back to the truck to get our waders, float tubes and fins. Um...."Where are the fins?"

"They're in the trailer where they normally are", he said...

Um..."No they're not..." We or should I say he, since that was on his list to get, forgot the second most important thing to bring when you intend on float tubing - the FINS.

OK no worries - we'll fish from shore with the fly rods and get some practice in...So there we are, cheap beer tucked closely inside our waders fly-fishing for whatever we could catch with no one around - P E R F E C T

Perfect up until he catches himself a Black Bass no bigger than 3 inches. Here's a tip for all men...if you catch yourself a 3 inch bass, try not to be a 'big man' about it and think you can pull the hook out with your bare hands, otherwise you might land yourself one hooked finger.
Three hours later all I can say is Kudos’ to the doctor for his fine surgical removal process. "Push the hook don't pull the hook" he says - words to live by.

As for the next day, we actually thought about tethering the tubes to shore just to get out a little deeper, but decided that wouldn't be the safest idea. We did talk with a few of the next days anglers, and boy-o-boy did they have a great day. 30 fish for one and 19 for the other. As for the shore fisherman, that would be us, we didn't do too badly with a total count of 16. All trout except for the one that left a permanent tattoo in my partner's finger.

February 13, 2005 Finally Fishing Well..Kinda

All I can say is finally...finally a day away from the office and away from being couped up in the house during this long and drawn out depressing winter. We started our Sunday adventure out just like we used too in the old days..well I say old days, because it feels like it was light years away when it was really only months ago. But anyway...back to the beginning of another great day.

If your gonna take a Nevada style fishing trip you need to make sure that you've got the essentials: Beer, dougnuts, Salty Potato Chips, Sunflower Seeds or some sort of Nut, did I mention Beer and not just any beer - it's gotta be the good stuff - cheaper the better and its gotta come in can (always looking out for the environment of course). Hit the road with all of the all music essentials - Country Country Country - Waylon Jennings - Hank Williams - Johnny Cash and Donald Trump's "How to Become a Billionaire" (his selection of course).

So we're off - just an hour and half drive from Reno to Squaw Creek Reservoir (State Route 447). When we left it was clear and semi warm but when we got to Gerlach, there was snow and rain everywhere. The Black Rock Desert was pure white...it was rather serene. 15 miles north of Gerlach however, you'll find yourself driving past a small reservoir on the west side of the road.

Unless you had a small JEEP, I wouldn’t recommend driving into the reservoir but instead parking on the outside and hiking in. Snow and mud covered the access roads into the Reservoir. ¾ of the water on the south end of the reservoir had a nice firm layer of ice ontop of it – so I’d make sure to fish near the north end. (More info).

There where a few fisherman out in the elements trying their hand at catching some fish and from afar they looked as if they where doing pretty well: A man in his canoe and a father and son fishing from the shore. We spoke to the father and son team and they had mentioned that they had gotten several nibbles on the flies but no serious action.

Allthough the day seemed to be gloomy due to the wet weather, we decided to take Smoke Creek Road back to the far side of Pyramid Lake for a little late afternoon fishing.

Following Smoke Creek Road we saw anywhere from 30 to 35 Donkeys grazing along the right side of the road. We stopped and got a few photos and then let the dogs out for a quick run through the Creek. Beddie is the Pointer and Forrest is the Chocolate Lab.

2:30 PM and on too fishing the majestic Pyramid Lake. If you haven't been - you've gotta go. This lake is just gorgeous and of course the fishing's not bad either. Here's the odd thing about Nevada if you didn't know...you could be in a snow storm on one side of town and then travel a few miles anywhere else and find yourself in TSHIRT weather and that's just how this lake was. One side covered in snow and the other green and dry.

Back to fishing and wrapping this adventure up. We had some luck, granted not the best but good for where we where at. Couple 26-28 inch Cutthroats and a couple 16-20 inch Cutthroats. Nothing wrong with them odds for the last few hours of light.

What a great way to end a Sunday...Stay in touch for more bi-weekly if not weekly Nevada'n style fishing adventures.