Pyramid Lake Fishing Report

The bass bite at Pyramid is starting to show signs of life as water temps creep into the high 50s. Water’s still stained, but football jigs are getting some decent largemouth near shallow staging spots and steeper rock. Smallmouth are waking up too, hitting small swimbaits and tube baits.

Trout are still showing here and there on PowerBait and nightcrawlers, but it looks like stockings have stopped. Nothing to report yet on stripers, but the bite should be picking up here shortly.

Pyramid Lake got a fresh batch of trout on January 31, with 5,000 pounds stocked by the California Department of Water Resources. Since then, the bite has been very good, especially on the north end, where anglers are landing 2- to 4-pound fish on yellow mini jigs, chartreuse PowerBait, and nightcrawlers. Stripers aren’t wide open, but they’re still being picked off by anglers soaking cut bait in up to 50 feet of water or trolling jerkbaits and A-rigs off points.

With water temps in the low 50s, bass are a bit sluggish, but both smallmouth and largemouth are still being caught on slowly worked drop shots, and Ned rigs near points and steep walls in 20 to 35 feet. There’s also been a sporadic reaction bite on shad-colored baits. Catfish remain in play, with reports of fish taking garlic prawns and sardines. Crappie anglers are also finding small schools holding to deep structure, but bites haven't been easy.

Water temps are dropping at Pyramid Lake, cooling down the bass bite as their metabolism slows. That said, quality bass are still there if you know where to look. Focus on points and rock with quick transitions into deeper water. Although many fish are suspended now... electronics can help. Shad remains the main food source, so stick with baitfish patterns and imitations. A few anglers have found excellent action netting and using live shad.

Stripers are still in play, holding in 30+ feet of water. A-Rigs are your best bet. The trout bite has slowed since the November 5,000-pound stock, but the fish being caught are decent-sized. Folks are also still catching catfish at a decent clip.