Show: The Fishing Show Station: KNCO File: 10:10.mp3 Air date: 2026-10-10 Source: OpenAI whisper-1 · shrunk from 98.9 MB to 12.4 MB --- transcript --- The KNCO Fishing and Outdoor Report with Denis Peirce is a service of Craig Johnson Plumbing. Honest, reliable and fair. Find them online at CraigJohnsonPlumbing.com The KNCO Fishing and Outdoor Report with Denis Peirce is a service of Craig Johnson Plumbing. That's your life. Your sweet wife will catch more fish than you. Many fish bites if you got good bait. Here's a little tip that I would like to relate. Many fish bites if you got good bait. I'm a-goin' fishin'. Yes, a-goin' fishin'. And my baby goin' fishin' too. I went on down to my favorite fishin' hole. Baby grabbed me a pole and line. Hold my pole on and caught a nine-pound catfish. Now you know I brought him home for supper. Time-proofin'. Many fish bites if you got good bait. Here's a little tip that I would like to relate. Many fish bites if you got good bait. I'm a-goin' fishin'. Yes, a-goin' fishin'. And my baby goin' fishin' too. Baby brother about to run me out of my mind. Say, can I go fishin' with you? I took him on down to the fishin' hole. Now what do you think that he did do? Pulled a way big fish out the bottom of the pond. Now he laughed and jumped cause he was real gone. Many fish bites if you got good bait. I'm a-goin' fishin'. Yes, a-goin' fishin'. And my baby goin' fishin' too. Good evening, this is Dennis Pearce and we're live here on Friday evenings with the KNCO Fishing and Outdoor Report. And if you want to listen to it a second time, Saturday morning from five to six, you can hear the replay. But, boy, I was gone last week. Went up to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which is between the Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island, British Columbia. And fished for silver salmon up there for five days. And, great trip. All the guys that we were up there with, all they wanted to do was fish. And that's what we did for five straight days. And did well. Caught some of the biggest silver salmon we've ever caught. Normally this trip we go up early to mid-September and there's more fish but fewer fish. We fished the last two days of September and the first three or four or five days of October. And there were fewer fish but bigger fish. We had at least a half a dozen fish over the days we fished that were over ten pounds. And when you get up around ten pounds for a silver salmon, they are a great fish to catch. They jump, they run, they pull. And I highly recommend it to anybody to get up there. If you're interested in doing that trip sometime, go to my website. Go to the bottom of the navigation page. You'll see a button down there that says Blog Trolling Fly Chronicles. Click on that and you'll look through all these thumbnails and you'll see one. CQ Washington Halfway to Alaska is the title of it. But it gives all the particulars of it. Where you can rent boats up there and how the whole system works. And it's a great trip to go up and do. And you can drive there. No airplanes involved. And everything you need is up there. So anyway, CQ Washington. Why don't we thank our sponsors first off. I'd like to thank Dr. Jerry Chan and his daughter Dr. Tiffany Chan. The Chan Family Optometry Practice is located at 360 Sierra College Drive. If you're looking for quality family eye care, you can't do any better than the Chan Family Optometry. Our second sponsor, TrollingFlies.com. Home of Arctic Fox Trolling Flies, Jay Fair Trolling Flies. And this is the season. I mean right now, all I fished were, well I fished a bunch of different flies. Trying to find what worked, what didn't work. If I could catch a fish on it, I took it off and started putting something else on. Trying to figure it out. But the Salmon Series tube flies up there. And I fished a thing called a Chinook Diver. Which is like a Pink Lady or a Deeper Diver or one of those. It's one of those types of things. And those things work quite well. So you don't need a down rigger to get up there and fish. You can fish deep with those things. And they do work. Anyways, on the way home, I drove home Sunday. And Sunday night, Monday morning, in the dark. Driving through Lake Shasta and down through Redding, Red Bluff. There was all kinds of thunder and lightning over top of Mount Lassen. North of Lassen, South of Lassen. It even rained a little bit along I-5. Up by Shasta, Redding, Red Bluff. That whole zone through there got sprinkles. But there was a lot of thunder and lightning up there in the high country. But the weather is changing. I mention this a lot. But it's been my experience that you get Indian summer up until October 15. And then after October 15, then you get fall. And I think that's what's going to be happening this week. We're at the 9th today. We're six days away from the 15th. And we're looking at air temperatures dropping dramatically this weekend. A trace of rain at the beginning of the week. Not much, just a few sprinkles here and there. But the whole air temperature thing is going to drop down. And that is going to do wonders for the fishing. Both cooling off the lower Sacramento River for salmon. But as well as the high country and that sort of thing. But changes in the wind. And I think tomorrow might be the last really hot day that we've got. And then we're going to be progressing toward fall. When it comes to salmon fishing out there. I talked to Justin Leonard. And he was saying that on the Feather River. If you get up above Gridley all the way up to Oroville. It's 80% dark fish there. The Feather is like the first river to really come on. And it's the first river where the fish really start turning dark. It's really, really hard to find a bright fish up there in the Oroville Wildlife Area. All that kind of stuff. It's really tough. The Sacramento has been a disappointment throughout the year. It never really turned on. It is still possible that they could get a good run up there. But as far as would I go up there and fish this weekend. The answer is no. The best recommendation I got was down at the Sacramento Metro area. There's a lot of places down there. But the mouth of the American River. The guys down there fishing from shore. There's a sand bar down there where you can get spinning gear. And throw spinners out and swing them. There in the Sacramento River. Those guys were catching salmon. And what's happening is the American River run of salmon. Are what's coming in right now. And they're coming up and they're turning up the American River. And if you're looking for a shore based spinner type thing to do. Discovery Park down there. Go down there. Look for where other people are. And that sort of thing. And figure out how the deal works. And then hop into the line and fish. But the guys down there are doing well. The guys in the boats are doing well. In the Sacramento River downstream from the American. The news from the Verona area. Verona is slowing down. There's fewer and fewer fish being caught there. The action has moved down to the American. And what's beginning to come on is the McColumby River. And there are guys that are trolling plugs for stripers in the Delta area. Pretty much the South Delta. We're talking the San Joaquin River. And then the McColumby River joins the San Joaquin River. And right close to a place called B&W Resort. And if you go to Lodi. Get on Highway 12 and start across the Delta. B&W Resort is right in the heart of the Delta down there. It's a real famous place for bass tournaments and stuff. But from there and up the McColumby. The guys that are trolling for stripers are now incidentally picking up salmon. And the McColumby River to get to that. If you get on I-5. Drive south out of Sacramento. When you get across from Galt. There's a road turn off there called New Hope Road. And if you turn right and go into the Delta through there. There's a couple of different marinas. The one I've fished out of the most is Wimpy's Marina there. And the McColumby River is an October fishery down there. And the fish are fresh. And they're heading for the McColumby Hatchery. The guy who runs it, I had him on my show a number of years ago. Does a wonderful job at producing salmon that return. And the McColumby run in October is a really, really good place to be. And you can do it as a day trip from home if you get up really, really early. We're going to take our first commercial break of the evening. When we come back our guest is going to be Doug Willett. And Doug, he fished Pyramid Lake today. But he has guided Pyramid Lake for many, many years. And the topic this evening is going to be Pyramid. We'll be back after a word from our sponsors. [♪ music playing ♪ Hungry? Skip the packaged stuff and mystery meals. At Robinson's Gas Station on Bennett and Main in Grass Valley, we're serving up fresh, homemade, locally crafted food. A full burrito and taco bar and traditional pasties all made fresh daily. Need something for later? Grab a take and bake pasty. This isn't your average pit stop. It's local, fresh, and worth the stop. Robinson's Gas Station on Bennett, Maine, where local eats meet the road. Hi, everyone. It's Tom Fitzsimmons. Join me the first Friday of every month at 9 a.m. right here on KNCO News Talk 830 for a thoughtful, honest conversation exploring our community through culture, science, wellness, and the people shaping our future. I'll be joined by our friends from Grass Valley Provisions. If you're curious, cautious, or just craving grounded conversation, this show is for you. That's the first Friday of every month at 9 a.m. on KNCO News Talk 830. Dad, have you seen how outdated our window treatments are? Yeah, we definitely need to do something about that. What are you thinking? I was checking out Budget Blinds of Grass Valley. They've got so many options, blinds, shades, shutters, you name it. Sounds good. I wonder if they offer cordless options for safety. They do. They're all about keeping it safe, especially for younger kids and pets. That's important. And where are they located? Right on 310 Colfax Avenue. Plus, they do free in-home consultations. Can't beat that convenience. Perfect. Let's give them a call at 530-274-1122 and set something up. Explore a variety of stylish options, including child-safe and cordless solutions. Upgrade your home with Budget Blinds of Grass Valley, located at 310 Colfax Avenue. Or call them at 530-274-1122 to set up your free in-home consultation today. Transforming your windows, transforming your home. This is Dennis Pearce. We're back with the KNCO Fishing and Outdoor Report. And I'm pleased to welcome to the program for the first time, Doug Ouellette. Doug lives over in the greater Reno area. He's retired now, but he's been guiding at Pyramid Lake for many, many years. Doug, welcome to the program. How are you doing, Dennis? Thanks for having me. Yeah. Today I was in the office and working and that kind of stuff. What did you do today? Well, I went out to Pyramid Lake. I went out to check it out, scout it out, see how things are going. And were you on shore or were you out on a boat? I was out on a boat. And we went from Pelican Point, where the boat launch is, up to Warrior Point. And kind of graphed some of that area, kind of looking for the bait fish and stuff like that. And what did you see? Is there a lot of bait at Pyramid on the west side this year? Well, there's a lot of bait fish all over the lake, Dennis. The tui chubs have been reproducing really good in the last decade. We did catch a couple of tui chubs that were over 15 inches. They usually grow about an inch a year. And we saw a bunch of little tiny ones right by the boat ramp at Pelican Point. So are almost all of the minnows in there tui chubs or is there a variety of minnows? Well, the tui chub is the native species. There's also Sacramento perch that were introduced in late 1880, right in there. And the cutthroat will eat their fry. And there's also the kuiwi, which is a native species. And the cutthroat will eat their youngsters as well. Okay. Now, at Eagle Lake, frequently on the program, I have Val Aubrey from up there. And at Eagle Lake, the trout there only eat small to each other. Once they get to 4, 5, 6 inches and bigger, the trout don't molest them at all. They pretty much target the young of the year. Will the big cutthroat trout there at Pyramid Lake, will they eat full size tui chub? Absolutely. I have pictures in my old Land of the Giants show where there's about a 15 to 18 inch tui chub hanging out of a cutthroat's mouth. And it was a smaller cutthroat, about 7 pounds, knowing that some of the fish at Pyramid go over 20 pounds. But they'll eat anything they can get in their mouth, Dennis. Okay. And when they swallow them, they swallow them head first, correct? Absolutely. So the tui chub of them, with the tui chub in their mouth, their tails are hanging out of their mouth. Okay. And they'll still grab a fly or a lure with a fish in their mouth. So they're always hungry. They're always. Well, that's my kind of fish. Yeah. So you've stayed pretty much on the west side then today. You didn't cross over the lake. No, we didn't go over to Red Bay or Anderson or the kitchen over there. But I know some of my friends that guide, they went over there today. And they've been over there since the season opened October 1st. They've been doing well over there. Okay. Because I have fished there in years past in October. What was the water surface temperature like today? At noon, it got up to 70 degrees. Wow. And about 10 o'clock, it was 68 degrees. Okay. So we're in the upper 60s over there. Where does that put the fish relative to depth? Well, they're going to go down to the temperature and oxygen that they're comfortable in. So right now, they're in 40 to 100 feet of water as a rule. They will sometimes go out of their comfort zone to eat. But there's so many tui chubs, and the tui chubs, they can tolerate a lower temperature and a higher temperature. So the tui chubs that will go deeper to the trout's comfort zone, they're in jeopardy. And the trout are feeding mostly from 70 feet right now. Okay. Is there a problem catching fish at 70 feet and bringing them all the way up to the surface, which is considerably warmer? Is that a real problem for that species of trout? Yes. It's very dangerous for any species of fish when they come up that much in depth because of the compression that they have to deal with. So the bigger fish can tolerate a lot more than a smaller fish. The smaller fish at Pyramid Lake would be anything up to maybe six or seven pounds. Believe it or not, those are small for there. But because the angler usually gets them up faster through the water column, they'll acquire air in their air bladder, and they'll be like there's a ball in there, you know, like a grapefruit. And they'll come up, and it's really dangerous for the fish. So the angler can do a couple of things, Dennis. They can take their time a little bit to fight the fish in. You know, don't wear them out, but let them get a chance to decompress as they come up. Or once they get them up, they can use a technique that I've gone over. You have to be gentle with them, but you want to burp them. And to burp them, you would have them upside down in the water in the net, and then push very gently on that air bladder towards their throat. Very gently, that's the key, and burp them, about four or five good, soft little pushes. And you can burp them that way. That way they can get back down. There's also something that's called, it's an apparatus that will descend them, a descender. So you hook it on the fish, and it has a little clip. The weight sends the fish down to the deeper depth, and you pull on the line, and the clip comes off. Now the fish is down there. So there's some safety precautions. I don't like to fish usually any deeper than 40 feet just because of the compression issue. Okay. Because it is mortally dangerous for them. Because I've never heard of that burping technique before, but that's really interesting, that that works. Yes, you have to have soft hands, so you don't want to just, you know, push too hard there. And another thing, time out of the water for fish is very critical, especially a big fish. If someone gets a big fish, like a 20-pound-plus fish there, it's really tough on the fish if they bring them into the boat to photograph them, because a lot of times they slip, and then they'll bang around on the bottom of the boat. The thing usually best to do is to take photographs of them in the water, like they do with tarpon. Keep them in the water if they can. Okay. That's really good advice. Really good advice. Now, from a historical perspective, when does the top of the lake cool off to trout temperatures where the fish will come up through the water column on their own? Okay. So, the season ends June 30th, and usually we get the summer heat, and that goes all the way through September and sometimes into early October. Like now, we had a pretty warm stretch last week. So, that's going to keep that water temperature really warm on top, so the fish go deeper. Now, next week, or in fact, tomorrow, we have a cold front coming in. Things are going to cool off. Things are supposed to be cool from now on. Usually by November, the fish are going to come in to 20 feet of water. And I like to start fishing from shore right around Thanksgiving. Okay. Because now the water is cooler, the fish are going to come in a little closer. Can you put a number to, if it's not below such and such a number, I don't want to fish from shore, I'm waiting for X as a number? Can you put a number to that? Well, the fish are going to kind of dictate that, Dennis, because they won't come in unless it's comfortable for them. Okay. A stream would be different, like say the Truckee River or any other stream like that. You know, when it gets to be in the mid-60s, you don't want to fish the streams at all. Because the water column, they can't go anywhere. But in the lake, the fish have the opportunity to go where they want to, where they're comfortable. So, they usually like about 53 degrees is their comfort zone. That's ideal. Yes, ideal. Okay. Because I know for years I would go to the NOAA website, and there they had Lake Tahoe and Pyramid Lake on the same page for weather. They would give you wind, waves, and sometimes, but not consistently, they'd give you the water surface temperature for Pyramid. And what I'm getting at is, can you give us a number below which you would consider going to fish from shore? High 50s? Yeah. And again, they're not going to probably come in there that way. The one time where that's dangerous would be in June. In June, they're just post-spawn. And then the water's going to get warm, like you're saying. It's going to be 65 or maybe almost 70. And some of the stragglers are coming in that didn't go back into the cooler water. Then I would leave those fish alone. Okay. Gotcha. When it comes to trying to imitate their food, what food sources are out there other than minnows? Tui Chub or Cuiwi Chub or whatever. Are there other food sources? Yeah. It has a big variety of food items that people are unaware of. Probably the reason is because it's a big body of water. There's a lot of different food, but it's not in big concentrated numbers. So, for instance, they have chironomids. They have scuds. There's at least two species of dragonfly nymphs. There's damselflies. And because of the different fish that are in there, it's a chain situation where the minnow is going to feed on the microinvertebrates, and it's a chain, and it gets up to the Tui Chubs. They feed on lots of different food items in there. But the human fish are a little different because they'll attack things. They're aggressive. So if you were to fish flies, for instance, a black woolly bugger or just a black woolly worm with no tails, a very good fly, the popcorn beetle, which is white foam with a chartreuse body, very, very effective, probably more big fish caught in the last 20 years than a popcorn beetle. And people ask, but it imitates? I believe it imitates a dragonfly nymph because there's two species in there, and they have a chartreuse belly, and they're white on top. Really? Yeah, and they come migrating in May usually, but they live in the ripples of the sand as the wind pushes the water and it breaks up the sand underneath, so you have little ripples when you wade out there in the sand. And those dragonfly nymphs will stay right in those ripples, those little ripples. Interesting. Yeah, and a lot of people don't know about that dragonfly situation. There's two different varieties. Okay. We are up against our second commercial break of the evening. Our guest this evening, Doug Boullette, and the topic is Fish and Pyramid Lake in Nevada, which is the end of the determinists for the Truckee River. We're going to be back after a word from our sponsors. Hi, I'm Pat Dyer. There are some things that never go out of style, beautiful craftsmanship, quality that lasts, and creating something that's truly one of a kind. That's what Utopian Stone has always been about. Whether you're looking for the perfect gift, custom-designed jewelry, a stunning gemstone, or expert jewelry repair, you'll find it right here at Utopian Stone. And because we believe every piece should be as unique as the person who wears it, we still live by the words that have guided us from the beginning. We design what we make, and we make what we sell. Today, tradition continues with my son, Mark, and his wife, Denise, and Master Goldsmith, Chad, carrying forward the same commitment to creativity, craftsmanship, and personal service you've come to expect from Utopian Stone. We invite you to stop by our beautiful store at the corner of Pine and Broad Street in historic Nevada City and discover what's new. Utopian Stone, designed with purpose, crafted with passion, and always made to last. Learn more at utopianstone.com. Getting a regular eye exam is important to maintain or improve your precious gift of sight. When you make your eye appointment with Chan Family Optometry, also make an appointment for your children. As a former grammar school teacher, one of my children went to get an eye exam. Come to find out his eyesight was limited to being able to see only a few hundred yards clearly. With his new glasses, he could see so well he could clearly see into his future. Whatever your needs, you can depend on Dr. Jerry Chan or Dr. Tiffany Chan. Make an eye appointment by going online at chanfamilyoptometry.com or by dialing 530-273-3190 to speak to one of the knowledgeable, friendly staff. Chan Family Optometry has proudly served Nevada County since 1978. The roots run deep for me, Margie Carr, owner of Reflection Skin Oasis. My dad and grandmother came to Nevada City on the Narrow Gauge Railroad in the 1930s. In my early adult career as a dental assistant, I fostered a love for helping and caring for people in their individual needs. Such is the emphasis at my skincare salon, Reflection Skin Oasis, where personalized care and real results in high-tech skincare diagnoses, along with 31 years of experience for finding the best treatments and products for your skin. Come in and enjoy the boutique quality that Reflection Skin Oasis is known for, along with skincare design just for your individual needs. Reflection Skin Oasis, 138 Colfax Avenue, Suite No. 2, Grass Valley, CA. Phone 530-274-9053 or text 530-277-9706. This is Dennis Pearce. We're back with the KNCO Fishing and Outdoor Report. Our guest this evening, Doug Ouellette. Doug is now a retired fly fishing guy, but he spent many, many years guiding on Pyramid Lake. Doug, the reason I asked you about the food chain over there is that in the last 20-25 years, fly fishing with a float indicator type thing and suspending a large midge down below the surface had become really, really popular over there. Yet, when I've been around Pyramid Lake, I've never noticed hatches over there. Are there big midges like that, like the flies that we use over there at Pyramid Lake? The natural midges that hatch there are usually olive, and they're much smaller than some of the midge imitations that are being used. Some of the midges have gotten smaller than they used to be. When I was guiding, for instance, I used big ones, and it was almost like a Las Vegas billboard. They'd come by and see this big hanging thing, and they'd just slam it. We had a 49er pattern, which was red and gold, which was very effective. A big chance bomber was effective, and I was using size 8s, Dennis, quite a bit. Now, most of the guys are using smaller than that. 10s, 12s, sometimes even smaller, 16s. But they're 3 times long hook shanks, so 16 is bigger than you'd think. But I used big ones, and they were very effective for what I did. I don't usually use an indicator when I fish, but when I was guiding, I did, because I was getting paid good money, and these people wanted to catch fish, and a lot of them didn't fish a lot. They didn't have the hand skills. So that's why a fixed line with an indicator was effective, because the line was already fixed for them, and then it presents the midge vertically like it should be. Now, is it seasonal when the midge fishing is effective? Or is it... Just give me some indications on that. Yeah. Usually it has to do with if the fish are there. If the fish are available, they'll take it, probably no matter what time of year, especially when it's on an indicator. But if you take the indicator off, and then you fish without one, you know, a free line, it's much more difficult, and that's usually better in the spring. So you can get them in November, December, throughout the year if you can get to the fish. That's the biggest key, like in all angling, is getting to the proper depth and locating the animals. So they would work throughout the year. Okay. The other thing that I sort of break Pyramid Lake into is shoreline style. There's a lot of places with big sandy bottom flats, and then there's other places that drop off rather steeply, or even regardless of depth, but with a rocky bottom out there instead of the big sand flats. Is there a seasonality to fishing sandy, beachy areas versus real rocky areas? Yeah. Sometimes the rocky areas will be more drop-off water. It's not going to be a gradual beach. Like in the sand beaches, a lot of times they're a little bit longer. If you go on the south side, however, at the blockhouse or sand hole or the catchment part, it drops off real quick. But if you're at, say, the north or south nets on the west side, which is part of Pelican Beach, it's a sandy beach, and usually water temperatures are going to dictate, they always do, where the fish are going to go. So at the water temperatures, which usually I'll start fishing, my favorite times of the year for shore fishing would be February, March, because the bigger fish, usually not as many, but that's a lot of trophy fish are that time of year, and into April sometimes. But then we'll get some of the algae blooms in April. So that kind of mucks things up a little bit. Okay. But with the rockier, steeper shore, you can access that with a little bit warmer surface temperature since you've got deep water close to shore? Yes, that's right. Okay. You know, the rocky areas are very good because it's good to each other habitat, which brings those big fish into feed, like the rocks over by Pelican, the boat launch. That's a very popular place. A lot of guys will peg a chronomid, a midge pattern, with an indicator, and they'll just sit there and watch the bobber type thing, and it's very effective. They get some really big fish in those rocky areas. In the rocky areas, it's tougher to cast and retrieve because you're going to get hung up. So it usually is best to use something like an indicator. Okay. Yeah, to measure, because it pegs your line to a fixed depth. Okay. Now, if you're fishing the rocky areas throwing streamers, you know, baitfish imitations, can you fish them high in the water column, or are the fish primarily bottom or structure oriented? Well, as long as you keep it off the rocks in the bottom, you know, and as you retrieve, your line usually sinks, and then it's sometimes too deep and it's going to snag rocks, the tufa rocks there, and you're not going to get your stuff back most of the time. Even, you know, 15-pound test, you'll break off. So you have to be careful that way, Dennis. It would be good to use maybe a 200-grain, which is a lighter shooting head in that scenario, cast or retrieving right away, and when the fish are hungry, they'll chase. They'll chase and attack. Okay. But if you use a heavier shooting head, like, say, a 350 or 400-grain, which is heavy, you're going to get hung up a lot. Okay. And you won't be able to back cast either with the rocks, because if you're in the rocks and the rocks are behind you, you'll have to do a side cast or maybe a roll-type cast to get it out, but that's why the indicators are effective, and a lot of guys use the switch rods and do, like, a semi-roll cast because of the rocks behind them. Okay. Gotcha. As a general rule of thumb, is pulling baitfish imitators or things that swim horizontally, is that most effective at the beach areas? It's effective everywhere. If the fish are there and they're hungry, they'll grab that presentation just about anywhere on the lake. It's really good on the sandy beaches because you don't have hangups. You can cast, retrieve, and let it, you know, get down close to the bottom and then retrieve, and you want to bury the retrieves when you do, and one important thing is to change the angle of your cast, and when you find an angle where you cook a fish, go right back to that angle. Now, by angle, you mean, like, 90 degrees to the beach or 45 degrees to the beach? Yeah, anywhere from, you know, you could basically cast to, but usually from, like, say, 30 degrees to 50 degrees, something like that, but the wind is important, so when you, because of the currents, they have a lot of currents there, when you have a retrieve that works, say you cast a little bit over to your right, and you hook a fish, try to do that same angle again. There's times when you want to cast into the wind. Sometimes you want to cast downwind. They kind of like it, like the steelhead down and across. It's a really good presentation, but once you find one, you want to try to remember what you did. Sometimes you can't. You go, what did I do? I don't know. You know, even if your buddy's watching you, you don't remember what you did, but try to repeat what you did when you caught a fish. The reason I'm sort of smiling is you're describing me. I've caught fish, and what did I do? What did I just do? I'm just sort of mechanically casting and not really paying attention. One of the best retrieves, Dennis, is the look-away grab. If you're not catching anything, look away and see what your buddies are doing. Just keep retrieving while you're not looking, and sometimes that works. Either that or get on the phone because they're like kids. They'll grab it when you're not looking. Good advice. I got one other question because you were sort of scouting around on the west side today. Years ago, I was there with a buddy of mine, Ed Fisk. He's a local from Grass Valley. We went to Warrior Point, and then we started heading south from Warrior Point, and we found a hole in the bottom of the lake there. There was a rim to it, and it was like 60, 70, 50 feet of water, and then it dropped off to like 100, 110, something like that. I forget the exact numbers. Then I went back another year and looked for that on electronics with a boat and couldn't find it. Do you know where I'm talking about? Well, from south of Warrior is Jiggers Bay, and that's deep, and that might be where you're talking about. The one thing about Pyramid is with the heavy currents, another thing, if anybody goes out in a float tube or something like that or a pontoon boat, be very careful because the currents are very powerful and they're very deceiving. The sandbars and the beaches will change from storm to storm sometimes. Over the course of a year, they'll change. So be careful, especially down by the block house where the sand drops off quickly. It's posted there. Be careful because those beaches in us will change, and that hole you were talking about might be full of sand now. Things change. Yes. Okay. Gotcha. Well, Doug, we've sort of run out of time for our interview for this evening. I really enjoyed talking to you and would like to have you come back again once Pyramid cools down enough to fish for shore. That sounds good. All right. What does it cost to fish at Pyramid now? Because it's an Indian reservation and you need to get a permit directly from the tribe rather than from the state of Nevada, correct? That's correct, Dennis, and it's about the same as one day fishing California, Oregon, or Washington. It's $27 a day, and I think California, Oregon, and Washington is like somewhere $27, somewhere $29 a day. So some people think it's expensive, but it correlates with what the other states do for one day of fishing. Okay. But can you get the permits or the fishing license, I guess you'd call it, online? Yes, you can. PyramidLake.us. You go to the Pyramid Lake website, and then they'll go through the process there, click on the buttons, and you can get them online or you can get them at the ranger station at the lake. Okay. Doug Willett, thank you for taking the time to be with us this evening, and I look forward to having you back on the program again. I appreciate it, Dennis. Thank you very much. Take care. We're going to go to our third commercial break of the evening, and we'll be back after a word from our sponsors. Grass Valley Provisions Save more at Grass Valley Provisions with their loyalty program. Sign up in-store and get 20% off your first purchase, plus a one-cent pre-roll welcome gift. Earn points with every visit and unlock more rewards as you move through the loyalty tiers. You must be 21 or older with a valid ID. Shop GBProvisions.com or visit 403 Idaho-Maryland Road. Open daily 9 to 9. Grass Valley Provisions, lift up your day the Grass Valley way. Did you know that over 50% of Americans don't feel confident about their retirement? I'm Seth Leishman. And I'm Rick Fisher. You know us as Ostro Financial Consultants. As the trusted voice on financial guidance here on KNCO. For over 40 years, we've been helping individuals, families, and businesses in our community secure their financial futures. At Ostro Financial, we don't just manage investments. We create personalized strategies that turn your dreams into achievable goals. Whether it's retiring early, funding education, or building a legacy. As your neighbors, we understand your finances can work for you or against you. At Ostro Financial, we make sure they're always on your side. Ready to take the next step? Call us today at 530-273-4425. Or find us online at OstroFinancial.com. Planning for retirement isn't easy. If you don't know where to start, tune in to Bright Lake Wealth Presents Retirement Talks with Ted Thatcher every Sunday morning at 10. Ted shares helpful tips and strategies that just might change the course of your retirement. Listen every Sunday at 10 to Bright Lake Wealth Presents Retirement Talks with Ted Thatcher. Hope in a bright future. Bright Lake Wealth Management offers investment advisory services and is registered with the SEC. This is Dennis Pearce. We're back with the KNCO Fishing and Outdoor Report. A bunch of fish reports got in here. I made phone calls this afternoon. One of the real interesting ones is Mark Pilgrim. He's sort of been my go-to bass guy over the last year. He lives up at Chester Lake Almanor. He was on the lake today pre-fishing for a guide trip he's got tomorrow. He said today was just a magic day up there at Lake Almanor. He said the water was like glass. There was hardly anything going on wind-wise. That sort of a thing up there. He said that he had a terrific day. Somewhere between two to two and a half dozen fish today. He's got that horizontal looking radar sonar underwater stuff. He said he could spot the fish and throw to them and watch them chase after the bait. He's throwing pond smelt imitation minnow imitations up there. Most of the fish were in the 13 to 15 foot depth. Sort of bottom oriented. He said today was absolutely really, really good. That rainstorm I mentioned as I was driving back Sunday night, Monday morning. It rained. He said they got a real substantial rainstorm up there at Almanor. It rained for quite a long period of time. It really didn't cool the lake off that much. The lake is still 61, 62, 63, 64. Depending on whether it's first thing in the morning or last thing in the afternoon. We've had warm sunny weather. He said we're coming out of that and they're going to get into fall cool temperatures. That's the prognostication for next week. We are heading into the really good time of October as the water starts dropping off. Both at Almanor, dropping off in temperature. Both at Almanor, Eagle, Lake Davis. A whole bunch of different fisheries out there. October is just a really, really good month to get up there. Talked to Mike Peace. Mike was a member of the Gold Country Fly Fishers. I think he might still be, but he lives over in the Quincy area. He's been fishing at Lake Davis. He is going to be guiding on there once the water temperatures drop to where they need to be. He said right now it's just like Eagle Lake and Almanor with the 61 through 64 degree temperature regime over the course of a day. He has picked up a couple of really nice fish over there that are in the 20 inch range. Maybe 21 inch, but there are some really nice 3 pound, 3.5 pound fish over there. The ones he was able to get in the recent past have been right down on the bottom in deep water. There are flies that are like, they call them balanced leeches, but they are a jig. They are like a crappie jig sort of a thing. Fishing that kind of stuff he has picked up a few. In general, with the warm weather that we have had this week, he described Lake Davis as slow. It needs to drop the water temp into the 50s, which hopefully we are going to see here in this coming week. It's just a bit warm. The weeds haven't really started breaking off and dying back yet. The prime time for Lake Davis is right around the corner. It could end up being this week that we get down into the right temperatures down there. I talked to Val Aubrey this afternoon about Eagle Lake and she has been doing well. Again, the same water temperature regime up there from 61 to 64 degrees. As a matter of fact, she was saying that the water temperature is similar all the way down to the bottom. The other thing that is going on at Eagle Lake is really fine particulate algae. The size of a grain of sand, but it is suspended in the water up near the surface. She said that the wind can move that stuff. Across the lake, if you have still conditions, you can have two foot, three foot of that algae stuff right at the top of the water column. The stuff grows on sunlight is one of the main ingredients for it. In the wintertime, when it gets really cold and overcast, you don't get much in the way of algae there. This time of the year, when the water is still up in the 60s, that stuff grows and it is sunshine that really drives it. She was noticing when she was out fishing this past week that the wind was drifting that algae into masses. She was going through some of those with her fish finder. She was seeing that the algae wasn't two to three feet thick, but in certain locations where the wind pushed it into piles, it would be as much as ten feet thick. She said that she was running two different lines that were doing well for her. There was the Jay Fair top line that fishes one foot, two foot, maybe three foot down. It all depends on how fast you are running your boat as to how deep that system works. She was also running two colors of leadcore that should have got her down six foot, eight foot. Off both of those systems, she was catching fish. The hot orange Jay Fair fly was the ticket for her there. The other thing she mentioned that I found real interesting was that if you've got a good breeze blowing and it's been blowing for an extended period of time, if you go to the upwind shore of the lake, that algae has been pushed away from the shore and you've got clear water. Depending on wind speed, how long it's been going, but you can have water out to 10 feet deep, 10 or 15 feet with no algae and it's clear and you can see down to the bottom. She said under those conditions, she will go to the upwind side of the lake, whether it's a south wind, east wind, west wind, whatever it is, but she will go to that location and check and see if she can find clear water there and then start fishing parallel to shoreline, trolling with the Jay Fair top line in that clear water going back and forth. She said the fish are attracted to that clear water. It's been her experience that that attracts the fish getting away from that algae to the upwind shore of the lake. Anyways, it's something to think about and if you get to other lakes with a lot of weedy algae type rich water, you might look at the upwind side to see if there's a lot of fish activity there or not. What she's been seeing in the bellies of most of the trout she's been catching have been Daphnia, which is a drifting creature. Let's just go there without getting into the biology, but that's what a lot of the trout have on their diet right now. 20 inch fish that are running 3 pounds are a real common trout to be caught there. The other thing, Justin Leonard last weekend went up to Bullard's Bar and he went there to go bass fishing. He went all the way to the back end of the lake where the North Yuba comes in and he said there's kokanee all over in there. They're dark, they're small, you know, 8-9 inch fish because this year was a disappointing year for adult kokanee there at Bullard's Bar, but he said there's tons of them. They're actually breaking the surface and jumping out of the water in some locations, but there's just a ton of kokanee were there a week ago last Saturday or Sunday, so they might have started heading up the North Yuba by now, I'm not exactly sure. He spent his time bass fishing, throwing soft plastics, and he started from up there near where the North Yuba comes in and fished his way down the lake, casting to the shoreline. He was using soft plastics, a variety of different soft plastic bass worms and did really, really well. He said that they had 15 or 20 fish for a few hours of fishing along the shore. Most of them were the cookie cutter size bass, but he said the biggest one he caught was up around 15 inches, so there's some good ones back up in there, but if you're looking for a place to go do some bass fishing, I wish we had Scott's Flat open. I haven't even looked at Scott's Flat as far as can you launch a boat there or not. You can with a kayak, but I'm not sure whether they still have the golden mussel restrictions or not. You can look them up on the NID website to find out, but a nice place to go do some bass fishing, Bullard's Bar has got to be a good one for you to go back there and try. Okay, that's about it for this evening's program. Oh, I talked to Tom Page. Trout fishing on the lower Yuba is good. The egg bite is not really happening. There aren't that many salmon in there, and what he's starting to do right now is he's booking steelhead trips over on the Feather River now that the Feather River flows are dropping down. When a guide says he's shifting from the Yuba over to the Feather, it's steelhead time over on the Feather River. There's a lot of salmon over there. They're on the Reds. Egg bite should be going real strong over there. But anyways, if you want to do steelheading, look to the Feather. This is Dennis Pierce for the KNCO Fishing and Outdoor Report. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back here next Friday evening. Nevada Union High School coming up next. Hey, Jim, are you there? Bet you're going fishing all the time, baby, going fishing too. Yes. Bet your life, your sweet wife's going to catch more fish than you. Many fish bites if you got good bait. Oh, here's a little tip that I would like to relay. Many fish bites if you got good bait. Mama's going fishing. Mama's going fishing. Yes. She's going fishing too. There's more priceless car show advice in six minutes here on KNCO, Grass Valley, Nevada City, 106.9 FM and 830 AM. It's six o'clock. --- end of transcript ---