A very cold arctic air mass has swept down and blanketed all of Truckee-Reno-and Lake Tahoe with very cold temps.

We picked up almost a foot of snow here in the Hirsch, and upwards of 2 feet on top. Honestly, here in Hirschdale we have not had a storm like this since ’11. I actually used the snowblower on this one.

Pyramid Lake is where it’s at right now. The core of low pressure associated with this last storm is spinning around the Great Basin and keeping the wind and chop and cloud cover ongoing at the lake this week. That’s what you want, but it is cold. If you go, be prepared. Dress in layers, lots. Neoprene waders are the best, 5 mm. Another trick is to put latex free surgical gloves on under your fishing gloves. Dry hands= warm hands. Goggles, yes, ski goggles are good for the wind. If you go prepared you will be comfortable.

Buggers and beetles, or the standard Pyramid Lake shooting head rig is working. Longer leaders with a pair of heavy nymphs will work good too. If you have a lot of chop the indicator rig sometimes is the best though. It will jig your flies and leave them in the zone the longest. We tie our nymphs big and heavy to keep the wash out of our leader. On a tighter line you are more connected. We almost always use 15 pound flouro. Yes, 15 pound, or around 0x.

I did a podcast with the Jim at the Reno Fly Shop. Check it out and enjoy your Thanksgiving.