DENNIS CASSINELLI
Many times, when I wore a younger manâs clothes, my family and I enjoyed weekend trips to Pyramid Lake. This beautiful body of water is one of the last remnants of Ancient Lake Lahontan that once covered much of northern Nevada. Several times, we fished for the cui-ui fish when they were running to the mouth of the Truckee River in the Spring. In later years, when I had a motor boat, several of us fished for the cutthroat trout that can reach the size of salmon.
Pyramid Lake is located on the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation and permits for fishing must be obtained from the tribe. When I had my boat, I sometimes crossed over to the eastern shore of the lake where many interesting tufa formations can be seen. One of these is the âStone Mother and Basketâ and nearby is the stunning 500-foot high pyramid shaped formation that inspired John C. Fremont to name the place Pyramid Lake in 1844.