"Come on James, what have you got to lose?" Randy stated it in his
manner-of-fact way, luring me in.
His proposal sounded fishy. Get up at 1-2 am, drive 2 hours to a lake in
the middle of nowhere, park behind a locked gate with 50 or so other
fishermen not smart enough to think of an excuse for not going, then
wait until daylight for the Gate Keeper to show up with the key. Fun.
"We ALWAYS catch fish. Most years we catch around 30-40 and one year we
caught close to 50!" he said. Sounded like a line to me but OK, I'll
bite. "What do you think of just driving up the night before and
sleeping in the truck?" I ask hesitantly.
So that's just what we did.
It was 9:30 pm when we pulled out of my driveway. A strange feeling
leaving home so late at night, my wife and daughter watching us depart
when normally I'm kissing them goodnight and getting ready for bed.
After a couple hours of staring at the asphalt in the headlights we
arrived at the lake. Midnight, or as we called it, "Beer-thirty." At
least we were close to the front, third in line. You need to get there
early since the parking lot by the lake is very small. Otherwise you add
hiking to your fishing trip. A couple beers and a hour's worth of
hunting stories, we succumbed to dreaming of the next days events.
After a few fitful hours of trying to sleep in the front seat of Randy's
Ford the sky began to brighten. I looked over for my fishing partner but
he was already up and getting ready. I just ignored his hummingbird-like
preparations and tried to catch the other 39 winks I'm sure I'd
misplaced somewhere. Eventually there was no fighting it. I grudgingly
pried my eyes open around four and crawled from my warm seat to greet
the morning.
"Brrrrr..." I thought as I opened my door. Once outside I looked over
the bed of the truck at the lunatic that conned me into going on this
grand adventure. I watched in sleepy fascination as he darted around,
pulling gear from here and placing it there. Moving to help, we spent a
little time organizing our equipment. A final check and there was
nothing left to do but wait. A few stories were shared with the other
idiots in line while we waited for that magic man to show up and let us
in. Then, around 4:30 a truck cruised by the end of the line. Could this
be him? Is it finally time? The Key Master had arrived and we shot off
to the lake!
Holding on for dear life I tried to listen to Randy's plan as we raced
down the dusty dirt road, the smell of alkaline filling my nostrils. I
guess fishing this lake for so many years has taught him a few tricks.
While the other guys wasted time pulling their crafts from the back of
their vehicles and leisurely loading them with all their gear we shot
into a prime parking spot, grabbed Randy's boat and hauled it to the
lake's edge at a run. With one more dash, arms full of gear and
batteries, we pushed off and were on the water! Ha! We had beat everyone
out (except for the folks that, somehow, were parked inside the gate the
night before...but we won't go into that right now).
Motoring out through a long channel full of moss and weeds the day
started calm and cool. Eventually we got past the shallows and wetted
our lines in the dark waters. Things started off a little slow for the
first 15 minutes and then it happened. Fish after fish, they were ready
to feed and let us know it! The action was so fast we teased each other
if it took more than a couple minutes to have one on. Sure, there were a
time or two when we didn't hook into a trout for 1/2 hour or so but most
of the time we got a strike every few minutes. It was one of those days
of fishing that you could hardly drink your beer as you were so busy
trying to set the hook. Just terrible...
A little while before the journey back I reeled in and set my pole down,
spent and unable to catch any more, my right arm and hand shaking from
over exertion. Early afternoon came and it was time to go.
Snapping pictures and laughing we had a perfect day, warm and sunny with
cool breezes. Beautiful lake, nice weather, and good friends. Just
doesn't get any better than that! Between the two of us we estimate
(conservatively) that we caught at least 60 trout. Yes, around 30 big
Lahontan Cutthroats for each of us. Usually between 2-3 pounds and one
each around 4 pounds. There are a few 10 pounders in that lake but no
real big lunkers for us this year.
Contact Power for more information. 
