Pyramid Lake fly fishing for desert trout

Pyramid Lake in Nevada, USA, is home to the world’s largest cutthroat trout. Rasmus Ovesen takes us to this desert lake, once a vast inland ocean, offering a unique form of fly fishing where stepladders are part of the basic outfit.

I have done stupid things in my life and as a fly fisherman I’ve often stooped shockingly low – lower than I’d normally be willing to admit. Nonetheless, I never thought my obsession with catching big trout on fly would one day see me towering idiotically from a stepladder in the middle of an American desert lake, thoughtlessly staring at an inanimate strike indicator the size of a small buoy. But, here I am: in the bitter cold of winter, like an apathetic hunter in a “hochsitz”, with my fly rod in a flaccid grip and the crackling electrical feeling of shame trickling down my spine. To prevent stupidity from completely engulfing and overwhelming me, I gently tug the bright orange styrofoam ball to make the nymphs below twitch a little – and give the impression I’m actually fishing.

The worst thing is I’m not alone with these feelings. Several other fly fishermen have climbed atop stepladders along the lake’s dramatic depth curves. They speak gleefully, laugh loudly and whip their disproportionately big indicators out in front of their ladders with abrupt coarse fishing-like fly casts without the slightest intimation of shame or ethical scruples. They’re all doing it, but as I sit perched above the water, I can’t help feeling like a turd on a pedestal. There are no mitigating circumstances; no cheap points to be scored on casting style or technique – and contrary to other fishermen, I can’t get a single take. This is an all-time low in my fly fishing career and the thought of having endured 36 hours of travelling to get here rips me.