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Home › Waters › Nevada › Pyramid Lake
Lake · Northern Nevada · Nevada

Pyramid Lake Fishing Guides

A desert terminal lake north of Reno on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, where anglers stand on ladders in the shallows for Lahontan cutthroat that grow larger than anywhere else on earth.

Green river water in a deep sandstone canyon in northern Arizona
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Pyramid Lake

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

About the Pyramid Lake

Pyramid Lake is the remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan, a terminal desert lake north of Reno with no outlet, surrounded by tufa formations and bare desert mountains. It lies entirely within the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, and it is fished under tribal permits and tribal rules rather than Nevada state regulations.

The lake holds Lahontan cutthroat trout, the largest-growing cutthroat in the world. The original strain was lost in the twentieth century when the Truckee River was dewatered and the spawning run failed; the fish now in the lake come from a rediscovered remnant population and decades of restoration work by the tribe and its partners. Fish of serious size are a realistic expectation, which is why anglers travel a long way for them.

The fishing is unlike anywhere else. Anglers stand on stepladders in the shallows to reach the drop-off with a fly line, or cast from the beaches, and the season runs through the cold months when the fish are close to shore. Trolling and boat fishing are also productive.

Because this is tribal land, permits are required for fishing, launching and camping, and the rules on tackle, seasons and closures are specific and enforced. They are also the reason the fishery exists. Read them before you go.

The gauge below reports lake elevation. Pyramid has no outlet, so its level is a direct record of how much water the Truckee River has delivered against how much has evaporated, and the long decline and partial recovery of that number is the story of the lake.

This water needs a real photo

The photo at the top of this page is not Pyramid Lake.

It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.

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Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Fished this water? Add a photo

Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Pyramid Lake.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

Permits from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe are required for fishing and access.
Sutcliffe: the main services, marina and ranger station.
Beaches along the western shore are the classic fly fishing access.
The Nets, Pelican Point and Warrior Point: well-known shore locations.
Boat launching is permitted at designated sites with a permit.
Reno is roughly forty minutes away for full services.
Note: tribal land throughout. Permits, seasons and tackle rules are enforced.

Seasons

Winter: the heart of the season, fish close to shore and the best chance at a large one.
Spring: continued strong fishing until the season closes.
Summer: the lake is closed or very limited; fish are deep and stressed.
Fall: the season reopens and the fish move back toward the shallows.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Pyramid Lake?

Anglers target Cutthroat Trout, Lahontan Cutthroat Trout on the Pyramid Lake in Nevada.

Are there fishing guides on the Pyramid Lake?

GuidedFloats lists 2 guides and outfitters on the Pyramid Lake. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Pyramid Lake?

Permits from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe are required for fishing and access. Sutcliffe: the main services, marina and ranger station. Beaches along the western shore are the classic fly fishing access. The Nets, Pelican Point and Warrior Point: well-known shore locations. Boat launching is permitted at designated sites with a permit. Reno is roughly forty minutes away for full services. Note: tribal land throughout. Permits, seasons and tackle rules are enforced.

When is the best time to fish the Pyramid Lake?

Winter: the heart of the season, fish close to shore and the best chance at a large one. Spring: continued strong fishing until the season closes. Summer: the lake is closed or very limited; fish are deep and stressed. Fall: the season reopens and the fish move back toward the shallows.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Pyramid Lake?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Nevada agency site: https://www.ndow.org/rules-regulations/