i've been to pyramid a few times and used rental boats...any tips for catching stripers or smallmouths?? i'm going to be using a rental boat so i can't go from point to point that fast. and i use 4 pound flourocarbon stuff. any help would be great!

dont forget to bring some frozen anchovies...or buy some from the lady at the parking stand where you pay to get in...I say frozen anchovies because depending on how you cast...fishing under the hot sun in pyramid can thaw out the anchovies pretty quickly and make them mushy...and they fly right off your hooks...I have had great success at pyramid with stripers...in fact i have been trying to stripers at castaic and always got skunked...but the first time I fished pyramid...we got 5 stripers(19inches long)....

I just fly line them.....no weight...just flip it out and just let it drift....and watch your line...at the gate...get a map...and I think the good place to get them is near the dam...and also spanish point...theres this place where you can tie your rental boat to alongside the cliff and just fish the the rocky points...

Try fishing cut anchovies. Bluechalice is right, make sure you keep 'em frozen or they will fall right off your hook, either when you cast, or when you try to set the hook.

Try fishing at the dam near the buoy. DON'T tie up to the buoy, it is illegal, and they DO write tickets for it. Meter the fish, then fish that depth...this year they seem to be holding at 40-60ft. You can use a weight, or flyline (depends on the wind).

Another good place to try is Yellowbar (all the way at the other end). Fish the stripers the same way here (just not as deep).

Chop up some small pieces of chovie, then toss them over to bring the fish up. I have had days up there this year when I got bit EVERY single cast!

Make sure you bring enough bait. My advice is to get your chovies before you get up there...sometimes the bait shop runs out. Also, in my experience I have found that when the stipers are on bait, that is pretty much all they will bite--even more reason to make sure you have enough bait. I can't tell you how many times anglers have pulled up next to me and tried to barter for some bait. Heck, a bag of chovies is about $2, so why not stock up. You can always bring them home and freeze them.

Watch out for skiers and PWC. The lake is a zoo on the weekend. If you go on the weekend, go early!

Be safe, and good luck!!!

sound great but i dont have a fish finder...should i just drop lines at various depths?? and how many chovie bags?? i usually use about half a bag...

Yup...cut up some small pieces of anchovies and dump them in the water near you-CHUM....they go crazy...my friend once had a fish finder....and once they threw in the chum...you can see the fish start gathering beneath you....I have seen some people use mackerel too...they have this foot long mackerel and they just cut small pieces off it....but heck you can even try throwing a whole frozen mackerel...might get a 40 pounder...lol...I didnt try that buy should have...
I think by using the anchovies...and if you let it sink all the way to the bottom...you might hook up with some nice catfish too...

Bring a few bags. I have gone through 4 bags in a morning bite once! It was WIDE OPEN!

When fishing stripers, I usually fish 2 rods. On the second rod, I bait up a whole chovie, and put a trap hook on it, then I put it is the rod holder and strap it in. I usually fish this one with 10#, with hopes for a bigger fish.

If you don't have a fish finder, don't worry. Just estimate your depth, and try different depths. If the fish are there, you should eventually get hooked up. I have had good luck with a 1/4oz slider 1 1/2 ft above the hook, then casting out as far as I can, then letting the bait settle. The 1/4oz weight allows you to get the bait out farther than if you only had a split-shot or flylined bait. The other way is to drop your bait straight down and count...1 one thousand, 2 one thousand, 3 one thousand, and so forth. REMEMBER what "count" you are fishing...try starting at 20, then to 25, then 30, and so forth till you find the fish. It is REALLY deep at the dam (over 200ft) so you can go pretty deep.

If you are on a rental, you want to get there EARLY. Get to the dam very early, fish, and get out of there...the water skiers and jet skiers generally have no regard for fisherman, and it will be pretty rough out there!

Try going on a weekday, you will have a much better experience!

trap hook?? whats is it??

Here is a picture of a traphook. I borrowed this picture from another website. Traphooks are commonly used for halibut. I adopted it for stripers, and have had good luck with it.

Sorry, I forgot to explain the picture. The trebble hook (trap hook) goes into the tail-area of the chovie. This way, if you get short-bit, you have a better chance of hooking up!

Here are some stripers I caught on cut anchovies up at Pyramid in January.

My advise is don't go . You'll be wasting your time and money due to the following reasons .

1. Idiots on seadoos and wake boarders / water skiers . There is just way to many of them . I'm talking about almost every square inch of that lake is overun by them . That includes Yellowbar and what seemed like every cove we tried hiding in .

2. If you go to the dam in a (slow @$$) rental boat , you wont be able to reach the bottom with their cheap @$$ anchor . You also are not allowed to tie off to the only buoy out there. If you do, the stupid lake cops will give you a ticket or worse. Worse , being one of there saftey lectures and how we should all follow the rules and read the "No Mooring Allowed " written on the buoy . The one that the word "no" was coverd by bird #### . So it looked like it said "Mooring Allowed ".

3. Also the fishing really sucks right now .

So save your time and money, but if you go good luck . You'll need it..

Fish junkie, you're killing me. Yahhhh. Stay home or poach the lake at night.

Just to let you know I am the one who cleaned up your post. Foul language isnt welcome here

My bad , I didn't know This board was under a "church rules" type censorship that "bird$hit" was a bad word .