THE OUTDOORS : The Stars Are Stripers : These Hungry, Aggressive Bass Are Setting the Tone for Good Fishing at Pyramid Lake

Nestled below high jagged cliffs in the midst of the wilderness that surrounds Pyramid Lake, one might feel far from bustling Los Angeles.

Deer roam the area, and black bears can be seen at night, according to lake concessioners. Great blue herons flap and glide slowly from shore to shore, casting prehistoric-looking reflections on the water. Ducks paddle quietly near water’s edge searching for food.

Below the lake, tucked into the northwest corner of Los Angeles County, miners are said to still pan for gold in nearby Piru Creek. And high above it lies the only reminder of how close civilization really is, Interstate 5, bearing the tractor-trailers that chug steadily into and out of Los Angeles, only 30 or so miles away.

One might also be surprised at the life in the lake itself, considering that as part of the California aqueduct system, it holds the water many Southern Californians drink.

Limits of trout, mostly pan-sized, are pulled onto the banks regularly. Largemouth bass--the lake record stands at nearly 10 pounds--can be caught almost anywhere along 21 miles of shoreline. Smallmouth bass are available, too. And so are huge catfish.

But what really draws the crowds to this scenic reservoir are visitors from up north. Not fishermen, but fish, voracious feeders which, as fingerlings, trickle down from the San Joaquin delta and through the aqueduct, feeding and growing along the way.

Striped bass, big and strong, have in recent years turned Pyramid Lake into one of California’s most productive fisheries.

“It’s the top freshwater fish,” said Bob Hanley, who has fished Pyramid Lake 4 times a week for the last 5 years.

Fly fishermen may prefer a 10-pound brown trout, but as far as fight is concerned, there’s no comparison.

Hungry stripers are extremely aggressive, hitting the surface hard while attacking their prey--from rainbow trout to small birds--at full bore.

“When it’s time to attack, they can’t help themselves,” said Paul Selkirk, considered one of the lake’s top fishermen. “It’s like they have a suicide pact. . . . They eat anything that moves.”

Selkirk claims to have witnessed ducklings being swallowed in a single gulp by striped bass on a feeding binge. Dave Drake, a fisheries biologist with the Department of Fish and Game, said he has seen stripers race up sandy beaches while chasing small fish.

During such feeding frenzies, primarily but not limited to the early morning and late afternoon hours, fishermen react in kind. Trout anglers put away their ultra-light gear and break out saltwater rods and reels. Hurriedly, they stumble across the rocky shoreline to where the stripers are boiling.

They congregate on the jetties and crowd the banks. Boaters line up and squeeze in where they can. Jockeying for position is part of the game. There is none of the laid-back serenity associated with fishing for other species.

“There was no place to fish when we first got here,” said Eric Cole, 12, of Lancaster, whose father let him play hookie for a first-time striper experience.

After squeezing between the bodies to the water’s edge, however, he caught four stripers, including an 18-pounder. “It almost pulled me in the water,” he said.

The lake record, caught by Selkirk, is 40 pounds 2 ounces. Common catches include fish in the 15- to 20-pound class.

During such bites, big lures in various shapes and colors--many of the homemade variety--plop onto the lake’s surface like huge rain drops on a sidewalk puddle.

Hookups are fast and frequent, as the brilliantly colored fish--the meat of which is considered excellent--zing lines and bend stout rods in their frantic efforts to escape.

By day’s end, stringers of stripers line the waterfront.

And all comers are happy. Or are they?

Selkirk, who claims that he catches--and releases--about 20 stripers a week, is definitely not happy. Nor are many other lake regulars who believe that the fishery is falling on hard times.

Michael Evans of Sherman Oaks echoed the feeling among such regulars recently when addressing another fisherman, who had netted a small striper and was stuffing it into his bag.

“Hey you!,” he yelled angrily. “You should be embarrassed to keep a small fish like that! There’s not going to be any (striped bass) left if people like you keep fishing here.”

The feeling is that more fish are being taken out of the lake than are finding their way in. The smaller fish, they say, should be returned to feed and grow to be caught another day.

Striped bass, native to the Atlantic coast and introduced in the San Francisco Bay in 1879, need flowing water to spawn and therefore can’t reproduce in the lake itself.

The DFG used to stock the lake with striped bass but discontinued the effort in 1982 because the lake was getting an ample supply from the aqueduct. It has also eased the limits, from 3 stripers 18 inches or longer to 5 stripers with no size limit.

That same year, the William E. Warne power plant, located just upstream from the lake, became operational.

“Before (the power plant was built) stripers between 15 and 18 pounds were common, and if you couldn’t catch your limit in an hour there was something wrong,” Selkirk said.

But since the activation of the power plant, which helps pump water from Northern California to water-short parts of the state, many of the striped bass that would have ended up in Pyramid Lake through the aqueduct have been killed by the plant’s turbine blades.

“They grind up anything that comes through,” Selkirk said.

Drake admits that fewer fish are making into the lake these days, but said that enough are making their way through to support the fishery, and that other species deserve a measure of attention as well.

“We stopped (planting stripers) in 1982 because we felt the fishery was doing just fine by itself,” he said. “In fact it was doing so well it was impacting the other species.”

Drake said that last year the DFG considered discontinuing the stocking of trout because the stripers were eating them as fast as they were being dumped in. After various studies indicated that enough trout were surviving to support the fishery, the bi-monthly stocking of Pyramid Lake remained on the DFG’s schedule.

Drake also noted declines in largemouth bass and crappie populations but could not say for sure if it was because of striped bass predation or competition for food.

“As far as we can tell, some striped bass are still making it through, and there’s a sufficient amount (in the lake) to provide a unique fishery,” he said. “I don’t think the striper fishery is in any danger. The only way it would be is if we were to drain the lake.”