Donner lake fishing and jigging

Since the general fishing tips hasn't had anything for me to really talk about let's talk about this! I will hopefully be heading up to Donner on July 8 2015. Yes it's far ahead but I am pooling information.

I will be fishing from a kayak with no downrigger stuff or a depth finder.

I am going to be targeting rainbow trout and lake trout. But mostly lake trout. What bait? Where on the lake? When? Also please tell me which species of fish it is for. Thanks

Welcome? I guess.
is there anything else you want?

Welcome to NCKA and good lucks fishing at Donner lake.

I know nothing about donner, but I been chasing lake trout for a long time.
with no ff or downrigger i would be early be on the lake as the sun rises
and you can troll close to shore maybe 15 feet of water and troll a rebel some thing that dives. you want to be bouncing bottom so buy a faw of them.if your not losing gear your not fishing. when the sun is up there going deep, me personally will not go deeper than 60 feet. I dont care if I mark them at 80 feet.

o.k
heres a secret dont tell nobody
find the fleet of boats in the middle of the lake, those are your koke fishermen ask them how deep there trolling add 5 feet to that number.
put on the largest swim bait you have 8 to 10 inch
move to the out side of the fleet. drop the swim bait and start circling them.

That's some super information John.  And also very generous for having just joined.  And welcome!

Welcome !

Between now and next summer, make getting a fishfinder a priority. Whether at Donner or elsewhere, its a relatively inexpensive investement for a really valuable tool and it takes the guesswork out of finding fish/bait/structure on large lakes like Donner.

Also, the search bar at the top of the page is a great feature. If a body of water exists, chances are someone has asked about it, offered tips about it, or posted a past report(or ten) about it.

Ford flashers tipped with a minnow lead core line 3 colors will get you Mack's in the morning. After 10am the Mack's hold down and you'll probably have to jig for them.

3 way swivel, weight, sardine wrapped quickfish, bounce the bottom.

3 way swivel, weight, sardine wrapped quickfish, bounce the bottom.

I would never have thought of that.

Welcome new dude.
Look forward to your report next year.

I was there a couple weeks ago, some planters shallow, Mack's deep 50+ feet mid summer. No idea on kokes. Pretty much any method you'll use anywhere else for Mack's will work, whatever you use, best bet is that it looks like a koke or rainbow.

Like said though, especially with a year to do it, get a ff, even if it's a cheapie. Donner is a naturally flooded canyon so there's some crazy structure and huge boulders, big drop offs and variations. I would never troll deep without being able to keep track of the bottom there, especially if your trying to bump for Mack's. There is a shelf that runs almost the entire length of the lake at 70 ft I believe on the north side of the deep canyon(drops to 120-350 in some spots. I always start on that 70 ft shelf for Mack's there.

From the very limited (I've tried for them twice) experience I have targeting mackinaw: you gotta get your stuff near the bottom and it's gotta be big!  I've caught them using jigging spoons and trolling large plugs on 3-way rigs (the rig Tote described).  If your stuff isn't near the bottom, you'll be out of luck.  Add scent to your offerings and don't be afraid to fish extra-large plugs.  Big macks want big meals.  Try to imitate small trout or kokanee.

I have to echo others' suggestions about the depthfinder too.  Of all the fish I've targeted from the kayak, mackinaw force you to depend on your electronics more than most other species.  They show up real well on the depthfinder, and they're always near the bottom.  No need to get all fancy-schmancy with your depthfinder either.  I use a portable depthfinder like this one, and it gets the job done:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Humminbirdreg-PiranhaMax-175PT-Sonar-Fish-Finder/1545177.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch%2F%3FN%3D%26No%3D0%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dhumminbird%26Ntx%3Dmode%252Bmatchallpartial%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts%26WTz_st%3D%26WTz_stype%3DSP%26form_state%3DsearchForm%26recordsPerPage%3D20%26search%3Dhumminbird%26searchTypeByFilter%3DAllProducts&Ntt=humminbird&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

Without a depthfinder, you'll be fishing in the blind and will likely lose a lot of gear since you won't see when your trolling gear is about to snag into a tree or house-sized boulder.  Not saying it isn't possible to catch mackinaw without electronics, but they're super helpful.

you can get a decent unit for under $200 as well, it opens your world up, you know when you are on top of suspended fish as well

Whoa thanks for all the enthusiasm! I didn't even notice that was my first post xD! The three way one looks cool. Also any tips for rainbows? I thought maybe a drop shot with a Roboworm or something?

also reminds me dropshoting for macks can work wonders.
seriously you need a fishfinder