Fishing South Lake Tahoe

Hey out there,

Does anyone have any suggestions for bait/etc/location for fishing for trout at South Lake Tahoe??
 (I guess without a downrigger Kokanee are out right?)
 

Anything for me would be appreciated. Also, iIf you have any experience with any kayak fishing guides up that way I would love to hear if there is anyone you would recommend.

Kim

Kim-

I've fished Tahoe with some decent success. Although, I've never hit the south shore before. I hear that the deeper water out in front of Ski Run can be good. I've fished the west shore and the north shore with minnows and jigs. Both worked pretty well once you've located fish. As for bait... find some rocks and load a minnow trap with some dog food. Gets them everytime. Regular diamond jigs also worked. As far as finding the macks, find the ledges where the depth drops off pretty good. When I say pretty good, I mean, it'll drop from 40' to 200' within a few strokes. A FF will come in handy if you don't know the lake that well... or a topo map of the lake. Fish early am for macks and later in the morning or early afternoon, you can topline a minnow for rainbows. There are all kinds of ways to rig up for fishing. Most commonly used for minnows, is a 1/4oz. egg weight with a long leader to a #4 or #6 hook. I recommend using flourocarbon leader material in either 8# or 10#. That's a little on the heavy side but, there are some BIG fish to be had out there and you never know what you are going to catch. You can also use a flasher or a dodger instead of using an egg weight. Send it down to the bottom, reel up about 3-5 feet and start "trooching". The key is to keep the bait in the kill zone... that means paddling really slooooooooooooooow. That's pretty much it for fishing Tahoe.

On a safety note... I don't know how strong of a paddler you are so... just watch out for the wind. I've been out there on days when you can fish pretty much all day and I've seen days when the "sheep" were let out with avengence. Be careful out there... that water is really cold.

Hope this helps and good luck out there,

Freddie

Thanks Freddie for all the great information!

I tend to keep it on the safe side - when I've gone out in Santa Cruz Harbor - the wind starts to just get going and I take off

Hopefully I'll have some great pics to post later on!

Kim

There is a sporting goods store at the "Y" in the Kmart strip mall. See if they have a map called Tahoe Watertrail Guide. It is water proof and tear proof. It sells for $8.95 and worth every penny. It will give you the entire contour of the bottom of Lake Tahoe as well as launch points, etc.
This will save you a TON of guess work and paddling when looking where to fish and the desired depths you want to find. Some places you can paddle almost a mile to reach 100 feet, others are literally 100 feet deep 20 feet from shore. The map will show you all of this.
Find some rocks next to shore in 5 to 15 feet of water. You can go as little as 3 feet from shore too. A minnow trap and some dry dog food is all it takes. There are so many minnows right now that it looks like a Jacques Cousteau film when you look into the water. Millions everywhere.
Freddie was right about jigging.
If you can TAKE A LINE COUNTER. It will be a LOT easier to get right into the fish once you mark them instead of having to guess at it. How long do you let out line to reach 75 feet? 94 feet? See what I mean?
Good luck. Looking forward to the report.

Thanks Tote -

I'll stop and get the map. I do have a fish finder and a handheld GPS arrives tomorrow  (My daughter bought me the new Garmin Etrex Legend Chx for my birthday)

I don't have a minnow trap - I'm sure Mel Cottons sells them. Do you just throw the dog food in and then...? is there a door to open for them to swim in or how does it work??

Can't wait to try it all out.

Kim

Fallen Leaf Lake s/b killer right now. Might want to consider making the 45 minute drive up the grade. Beautiful country up there too...well, maybe not so much after that big fire..?

Good luck,
PK

The trap is cylindrical in shape with holes on both ends which the minnows swim into.
It opens in the middle and a clasp keeps it shut. Just toss some dry dog food into it and you are ready to go.
They sell for less than $20. I have seen them for as little as $7.

Hi Tote, Freddie, Sin Coast,

I would *really* like to show you pics of all the fish I caught.....You'll have to settle for seeing them on my fishfinder...



I had two poles in the water. I was up and paddling at 5:00 AM with my GPS map from Timbercove Marina up to Cave Rock (6 miles).

There they were - all the fish - I had my "dog food caught" minnows in my yak, I had Needlefish......I fishing and fished....looking at the FF....rolling out line, okay 1 foot, 2 foot, 3 foot.......SO excited to see this many.....nothing....nothing happening....SCALLEN where are you when I need you LOL......what am I doing wrong??

Met "Alien" at Mel Cottons before I left - nice meeting you Alien.....wish I had better news to report. I can tell you the water and the scenery were exceptional that day.....like being in the Bahamas....



I want to fish in the Monterey Tourney coming up..... I don't even care if my fish is the biggest fish - I just want to catch something...my kids are starting to wonder if I really can catch any....a little whine with my cheese ( O well, I hear the wine corks are good for storing sabiki rigs.... )

I really need to catch some fish. The one rock fish on my "Angler of the year" board isn't really doing it for me 

Thanks for all the tips - I followed them all except for going to Fallen Leaf Lake - the "fly fishing" place in South Lake discouraged me saying it was mostly privately owned and the access wasn't really that great...blah blah blah

Hope to meet all of you soon - I'm going to try and get remotivated to fish the Monterey tourney - if nothing else - I'm not a quitter!

Thanks,

Kim

Most likely all those fish you marked in that depth of water were just minnows. Reset the sensitivity on your fish finder.
You definitely have to put in your time at Tahoe.
I go there for the relaxation and scenery more than anything. Fishing is just a great excuse. if I end up catching anything it is a bonus.