tahoe advice

i will be at northlake this weekend.  i am considering bringing my kayak and trying to catch a trout.
does anyone have some winter fishing experience there?
1. is it too cold?
2. do i need a mussel inspection?

i will be at northlake this weekend.  i am considering bringing my kayak and trying to catch a trout.
does anyone have some winter fishing experience there?
1. is it too cold?
2. do i need a mussel inspection?

Hey Chris, I was up at the lake a couple of weeks ago..nada! anyways, to answer your questions

1. For the fish? No.     For you?   

2.   Sort of.  It is required to do an inspection (free if you can find a place open).  but its not stringently enforced.

My fishing there is pretty much exclusively in the winter, but almost all for mackinaw, not for the other trout species.  i usually jig about 120-250' deep trying to find fish on my electronics.   The trollers do well because they can cover more ground, but trolling that deep in a kayak is a PITA, so i just run around until I mark fish (although I have a few GPS spots of underwater humps that always hold fish). 

You can catch macks and other trout toplining as well, I have almost zero experience with that.

Go to Donner Lake. I think there are more fish per mile there. Cheers!


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I am here:

It won't be cold like normal. It'll be ARCTIC cold!
So cold a relief zipper will do you no good at all.
Your kayak will be covered in ice from any and all lake spray and splash which makes it a total PITA to load your kayak back onto your vehicle. Slippery as all get out. Then the really fun thing is when you have to re-tie your jig or lure. Good luck with that knot holding.
If the sun should be kind enough to make an appearance it will warm you up just enough so that you almost begin to overheat with all the layers you have on.  Not to fret, you can start peeling off the layers being careful not to tip into the icy depths around you. Just when you start to feel comfy a cloud will come between you and the sun and drop the temp by what will feel like 50 degrees while at the same time a slight breeze will start blowing from the north pushing you away from your launch site. As you struggle to replace the layers of clothing you were just so carefull to remove you will end up an extra mile or so away from your launch site.
Not to fret, the extra paddle back will help warm you up...of course, just as the cloud moves from in front of the sun, making you seem nice and toasty again, until you remove a few layers of clothing and realize the evaporation from your sweat in the sub freezing temps chills you to the bone. Just about then you should get your first hook up only to be too preoccupied to set the hook in time. This will make you think it's going to happen again thus prolonging your time on the water.
You will have a blast. GO FOR IT!!!!!