Lake Tahoe 1

Lake Tahoe 2

Mackinaw of Lake Tahoe:

There has always been something special about Lake Tahoe.  It sits at a crossroads; the basin is home to Las Vegas, city of gambling and sin, and at the same time it houses an unspoiled wilderness filled with majestic eagles and some of the best trout you'll ever find.

  John C. Fremont is the first known man to gaze across the 191 square miles of Lake Tahoe's surface area.  He did so in February of 1844, and the lake has been captivating its visitors ever since.

  3 million years ago, the shifting plates of the earth's crust created both the Carson Mountains in the east, along with the Sierra Nevadas in the west.  The Tahoe Basin as it is known today began forming around 1 million years ago.  Glaciers moved in and dominated the landscape, and when they melted and moved on, the Tahoe Basin was left behind.

  I've made many trips to the basin since I was a boy, but surprisingly enough had never had a chance to fish the lake itself.  So when Terry Johnson of Rod and Reel Tours called and offered to take me for a spin around the lake, I didn't hesitate.  It had been a longstanding dream of mine to go head to head with the huge trout that call the lake home, and I was finally going to get my chance.

  Water temperatures in Sierra lakes can drop down below 50 degrees in the wintertime, making fishing for most species of trout, including brown, rainbow and brook, difficult.  In stark contrast, winter is one of the best times to fish for mackinaw trout.

  My buddy Bob Moore, who was joining us on the trip, arrived at my house at 4:00 am.  We weren't meeting Johnson until 9, but I didn't want to take a chance of being late due to any possible ice-slicked roads.  So when Bob pulled up, I was already amped and ready to go.

  We found a restaurant and ate a filling breakfast after we made it to South Tahoe a little after 7.  That task completed, we headed for Cave Rock, where we planned to meet Johnson.  He arrived right on time, and a few minutes later climbed into the boat and headed onto the water. 

  "So what is it you're after today?" Johnson asked.  "Are you looking to pull in some big fish, or do you want to worry about quantity?"  I was definitely looking forward to snagging some large macks, so Johnson aimed the boat for the north end of the lake.

  "We'll head for Agate Bay," he said.  "The outer edge is rimmed by a fault line, and the springs along the fault are a good hunting spot for some big fish."

  After motoring around the lake for around 15 or 20 minutes, Johnson found a spot he was happy with and started baiting our rods.  "I like to use dodgers with threaded minnows," he told us.  "I've netted some nice catches trolling that way."  Before he sent the rigs down, he applied a good amount of shrimp scent to them.

  Johnson informed us that the secret to success here was holding the bait no more than ten feet from the lake bottom.  We were around 200 feet deep at this point, and Johnson kept a close watch on his depth finder, and adjusted the rigs accordingly.

  It took only 30 minutes to hook our first catch.  Johnson gave me the rod, and I struggled a bit before hauling a nice 6-pound mack into the boat.  A short time later Bob made the second catch of the day, bringing in a mack around 3 and a half pounds with Johnson's help.  The next hour netted us only one other small mack.  We released it and decided to move on to some deeper waters.

  The depth finder showed us large populations of both freshwater shrimp and kokanee, so we knew there had to be some macks close by.  And only minutes later Bob was gripping his rod and fighting a fish on the other end.

  The mack put up quite a struggle, but Bob didn't panic.  He held his own and calmly reeled the fish in from the lake floor.  It took some work, but we all cheered when his catch bobbed to the surface and we saw the gorgeous two-and-a-half foot, ten pound mack.

  The wind began to blow then, but we weren't quite ready to head in for the day.  We decided to take one more trolling run, and proved to be a good decision.  It seemed to be only minutes after we dropped our bait into the water when one of our rods began bobbing.  I grabbed it and got to work, slowly reeling in what I could tell was a heavy fish.  A 7-pound mack eventually floated to the surface, giving us the perfect conclusion to our trip. 

  For all of you adventurous fishermen out there, now is a great time to visit Tahoe and hook a few macks.  You may even get lucky and hook a few rainbows or browns.  Happy hunting.