Tahoe Mackinaw:
The Best Cold Water Option
In The Sierra Nevada

by Cal Kellogg
February 24, 2005

Lake Tahoe has always been an enigma to me. On one hand, the Tahoe Basin is the site of a glittering gambling town, home to high-rise casinos and high rollers. On the other hand, the basin represents a pristine wilderness, complete with Bald Eagles, 10,000 foot peaks, and big predatory trout.

Lake Tahoe, with its 191 square miles of surface area, has been inspiring awe since John C. Fremont first viewed the lake in February 1844.

The story of Lake Tahoe began 3 million years ago when uplifting along fault lines created the Carson Range to the east and the Sierra Nevada to the west. About 1 million years ago huge glaciers took over, ultimately forming the Tahoe Basin we know today.

Despite having been a frequent visitor to the Tahoe Basin since childhood, I'd never fished Lake Tahoe. When Gene St. Denis of Blue Ribbon Charters invited me to fish the lake, I literally jumped at the opportunity. I'd long fantasized about Tahoe's hefty trout and now I was going to meet them.

While fishing for rainbow, brook and brown trout becomes tough in most Sierra lakes when water temperatures plunge below 50 degrees, fishing for mackinaw trout, a member of the char family, is at its prime during the dead of winter.

When Gene Rush rolled up to my house in Auburn at 4:00 am on Saturday, January 29, I was already sitting behind the wheel of my truck "amped up" on adrenaline. We weren't scheduled to meet St. Denis until 9 o'clock, but I wanted to allow plenty of travel time, knowing that Highway 50 would likely be treacherous and icy.

We arrived in South Lake Tahoe around 7 o'clock. After a hearty breakfast, we were off to meet Gene at the Cave Rock launch ramp on the eastern shore of the lake.

St. Denis pulled into the Cave Rock parking lot right on time and within minutes we were on the water. After motoring a few hundred yards offshore, St. Denis asked, "Are you interested in catching numbers of fish or would you like to focus on big fish?" When I told St. Denis I was into big fish, he headed for Tahoe's north shore.

"We're going to fish Agate Bay near Flag Pole Point. An earthquake fault punctuated by springs runs along the outside edge of the bay and that's where the big trout hang out," related St. Denis.

After a 20 minute ride, St. Denis killed the motor and began rigging rods. "I've been doing well slow trolling threaded minnows behind dodgers," tipped St. Denis. After attaching the threaded minnows to the dodgers, St. Denis applied a liberal amount of shrimp scent Smelly Jelly to the rigs and sent them down on his downriggers.

The water we were fishing ranged from 160 to 250 feet deep. St. Denis told me that the key to success was keeping the baits within 10 feet of the bottom. As a result, he constantly watched the depth finder and adjusted the depths of our offerings accordingly.

We had been fishing for about 30 minutes when the first line got hit and St. Denis passed the pumping rod to me. After a short fight highlighted by lots of violent head shaking, I worked the 6 pound mackinaw to the boat.

About 35 minutes later, we got our second strike and it was Gene's turn. Within minutes, Gene had his fish boat side and St. Denis scooped the 3.5 pound mack into the net. We continued to concentrate on the area where we picked up our first two fish for another hour, hooking one small mack, which we released.

At that point, St. Denis moved down the fault line into deeper water. We could see big spikes of freshwater shrimp and schools of immature kokanee on the depth finders screen, so we knew that macks must be nearby. Suddenly, Gene's rod popped out of the release and he started fighting the trout.

From the bucking rod, it was evident that Gene was into a big fish. The mack was determined to stay down, but Gene kept his cool and slowly worked the trout out of the depths. We were all pretty excited when Gene's 10 pound, 30 inch mackinaw wallowed to the surface.

With the wind kicking up, we decided to make one more trolling pass before calling it a day. The gear wasn't down long when the line on our port side popped from the release. Grabbing the rod, I felt the surging fight of a heavy fish. Keeping the rod tip high I worked the reel and gradually the 7 pound mackinaw relented and came to the surface. It was a great end to a great day on Lake Tahoe.

If you're interested in battling Lake Tahoe's hard fighting trout, now's a great time to pay the lake a visit. Crowds are light and the mackinaw are on an excellent bite. Rainbows and the occasional brown are also showing in the catches, making for added excitement.

If you're interested in battling some of Tahoe's winter lakers, call Blue Ribbon Charters (530) 573-0400 or Mickey's Guide Service (530) 546-4444.