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Well heading to lake tahoe for my yearly fishing trip. Well, I am ready to hit the lake fishing. First trying for the lake trout and then the Kokanee when it gets a little later in August when the bite starts. I will try to give a daily progress report on the fishing like last year.
Well started off catching some blue gill of the dock, a great way to start the trip. Well I headed out on the lake. I tried for some lake trout and Kokanee, not one bite. Day 2 July 29, My son hooked up one Kokanee and I had one hit but never closed the deal. I really thought we were going to get into them but it never happen. I saw lots of boats, some trolling and some jigging for lake trout. I never saw anyone bring in a fish all day. I talked to one guy who said he has been fishing here for one month and had not caught many. I also heard one other person say that last week was very good for the lake trout. One thing for sure, I surly have not seen very many fish on the fish finder. Which is not good but the hunt is still on. I will beheading out Monday.
Well did not make it out Monday but made it today. Started trolling in the same area as I have in the pass. What a game changer today. Saw all kinds of fish on the fish finder. I had a feeling that I should hook up on a lake trout. At 7:30 caught a lake trout. I kept on trolling and finally after an hour I caught my second one, done. I just used a dogger and a minnow with a 3 foot leader. The fish were caught in depth 150 feet. I set my down rigger to 120 feet. This was the depth I caught the fish at. Well after catching the second fish I switch rigs to my Kokanee poles. Fished for two hours more but never seen any Kokanee. Hopefully in two weeks the Kokanee bite will start. Well heading out tomorrow again.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pappy
Attachment 9115
Well headed out this morning trolled for a long time until 11:00 when I was just about to give up I pulled my pole off of the down rigger and it was a little hard to reel in. To my surprise I had one lake trout. He put up a pretty good fight. Not huge but decent size. I have noticed out of the 3 lake trout I have caught they have been on the small side. Still fun to catch. Still no sign of any grouping of Kokanee yet. Such a beautiful day on lake tahoe.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pappy
Attachment 9122
Well I headed out yesterday and caught one small lake trout. He was released and survived. He was caught in shallow water. Saw lots of fish on the fish finder but just weren't biting. I did hear a lady say she had caught two Kokanee. Well this morning I fished hard not a single bite just one of those day but a beautiful sunrise. Anyone else fishing tahoeQuote:
Originally Posted by Pappy
Thanks for the updates. How is the weather/water been? This will be my first time fishing Tahoe. We will be heading out of the keys. Are there any good tackle stores around to get advice on lures for the macks?
Well the weather has been hot last week but now it has cooled off. While on the lake early morning near Emerald bay I could not believe all of the debris floating in the lake, logs tree branches and much more, the lake looked dirty. I am sure this was some material washed into the lake from the run off and some from the fire near fallen leaf lake. Most of the lake is clear. In years pass there were a few good tackle shops, but now I am not sure. I usually take a trip t Reno if I really need any gear. They have Sportmans warehouse and Shields in Sparks Nevada. Both are great stores for tackle.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rennalds
I have been trolling for the Macks with my down riggers in approximately 200 feet of water. I usually seem to catch the macks with my rig set at 120 feet to 150 feet. This is the depth where I usually catch the macks, some times even shallower. I try to troll near the deep canyons and drop offs. For my set up i will trap some live minnows. I use a dogger with a 3 foot leader and a large treble hook #4. There is a tool which is a small rod that you insert into the minnows mouth and push it out of its rectum then you tie your treble hook on. I have always caught Mack's using this set up while trolling. I have never had any good luck at all on artifactual lures.
Jigging is also another good way to catch macks. I will find an area where the macks are stacked up and I will jig for them. I never had very good luck doing this either. Its fun and I keep trying but just haven't caught one yet. I usually us a 3 0z jig or heavier sometimes. I will put a minnows on the end of the hook and drop it down to the level where the fish are at, by looking at my fish finder and my line counter. I will also put some bait lure attraction on the lure.
Well there you have it, I am not expert, I just enjoy fishing here at the beautiful lake. I mostly come for the Kokanee but for now I will fish for the Macks. Hopefully in a week or more the Kokanee bite will be on. Sometimes you just never know. IAttachment 9123 am staying here in the keys myself. Let me know how you do. Good luck.
Well headed out a little later today with the wife. I was hoping she would bring me good luck. Yesterday I saw a fair amount of boats just south of Emerald Bay. So I headed over there this morning. I talked to one guy who caught his limit on a blood red wedding ring. I talked to another person who caught his kokanee off of a red Hoochie lure. I did really good last year with the red Hoochie lure. Well I trolled for several hours not even a bite. Switch lures and about 3 hours in I finally hooked one up. Caught it off of a red Hoochie lure and some small flashers. Fished for two more hours and not a bite. Saw lots of fish in the 50 to 60 foot range in large schools. I tried everything, garlic corn, Shrimp corn. and salmon egg corn. Caught the one off the salmon egg corn. One guy told me he just used corn and caught his limit. Well I am going to head out tomorrow. The weather is wet. Got soaked on the way in and still poring rain. Hopefully a better day tomorrowAttachment 9128. The fish seemed to be stacking up. Looks like the bite will be on soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pappy
Well headed out this morning just to try for the Kokanee. Well got one right off the bat. Looked good for a while, I did't catch my next fish until 3 hours later but the wait was worth it. The second fish I caught reminded me when I first fish lake tahoe 17 years ago. The Kokanee were big. This one looked to be about 2 lbs. He put up a great fight all the way to the boat. A little difficult to net the fish by yourself. I caught him off of a red Hoochie lure and corn mixed salmon eggs. One great fish. I saw lots of fish on the fish finder but the bite was slow. I saw a few guide boats reel in a few but not a lot. Lots of boats trying for the Kokanee. Same place, just south of Emerald bay. going to hit it again tomorrow. The other fish was caught of a set of Kokanee red flashers and a blood red wedding ring. Hopefully the fishing will get better. Can't expect a whole lot after a storm.Attachment 9145Quote:
Originally Posted by Pappy
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Originally Posted by Pappy
Well headed out today with a long time friend of mine. We trolled for about 4 hours and not one fished. Had two hit the lure but none were hooked. Saw a couple of guide boats catching a few fish but not a lot. I tried every lure I had in my tackle box but just could not get one hooked up. Sometimes it just makes no sense. Ho well, thats fishing. Till next time.
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Originally Posted by Pappy
Well, this morning I thought, I would try for some lake trout. Bang, hit one right off the bat. The fish put up a good fight even though not being very big. Caught him on a live minnow with a dogger at 120 feet. I really tried for another but it never happen. Well, I moved to the Kokanee spot over by Emerald Bay. Caught 1 Kokanee right away. Caught him off of a clear Hoochie lure with red, pink and yellow spots on it. I was also using a set of silver flashers. Caught if off of plain corn. I fished till noon and not another bite. Fishing seems to be slow. I never saw another boat bring in any fish. Overall the fishing has been slow but still catching fish. Hopefully it will get better. Attachment 9198
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Originally Posted by Pappy
Well not one bite today. Seems like the Kokanee have move out. Surly not seeing that many on the fish finder, I am sure they are there but probably just moved. I did see a few guide boats catch a few. The only reason I think that they are catching fish is because of so many flashers. Other boats, I never did see anyone bring in a fish. It seems like the wedding ring seem to be working good from some folks. I overheard the guide say something about using a wedding ring. Well always fun to fish. New game plan for tomorrow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pappy
Well not a good day on the lake. I had one Kokanee hooked up and that was that. I was just to slow on setting the hook and he got away. I saw lots of boats and no fish being caught. I tried to jig for some lake trout. I was jigging in a depth of 140 feet. I saw a school of fish at 60, I immediately reeled to 60 feet and started to jig. My pole got heavy and the hook was set. When I was reeling up the fish it did not seem so heavy. To my surprise it was a Kokanee. Hooked in the head by the trible hook. One heck of a way to catch a fish. The moon is almost down to 3/4. Hopefully the fishing will get better.
Well fishing for the Kokanee has been very strange this year. I caught one first thing in the morning. A red wedding ring and a orange dogger. My next fish was not until 3 hours later. I was glad to catch two. I have not been seeing the Kokanee in schools on the fish finder like before. Very strange, looks like they have moved out for some reason. Fishing for the Kokanee has been changeling at lake tahoe. Time to try some other areas.
Well I fished another area, first one pole for lake trout and the other for Kokanee. Did not see very much on the fish finder for the Kokanee. While trolling I saw some lake trout on the fish finder down about 140 feet. So i moved my down rigger down to 136 feet deep. After the fish had passed through the fish finder screen, I just gave up. A minute later my line was released from the down rigger cable. The hook was set. I started to reel, felt heavy. The fish really started to fight. I told myself, this is a nice fish. After fighting him for a while. My line just stood still. He was like a log and would not move. Finally the fish was coming in. He fought all the way until I got him 10 feet from the boat. He was done. What a nice lake trout. I am guessing the fish weighed about 4 to 5 lbs. Such a great fight. This was the only fish all day. No complaints here. I surly would like to catch some more Kokanee, but I just did not see any on the fish finder. Maybe its just me but surly looked like they have moved. I will be at it again tomorrowAttachment 9200.
Well, I was back at it this morning again. Only One minnow left to fish with in the minnow bucket. Started trolling over a spot where I had caught fish before. While I was making my turn my pole started to bounce. Fish on but a small one at that. He was to bloated to release. He going to be my dinner tonight. Fishing has been tough, I trolled for Kokanee for at least 4 hours, not a bite. Very depressing. I only saw one school of Kokanee on the fish finder during that 4 hour troll. Does't look good. I am hoping the bite will come on soon, maybe its late this year because of all the snow. I just can't figure it out I hope it was not a bad spawn last fall. Well I am going to give it a break tomorrow and head up to fallen leaf lake and do some shore fishing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pappy
Nice fish Pappy!
Keep it up, you'll find 'em.
Thanks, its just been tough.Quote:
Originally Posted by T K
Well caught a small lake trout, I tried to release him but he never came around. I will have him for dinner. Well after giving up on the lake trout, I thought lets see if there is any luck on the Kokanee. The last couple days were depressing, no Kokanee even showing up on the fish finder. Will today was a little different story. I saw at least 5 schools of Kokanee and two large schools. They were down about 60. The only problem they were not hungry. No bites at all. Still a beautiful day of fishing. The fish were located south of Emerald bay. Well saw something interesting on the way back. While entering to the the keys I saw a dark object in the water. I thought it was a black rug, until I saw a brown nose. A fairly large black bear. What a strong swimmer they are. My wife and her friend saw one last week while kayaking. I am sure this was the same bear. I guess you never know what you will see when you go fishing.Attachment 9202
utQuote:
Originally Posted by Pappy
Well I headed out again this morning. trolled for some Macks. Got one about 7:30, off of a dogger and a minnow. By 0800, I caught my second one, a small guy, he survived, so I let him go to get bigger. Caught these in front of Camp Richardson in a depth of 118 feet. Saw a lot of macks on the fishfinder but just had to find the ones that wanted to eat.
Next I trolled for some Kokanee, Saw a fair amount on the fishfinder but no bites. While setting my minnow trap, I talk to a guy who said thaAttachment 9206Attachment 9207t he caught one Kokanee. I am really starting to believe that the spawn is going to be late because of the long winer. Well one more week, so I hope they start biting. Till next time.
Well my son came up to do some fishing. We headed out early this morning. Saw lots of lake trout on the fish finder but no bites. Finally around 0800 fish on. My son caught a small one and it was released. We next fished around Emerald Bay just south. I saw one large group of Kokanee, but no bites. Very strange year for the Kokanee. We finally gave up on the troll and did some jigging for the lake trout. I had some large schools located on my fish finder but these fish were not hungry either. I surly would like to catch a lake trout by jigging but it has not happen. I have seen several boats jigging too but I have never seen any fish caught. I have in the past but not this year. Fishing has been very interesting this year. Well we will be at it again tomorrow. The days are counting down.
Well, yesterday when we got back from fishing, my son told me the down rigger cable was starting to separate at 40 feet. Well to my surprise the cable only had two strands holding it. Well we made a cut and wired it back on to the swivel along with some electrical tape to get us by.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pappy
Well to day no bites, fishing very slow. My son notice some damage on the cable to my other down rigger. He set it into the lake and it was gone that quick. He said the cable just snap. Well it sounded like there must have been a loop in the cable and he dropped the ball and it snapped. Gone, ball, and release. **** happens. Well we head in early. Headed over the hill to Carson City Nevada. About 45 minutes away. Thank God for a Sportmans where house in Carson. They had it all. So I purchased an extra down rigger ball, two swivels and one release. We were set. Back to the house, and made repairs. Ready to hit it again tomorrow.
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Originally Posted by Pappy
Well my body arrived and I was wishing he would bring the boat good luck. It never happen, not even a bite. The weather has been crazy, afternoon thunder showers for the last week. I just about given up on the Kokanee. The fish are showing but just not biting. Well one more day left for fishing. There is still time for a good bite and better times.
Well our last day at Lake Tahoe. Well headed out this morning and my friend hooked up on a lake trout. Luck has finally changed. After trolling for lake trout for 3 hours we thought lets give the Kokanee a chance. Well we moved toward Emerald Bay. Out of no where my friend hooked a Kokanee with a hoochie lure and a small dogger. It was a nice male with some beautiful colors. Well what a great day to end the trip. Finally two fish on the boat. It has been very slow but we caught fish. It has been steady on lake trout. The lake trout have been running on the small side. Kokanee I can't figure out. Caught a few but not a bunch. Well there is always next year. Well I posted these reports on lake tahoe because I could never find any info on Kokanee fishing on the bite. So that is why I have posted my daily reports to help other fishermen and women. There you have it. Good luck on your fishing at lake tahoe.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pappy