Lake Tahoe

Living at Lake Tahoe is like being in a fisherman's paradise.  Besides the Lake, the are hundreds of excellent fishing spots with an hours drive of here.  Within 3 hours you have Salmon & Steel head fishing.  What more could an avid fisherman want?

There is excellent Rainbow and Brown Trout fishing in the Lake along with Kokanee Salmon and some good size Mackinaws.   The Kokanes are rather small, about 2-3 pounds max.  As I said, there is good fishing in the Lake, if you have a good boat & motor, know the right spots, and have the right equipment.  I must admit, the Lake kind of intimidates me so I seldom fish there.

If I want to do some Mackinaw fishing I prefer Fallen Leaf Lake.  It is still a rather large lake, but surprisingly, few people are aware of its existence.  It is a little more sheltered from the wind, and the good fishing spots are fairly close to shore.  I prefer to drift fish near the bottom in about 180 feet of water.  I go out the day before and put out a minnow trap baited with dog food.  When I come back in the morning I have enough minnows for a day of fishing.

If you go north on Rt 89 there are lots of good fishing spots.  The Truckee River runs along the highway from Tahoe City to Truckee.  Lots of good trout fishing once you get north of River Ranch.  From Truckee, the river turns east and flows down through Reno.  From Truckee to the State line There are several areas with "Blue Ribbon" fly fishing.

If you continue north on 89 you have Boca, Stampede and Prosser Reservoirs,  All three are great fishing areas.  Further north there are dozens of streams and lakes, but I do most of my fishing south of Lake Tahoe.

If you take Hwy 50 towards Sacramento, you come to the top of Echo Summit.  Echo Lakes has good fishing for boaters or bank fishermen.  If you continue west, the American River is along side the road from Twin Bridges to Riverton.  Several good fishing holes all along that stretch.

If you follow RT 89 south out of Tahoe you go over Luther Pass and hit the Carson River in Hope Valley.  Great fishing from the 89 bridge all the way down to Woodfords.  If you turn Rt at the Jct go 5 miles to Blue Lakes Road.  It is about 15 miles into Blue Lakes, but good fishing.  Stay on 88 for another couple of miles and you come to Red Lake.  Another great fishing spot.  Continue over Carson Pass and you find Caples Lake.  A little further on is Silver Lake.  All these lakes are good fishing.  Red Lake and Caples Lake are my favorites.

If you turn left at the Jct, follow 89 to Woodfords and turn Rt towards Markleville.  About 3 miles down the road is the cutoff to Indian Creek Reservoir.  It has good bank fishing for trout and you just might get a real lunker.  A lot of people use float tubes for fly fishing.  Go past Markleville and you have another fork of the Carson River with great fishing.  Follow Rt 4 to Ebbets Pass and you will find several streams and lakes.

Take Hwy 50 to Carson City and go south on US 395 to Topaz Lake on the California/Nevada State Line.  Great fishing and some real lunkers have been caught off the bank below the highway.  Continue south on 395 and you go through the Walker Canyon.  The river used to be good fishing but the floods a couple of years ago have changed the river and I do not know how it is now.  As you come out of the canyon you can take RT 108 to Sonora Pass.  There are several good fishing areas up there, especially Kennedy Meadows.

Continue south to Bridgeport and you have more good fishing.  Take the Twin Lakes Road SW out of Bridgeport and you have Twin Lakes and Robertson Creek.  Several large trout have been caught there.  Northeast of town is Bridgeport Reservoir.  Good fishing in the reservoir and the Walker River from there to the state line is great for fly fishing.

And there you have a good idea of the fishing opportunities around the Tahoe area.  Bridgeport is the furthest and it is only a little over an hours drive.