Lake Tahoe Kokanee Salmon

[aeverett152]

I just got back from a kayak fishing trip at Lake Tahoe, targeting kokanee salmon. First time at Tahoe, and it was also my first time ever fishing for kokanee, so I wanted to share my experience in case anyone else is interested in fishing there from a kayak.

The first morning was pretty frustrating while I tried to figure out the right weight setup. Tahoe is VERY deep—I was seeing depths ranging from 80 to 350+ feet around the Camp Richardson shelf. I watched quite a few YouTube videos on fishing for kokanee without downriggers and initially started with a 3 oz weight. I quickly realized that wasn't getting my gear down to the depths I needed.

Luckily, I brought 4 oz and 5 oz weights with me. After about 3.5 hours of fishing that morning, I finally caught my first kokanee. It came from about 100 feet of water using an Arrow dodger and a homemade mini-hoochie with a double-snell setup and glow beads.

The following morning was MUCH more productive. I nearly hit my limit in about 3.5 hours. The difference between the 3 oz and 4–5 oz weights was night and day.

I was marking fish consistently around 100–120 feet on my fish finder, so I used a line counter to get one rod down to approximately 100 feet and the other to 110–120 feet. Both rods were set up with Arrow dodgers—one with the mini-hoochie and the other with a wedding ring. The mini-hoochie caught the majority of the fish by far.

I trolled very slowly and focused on keeping my lines in the depth where I was marking fish. I didn't have to travel very far to find them. Once noon rolled around, the bite seemed to shut down. I was also surprised by how few people I saw kayak fishing. I only saw one other kayak angler targeting them while I was there. Camp Richardson is a pretty ideal spot for kayak fishing. I launched right out of Kiva beach.

Overall, it was a great experience, especially considering it was my first time at Tahoe and my first time targeting kokanee. I definitely plan on making another trip back!

[foulhook]

Great report, I always think of hiring a guild for Kokanee and mackinaw

[aeverett152]

It was pretty easy landing kokanee once I figured it out. I heard the mackinaw were much deeper like 300-400 feet deep. I tried vertical jigging for them but no luck with the mackinaw.

[DarkShadow]

Do they go full scale rock cod with their air bladder coming outta their mouth when you get em from that depth?

[aeverett152]

Not at all. Maybe the mackinaws do but the kokanee seemed fine after reeling them in.