VOL . 37 • ISS . 18

Aug 17 - 31 , 2018

17

To cap off our family ’ s summer adventures , we decided to rent a house in South Lake Tahoe for a few days in late July . Every time we travel , I try to spend at least a day or two on the water , and was excited at the prospect of chasing Tahoe mackinaw from my kayak .

Other than a guided trip years ago , I have very limited experience or knowledge of the Tahoe fishery . Luckily , Cal Kellogg is only a text away . He gave me a basic rundown on what gear to take and a general area of where to concentrate my quest to put a mack in the yak .

During the late summer , there are a couple of areas of the lake that tend to hold a majority of the active fish . The Southwest corner of the lake , near the mouth of Taylor Creek , is one of the commonly known hot spots . It also happens to be exactly where my family decided spend a couple of days on the beach enjoying the sunshine and cool water .

My first day on the water was a late start , and was basically spent exploring a steep drop off about 1 / 3 of a mile off shore . It didn ’ t take long to mark large schools of fish laying on the bottom between 90-200 ’ deep on my Lowrance unit .

Occasionally , I would pass thru large schools of suspended fish around the 50 ’ mark , which I assumed to be kokanee . There were also at least 10-12 other boats trolling the same general area , so I was feeling pretty confident that I was in the right place at the right time .

For a couple of hours , I slow trolled a Silver Horde Kingfisher spoon behind a Gibbs Dodger 10-20 ’ off the bottom . In the back of my mind , I knew the gear should probably be aggressively dragging the bottom for the best results , but I was a little concerned bouncing an 8 # ball on the steep contours 150 ’ deep . Not to mention the fact that cranking up the manual Scotty Laketroll downrigger was a chore if the line clip inadvertently released .

So , I covered about a 3 mile stretch , dropping waypoints on the areas where I marked concentrated schools , and retreated from the mid-day heat and wrath of jetskis , ski boats , parasailers , float planes and dinner cruises that constantly flew past me way too close for my comfort , with plans to return early the next morning to try again .

The next morning , I peddled off the sand near Kiva Beach around 7AM . As the sun began to emerge over the mountains to the East , there were already a number of pleasure boaters and guide boats on the water .

For round 2 , I decided to change up my approach by finding a school of fish in the 100 ’ range and hammer a small area by dragging my gear right on the bottom . It didn ’ t take long to encounter a concentration of Macks 120 ’ deep on a small ledge less than 50 ’ long . I spent 2 hours focused on the spot without a bite . It was challenging to constantly raise and lower the downrigger to maintain bottom contact , and snagged my gear more than enough times to curse at the manual downrigger . Boat traffic also pushed me off the ledge constantly , so I was forced to make large circles over deeper water to get the correct line of approach to keep the gear on the fish effectively . While circling off my spot , I found an enormous concentration of marks on a large flat in 160 ’ of water , almost exactly at the limit of my downrigger line . There were also a number of guide boats chasing kokanee on the same contour , so I decided to push my luck and move

Wes trolled a white 2.5 inch Silver Horde Kingfisher Lite spoon 12 inches behind a Gibbs dodger on 12 lb . Yo-Zuri Hybrid main line to fool his first ever Tahoe mackinaw while kayaking .

Photo by WES WARD , Fish Sniffer Staff . deeper .

On my third pass thru the fish , my rod bounced violently one time , but didn ’ t release from the clip . I assumed it snagged for a second , and considered bringing up the gear to make sure it was not tangled , but was honestly exhausted from cranking the downrigger 160 turns up and another 160 turns down , so I kept creeping along at just under 1 MPH .

Less than a minute later , the deflection angle on the down line aggressively changed to a 45 degree angle directly off the side of my Hobie towards deeper water . I watched it closely as the Dacron downrigger line slowly swung forward indicating that the ball was actually in front of me .

At this point , I knew that I was either snagged in the gear of a passing guide boat , or had a fish on . Hoping for the latter , I grabbed the rod from the holder and set the hook , popping it from the release .

Mack in the yak ! It took patience , but Wes put in his time and was rewarded with a lake trout dinner .

Photo by WES WARD , Fish Sniffer Staff .

Immediately , I felt the unmistakable head shakes of a mack on the line . I had a considerable amount of line out with a 50 ’ setback and 160 ’ down , so I took my time reeling the lake trout to the surface .

Learning from my recent kokanee excursions , I had the net on the bow of the yak ready to scoop up the trout as soon as it was in reach . I was not going to lose this one !

As the mackinaw neared the surface just to the right of my bow , I landed it smoothly into the net and got the fish in the floor of the yak with zero wasted motion . YES !!!! Mack in the Yak !!!

Mackinaw in general are plentiful in a number of California lakes , and are not terribly difficult to target for most anglers . However , this was definitely one of the most difficult kayak challenges I have accomplished since I first began kayak fishing a decade ago .

Tahoe itself is BIG . The sheer size and depth of the lake was a bit daunting compared to most of the places I have fished before . There is also a TON of boat traffic on Tahoe , especially in the summer months .

In my 12 miles of trolling over two days , I was never more than 100 yards from another boat , most of them pulling skiers along at a good clip . I also pushed the limits of my gear and often times felt very sketchy about the possibility of my downrigger snagging bottom and turtling me at just the wrong time .

It certainly wasn ’ t a record catch by any stretch , but I will definitely remember this trip as a grind where persistence paid off huge in the end . My goal was to put a mack in my kayak with little knowledge of the lake or how to best target the fish . Mission Accomplished !!!

Why , you ask ? The answer is simple , during the sale there is storewide savings on everything you ’ ll need when the season opens and the birds start streaming back into the Sacramento Valley !

Do you need to replace those leaky waders ? Could you use some fresh decoys for your spread ? Would you like to start off the season with a fresh case of steel shot shells ? All these things and a whole lot more will be going out the door during the sale at the lowest prices of the year . For the folks at Kittle ’ s that annual waterfowl sale is one of the big events of the entire year .

“ This is truly the biggest waterfowl sale in the west ,” related Pat Kittle . “ If you buy a gun during the sale we pay the sales tax . Sitka gear will be discounted up to 30 %, decoys are 20 % off , Arctic Shield Waders will see a price slash and there will be deep savings on waterfowl ammo from manufacturers like Fiocchi , Kent , Federal and Browning .”

As if the annual waterfowl sale isn ’ t exciting enough , the California State Duck Calling Championship will take place amidst the sale !

The 2018 California State Duck Calling Championship

The 2018 California State Duck Calling Competition is set for August 25 & 26

The City of Colusa and Kittle ’ s Outdoor & Sport Co . once again have the honor of hosting this fantastic event . The State Championship Event gives California Sportsman and Sportswoman the opportunity to test their calling skills in a competitive environment , and possibly qualify for the prestigious 82nd Annual World Championship in Stuttgart , Arkansas . The competition consists of numerous classes including but not limited to ; Open Contest , Intermediate Contest , and Junior contests .

The calling contest will be held at Colusa ’ s Veteran ’ s Memorial Park right across from Kittle ’ s .

For more information , check out the Kittle ’ s ad in this edition of the Fish Sniffer !

Kittle ’ s is located at 888 Market St . in Colusa , Ca . If you have any question or for more details you can call ( 530 ) 458-4868 or visit the Kittle ’ s website-www . kittlesoutdoor . com