Take a tip from the Tahoe pros

Wendy Lautner, tahoe.com, wlautner@TahoeRenoOnline.com
February 20, 2008

Ice fishing is a great chance to enjoy solitude in nature and heck, it beats Atlantic farmed salmon at the grocery store any day.

But before you go out on the ice, take a tip from Brian Nylund, department head of sporting goods at Truckee's ACE Mountain Hardware store. Nylund's reeled in more than 20 years of fly fishing experience in Phoenix before moving to the Truckee area five years ago. He's been ice fishing here ever since.

Where to go
Nylund recommends heading to Boca or Prosser Reservoirs in the Truckee area to find good ice and great fish. In the South Lake Tahoe area, check out Caples Lake or Silver Lake near the Carson Pass on Highway 88. For those who have snowmobile access Jackson Meadows north of Truckee on Highway 89 can't be beat for its solitude. Once you've picked the location, try to familiarize yourself with a map of the lake. You can pick up handouts at ACE Mountain Hardware. Where are the deep spots? Where are the creek beds?

"All fish have a pattern of how they swim around the lake," Nylund says. "And when you're ice fishing, you're pretty much in one or two spots. It's harder to move spots than in a boat. So, it's important to know where their feeding lanes are."

Before drilling a hole in the ice, you'll want to test the thickness. Listen for cracking sounds when you walk out and drill a test hole to check the depth. Four inches or more is the benchmark Nylund shoots for. In mid-winter the ice on Boca and Prosser can get 12 inches deep, which is considered very safe but beware to watch the weather for warming trends and when in doubt check in at the Hardware for recent updates. "Watch out for any areas where water is coming into the lake," Nylund says. "Around those parts, the ice will tend to be very thin and unstable."


Why fish in the winter?
In local lakes, summer fish have often just come from stock. While fish caught in the winter, Nylund says, tend to taste better because their muscle tone is more developed. "They're more like wild fish the longer they live in the lake," he says.

How to catch these fish?
Winter white is just as appropriate for fish as it is for skiers. "White is the overall best color bait to go with in the winter," Nylund says. White crappie have been doing well and so have the ultraviolet Kokanee jigs which change color depending on the depth of water they're in. "Guys are catching a lot of Kokanee out at Boca using these things," Nylund says. Ask for the Rocky Mountain Squids. Fake crayfish – and the real ones – also make great winter bait, but Nylund recommends to "fish them slow." "Everything runs slower in the winter," he says. "So a crayfish that might be darting here and there in the summer will move a lot slower in the winter."

What not to use:
Never fish with live minnows in any lake other than Donner or Tahoe. In fact, it's a federal crime to fish with live minnows caught from a different lake than you're fishing in at all. These small fish bring unwanted and foreign parasites into a lake system. Nylund also recommends that if people are going to fish with crayfish, they follow the same rule as well. "You never want to fish with bait you've caught from another lake," he says. "It's not good for the lake or the fish."

All the legals
Fishing in the winter requires the same permitting process as in the summer. A year's license costs $37.50 for California state residents, while day passes can be purchased for $12.10. Think you'll go more than 10 times? It's probably a good idea to buy a year license. Non-residents pay $100 regardless. Keep your license visible when you're on the ice, Nylund says many guys choose to display their licenses on their backs while they're out there. Per day folks can catch and keep five of any fish. Per stay fishermen can keep 10 fish. There's no limit to the amount of catch and release.

Gear:
You'll need an 8-inch ice fishing auger to drill a regulation hole. Nylund says an auger should drill through 12 inches of ice in about 10 minutes. If it takes longer, the blades probably need replacing. Pick up a smaller ice fishing specific rod. And make sure to dress really warm and bring a bucket or something comfortable to sit on. Nylund also recommends taking a skimmer to keep the hole free of reforming ice, plus of course your bait and jigs.