Lake Tahoe (Mackinaw & Kokanee)
Lake Tahoe · near South Lake Tahoe / Tahoe City · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Fishing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Best season
- Mackinaw year-round (deep) · kokanee summer/fall
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA (or NV) license required — Tahoe straddles the state line; a CA license covers the whole lake for most anglers (check current reciprocity). Deep trolling/jigging for mackinaw is a guided specialty. Charters out of most marinas.
What is here
- Features
- Giant mackinaw in cobalt-blue water · Kokanee salmon runs · Deep-water trophy trolling · One of the clearest lakes on Earth
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Fishing detail
- Water type
- lake
- Water
- fresh
- Methods
- Trolling · Jigging
- Boat
- boat
- Target species
- Mackinaw (lake trout) to 20+ lb · Kokanee salmon · Rainbow & brown trout · Whitefish
- Intl tip
- License required (CA covers most of the lake; check reciprocity). Mackinaw are deep — a guided charter is the easy way to catch them. Kokanee in summer/fall. It's technical deep-water fishing; charters out of Tahoe City, South Lake, and other marinas. Combine with the Tahoe Rim Trail and Emerald Bay. Bucket-list scenery.
The guide
Lake Tahoe — the vast, cobalt-blue jewel of the Sierra straddling the California–Nevada line — holds trophy fish in its famousl…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Lake Tahoe (Mackinaw & Kokanee) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.09, -120.035