Placer County Fishing Reports

Lake Tahoe is in its late summer pattern, with Mackinaw pushed deep and holding around 100–120 feet while kokanee school between 60–80 feet. Best action is first light through about 10 AM before boat traffic and sun push fish down. Troll flashers with a wedding ring or hoochie tipped with white corn for kokanee, and expect bonus macks holding underneath the salmon schools. Anglers targeting lake trout specifically are doing better bouncing live bait on the bottom, with most fish 3–6 pounds and a decent number in the 9–15 pound range. Kokanee will color up and stage toward Taylor Creek over the next few weeks, so fish them now... everything within 300 feet of Tahoe's tributaries closes October 1.

The king salmon bite has reportedly been excellent for some and brutal for others. This is a somewhat typical report for Folsom... if you can figure out the pattern for the day, you'll kill 'em. Otherwise you may leave empty-handed. Fish are hanging in the 75-100 ft range, with trollers running hoochies and wonderbread flashers at just under 2 mph. Plenty of fish in the 3-4 pound range... some bigger. A few trout have been mixed in.

The spotted bass bite has been similar... hit or miss. For folks hitting... small swimbaits and jerkbaits have been the ticket. Nothing giant, but there seem to be a lot of fish schooled up together near areas with rock and large boulders, as well as points.

Striper fishing has been excellent on the lower American. Folks are finding action just about all over, but Discovery Park, Paradise Beach, and Sailor Bar have been notable spots. Swimbaits and jerkbaits are working best tossed in any deep pocket. Most fish are schoolies, but a few double digits are being caught.

Trout action has been good on the lower end of the Upper American. A CDFW trout plant went in last week on the South Fork. To note, anglers can use bait throughout the summer (until Sept. 30).