He also went on to imply that these were actually HIS secrets, and that a mutual friend, who in the past has gone out fishing with this guide, passed on what he learned to me; thus the fish I catch are a result of this third-hand knowledge.

Well, let me focus my tirade on this highly controversial subject: knowledge. When it comes to fishing, it is often guarded like a magician's trick. My crime was in revealing the smoke and mirrors. Fishing Lake Tahoe is just not that hard, provided you are willing to work extremely hard.

Conventional wisdom holds that big Tahoe brown trout, known in area bars and convenience stores as German Browns, respond best to a fast trolled Rapala or Rebel minnow plug, pulled on a long line, at dawn or dusk. The upset guide has been known to use this formula to deadly effect, and this is the method my friend observed when on a trip with him. Oops, now I actually HAVE spilled his secrets- and this could be quite damaging because nobody's really ever really heard of trolling minnow plugs for trout before. (Click on "more stories" to see my article, Trolling Minnow Plugs for Trout.) Seriously, though, I've caught some good browns on plugs, but not enough to preclude experimentation, and what I've found defies all the secret knowledge I've supposedly stolen. For the last few weeks I've been catching browns averaging three to five pounds in bright sunlight at mid-day, while slow trolling bait behind dodgers on a relatively short line. Most of these fish run from 20 to 23 inches, but are incredibly fat. One 24 incher weighed just under seven pounds, and had obviously never missed a meal in its life. This brings us to another Tahoe myth, that the clear, low-nutrient water does not support a large quantity of food per acre, and that trout are correspondingly slow-growing and not present in high numbers. The hump-backed, salmon like appearance and high weight-to-length ratio of the fish I'm catching tell a different story. The fish and game department, which stocks no brown trout in this lake, has always had trouble trapping many in their sample nets here, and like a lot of anglers, they seem to have concluded that there are relatively few browns in Tahoe.

Bull! They are here in greater numbers than anyone wants to admit while catching so few; I say they're just too wily for us. My own good fortune lately I attribute to trying unconventional techniques that the browns are less familiar with, as well as pure dumb luck. I'm convinced that these trout are not present at the areas I fish in such numbers year round, but are highly migratory, with many moving to south and west shore spawning streams in autumn, then re-entering the lake and roaming along the shorelines and drop-offs throughout this freshwater sea from late winter through summer. I've just managed to intercept a "run" of fish moving northward along the Nevada shoreline.

Continuing my tradition of spilling the beans, I will now divulge the dark alchemy responsible for my success. Yes, MINE! These are my secrets, earned through long hours on the water, through sunburn, frozen fingers and sleep deprivation- I can give them out as I damn well please. I realize that angling as a profession has a long and proud tradition in Tahoe, and I don't wish to disrespect the entire industry. From fly-fishing gurus to masters of deep-jigging, I openly confess to having met and taken advice from some excellent guides, but have never employed one in my life, and I sure didn't steal this arcane formula, which reads like- "Eye of Newt, Tongue of Toad."

I contend that many of my tips are too complex, situation-specific, and just plain gory for most people to follow anyway, and that the less conservation minded among the thirty or so commercial anglers working the lake do far more damage to the fishery than I ever could, both by killing thousands of fish and by educating thousands of clients firsthand as to their methods. (Or do they blindfold their customers when tying on lures?) Withholding information is of course the prerogative of any angler, and I can see that over-promoting some small streams and lakes can hurt the fishery, but this is Tahoe; the secret's already out!

I hereby challenge all anglers, including guides, to follow the fifty-seven simple steps I take for catching Tahoe brown trout. I also challenge anyone else to make any sense of the lingo, and to read on without dozing off:

The Vessel: 17 foot Coleman canoe, Minn Kota electric trolling motor, Fishing Buddy sonar. This extremely shallow draft, nearly silent boat puts me in situations impossible to duplicate with Boston Whalers or Bayliners, no matter how many electric downriggers and crackerjack anglers are on board. I just love the thought of guys with forty-thousand dollar boats feeling threatened by my little plastic tub.

Rod and Reel: 7 foot medium Ugly Stick spinning rod, 4000 series Shimano reel.

Line: Bottomshot: 20 yards 12 pound Berkeley Big Game monofilament / Backing: 100 yards of 10 pound Gorilla Braid or Fireline / Topshot: 120 yards 10 pound Big Game. The bottomshot keeps the superline from slipping on the spool. Knots joining lines are back-to-back uni knot or triple surgeon's knot.

Lure: Sep's Pro dodger in silver/prism, or Sep's Sidekick dodger in watermelon.

Leader: 18 to 22 inches of fluorocarbon. Try the 6 pound XPS from Bass Pro, or at the same diameter and five times the price, 9 pound flyfishing tippet from Climax.

Bait: Minnows, crayfish, and nightcrawlers. Trout will exhibit a clear preference for one bait over another from day to day. When action is slow using minnows, fishing crawlers or craws can bring in spectacular catches. In addition to brown trout, these baits have been catching rainbows averaging 16 to 18 inches, and mackinaw to six pounds.

Hook: #6 Gamakatsu extra wide gap treble for minnows, #6 Gamakatsu baitholder for night crawlers and crayfish.

Scent: Now it's time to get crazy! I mix up my own special brew, with ingredients including Dr. Juice's Trout and Salmon Juice, Kim Dagget's Trophy Trout Bait Sauce, and Pro Cure Herring Oil. I use a Pro Cure bait oil injector, which is a squeeze bottle with a hypodermic needle, to fill nightcrawlers with attractant that slowly oozes out as I troll. A live minnow or crayfish is best left to exude its own scent, but dead ones benefit from an injection of attractant as well. Yes, this is nasty, disgusting way to catch trout. Wait, it gets worse.

Rigging: All baits must be threaded on the leader with the hook correctly aligned and buried or the fish will humiliate you. A worm threader will suffice for nightcrawlers, but for minnows and crawdads, you will need a long, thin sewing needle.

Strategy: Precision slow trolling over rocky, shallow areas. Keep to the edges of underwater rockpiles, shelves and drop-offs, or anywhere uneven bottoms meet flat sand.

Try it if you have the nerve and the patience. Each trout pictured here was caught on a variation of the method described. I've kept some, released many, and lost quite a few that threw the hook or broke me off. Bringing a big trout to net on light line takes experience, not just advice, but here's another tip sure to anger those self-appointed Keepers Of Fishing Secrets. Tahoe browns will often run at high speed toward the boat when hooked. This can give the illusion that you no longer have the fish on, and when you stop reeling and release tension, this illusion becomes reality. Always continue to reel as fast as possible after the strike, until your rod is bent and you know what you have. You may not be able to catch up and force the trout to fight until he is right at the boat, and with very little line out to stretch and cushion the shock of a hard run or leap, this is where most break-offs occur. Reduce your drag setting as the fish comes near, and thrust your rod-tip into the water and towards the trout if it breaks the surface.

For all the Tahoe fishermen out there, especially the guides, who clearly love this lake the most of all, I have one more challenge: instead of fighting, let's work together to protect and enhance this fishery for ALL anglers, especially our children. If you feel I'm hurting your business, call or email me and invite me on a trip with you. I will write a feature story about your guide service, and any techniques or tackle choices that you wish to remain confidential will not be included. Until then, I will continue to explore innovative trout-fishing techniques on my own and report them freely to Fish Sniffer readers, while some people eat sour grapes.

The next installment in my series on strike-indicator fly fishing will appear next week, unless I'm run down and drowned by a commercial fishing boat.

Until then, remember, there's no heat, no bathrooms, and no whining in a canoe.
Mark (Never stand in a canoe) Wiza