When the bite was going strong, I noted that the stomachs of the trout I kept and cleaned were stuffed with large minnows and crayfish. On November 23, though, I experienced my third slow trip in a row, fishing for close to seven hours to catch three rainbows to 18 inches. I released one, but kept the other two, and upon gutting them I found that they had not been feeding upon minnows or crayfish at all, but instead were filling their stomachs exclusively with tiny freshwater shrimp- the same kind that form the primary forage for the lake's kokanee salmon. Aha! Here I was pulling live minnows and minnow imitating lures, but the fish were now keying on very different, much smaller prey. What to do about this now that I've figured it out is another story, though, and other than fishing shrimp-imitating flies or perhaps small mealworms, the solution is really just to wait, have faith, and stick to my tried-and-true techniques. The shrimp-hatch will subside, I did catch the 18 inch rainbow on a jointed Rapala, and its just about time for the mackinaw and brown trout to start biting on plugs and minnows in the shallows as well. You'll never find a mackinaw with a belly full of tiny shrimp, either. These char (and most large browns) are fish-eaters. This brings me to my first real cold weather tip: Get out there!

I've often heard that in low water temperatures trout are always sluggish and will not move far or fast to take a bait. Don't believe it! Some of the best fishing for brown trout on Tahoe occurs in the dead of winter, when the water is as cold as it gets, and one of the best methods is to fast troll plugs. How "sluggish" is a trout that chases a quickly moving lure and slams it hard enough to double your rod over, immediately peeling line from your reel's drag? Try Dead Man's Point on the Nevada side, and the rocky shorelines north and south of Emerald Bay in California.

In that I'm trying to send you out on a huge, dangerous lake in the dead of winter, please use this next tip as well: Watch the weather! If I can do it in a canoe, you can certainly take your v-hull out, but please monitor weather conditions closely for 24 hours before your trip. I find my local conditions and forecast as reported on weather.com to be quite accurate and reliable, and the report is usually updated at 3:30 each morning, so I can go online before leaving for a dawn fishing trip and see if conditions have changed since the last time I checked. In summertime on Tahoe, thunderstorms can cause sudden, unexpected wind gusts, but in winter, patterns are more predictable. If you find yourself going out in calm conditions early in the morning, only to be surprised by a stiff midmorning breeze quickly building the lake's surface to a sea of angry whitecaps, you probably forgot to look at the local forecast, which would have told you "Light winds in the morning, 15 to 30 mph by afternoon."

The wind direction is important, too. Normally it prevails from the west, but can vary. Last week, I fished off Cave Rock safely in my canoe in a strong breeze with gusts, because the wind was actually coming from the east, blowing right in off the parking lot, so there were no waves built up by the time the wind hit me. A friend who works on the lake's west shore could hardly believe I was out that day, as by the time the wind had pushed the waves across ten miles of lake, there were four foot breakers crashing on the California beaches. Conversely, when I went out last Wednesday, there was no wind at all, but evidently there had been a breeze blowing from the northwest overnight, building waves. Though the wind had since died, two to three foot rollers were still coming in from across the lake through the early morning, forcing me to abort a planned run to Logan's Shoals. I turned back and fished near the Cave Rock boat ramp, where I could quickly put ashore if conditions worsened.

Assuming you picked the right day, and are going to be able to go out safely for a wintertime fishing trip, the next step is preparing your tackle. The less knots you have to tie in the cold, the better, so pre-rig at least some of your terminal tackle in the warmth of your house before going out. I bring an average of four rods with me, and each one will already have a favorite plug or set of flashers tied on, ready to drop in the water. How many times have you kept on a bait or lure that wasn't catching anything, just because it was too cold to take off your gloves and retie? I even pre-tie leaders with hooks for trolling bait behind flashers or dodgers. I wind them around squares of cardboard, sticking the hook-points into the cardboard and securing the tag-end with a small piece of tape. I've even taken to doing this with two-fly teams for cold weather fly fishing, so I can put on a new team with only one knot, instead of the usual three. This preparation makes it much more likely that I will bother to change flies, lures or a frayed leader when out in the cold.

If you've set things up well enough to increase your odds and thus your catch, though, you'll end up with even colder hands from wet lures, nets, and fish. They have not yet invented gloves that you don't need to take off to untangle a treble-hooked lure from your net after a big rainbow has twisted and thrashed in it, and your hands will take a beating. Those little disposable chemical hand warmer packets sold at practically every store in Tahoe really do work, and are a lot more pleasant to use than the old ice-fishing technique of jamming your hands down your pants to get the feeling back in your fingers. I even put one packet in each of my wader-feet when standing in icy water on winter fly fishing trips.

Putting your hands into frigid water then back into Tahoe's dry air and intense sunlight also has another effect, that of turning your skin into something akin to cracked, old shoe leather. If I fish two days in a row in winter, skin at the edges of my fingernails actually splits open, right down to the flesh, leaving a painful, red "cut". Band-Aids and moisturizer do little to help close these openings once they have occurred, but I've found that a thick layer of super-glue does. Just put a few drops on the split (it doesn't sting), allow that layer to dry, then repeat several times, until you have a hard artificial scab over the area. This layer will peel off on its own in a day or two, and by then the skin beneath will have closed up again. If you like that "unconventional use of a household product" tip, you'll love this one- breastfeeding salve. When my hands get in bad shape, even the strongest moisturizers or Vaseline aren't much help, but when my wife was nursing our baby daughter a couple years ago, she bought a product called Lansinoh, which is pure, medical grade lanolin from sheep's wool. Not only is this stuff great for sore nipples (my wife reports), but it is the best moisturizer there is for severely chapped hands. Thicker than Vaseline, it stays on longer and through more contact with water, soap, and objects you handle. At ten dollars for a small tube, it is expensive, but a little goes a long way, and it really works.

Just be prepared for jokes from your friends- "Hey nipple-fingers!"

Until next time!
Mark (Never stand in a canoe) Wiza