Two Fish Limit Scored at Lake Tahoe

       In fishing, experience counts.   Locals know the spots.  That is an axion as old as Huckleberry Finn.  Lake Tahoe is no different.  Here we have  Gene St. Denis, charter boat captain out of South Lake.  He's been fishing the lake forever, at least 30+ years.   So, it was no surprise when he brought in 2 monster fish just over a week ago.
       Without a fixed season, fishing on the lake is pretty much a weather driven choice:  can I handle the wind, waves, and snow?  Is it worth the effort and the risk?   As Gene will tell anybody who will listen, the "bite" on the lake varies with the weather: the worse it gets, the better the fishin'.
      By his estimates, as the wave height increases, the fish rise higher from their normal depths of 100'-175'.   During the storm that dumped over 3' of new snow on the surrounding peaks last week, Gene was on the water near Cave Rock in the southeast corner of the lake.  A favorite spot of his.
      He put 2 -10" Monster Trophy Sticks on his 2 rods: one painted as a Rainbow trout, and the other painted as a Brown trout.  Both were sprayed with ProCure, a covering scent.
     In no time he hooked a large mackinaw which he brought boatside only to lose it.  He estimated its size as 32-35lbs.!   After rerigging his line, he had two rods in the water.   After a short period, both rods quivered, announcing strikes.   He set both hooks and worked the rods with gusto.   The first fish weighed in at 29+lbs and the 2nd at 19lbs.   This is the new record of a 2 fish limit at the lake.
      His 20' aluminum boat, the PT-109, can be proud of this new record.   He can be reached at www.blueribbonfishing.com.