By Dan Bacher

Fallen Leaf, a natural lake in Tahoe National Forest southwest of South Lake Tahoe, is like a miniature version of the "big lake". It has the same clear, deep water and the same species of gamefish that dwell in Lake Tahoe, including mackinaw trout, browns, rainbows and kokanee salmon. It also has the same forage - Lahontan redsides, Tahoe suckers and tui chub - that feed the larger trout of Lake Tahoe.

Like Tahoe, Fallen Leaf had a resident population of Lahontan cutthroat until these huge fish - once called "salmon trout" when the were sold in commercial markets of San Francisco in the late 19th Century - became extinct in both waters by 1929

However, unlike Tahoe, relatively little is known about the fishery of Fallen Leaf, since all of the research, ranging from creel surveys to water quality studies, has focused on Tahoe. "It's like a black hole for fishery research." summed up Stafford Lehir, DFG fishery biologist.

The lake, located at 6377 feet in elevation, is surrounded by Tahoe National Forest land and private property. Fallen Leaf, three miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide, ranges in depth up to 430 feet. The watershed includes Cathedral Creek of the Desolation Valley Wilderness and Glen Alpine Creek. The lake's outlet, Taylor Creek, drains into Lake Tahoe.

Mackinaws are the main game fish at Fallen Leaf. The mackinaw population is self-sustaining; no mackinaw plants have been made at the lake in recent years.

Russeli Okubo, owner of Sumo Sushi in Laguna and a NewBass tournament angler, loves to fish for mackinaw at Fallen Leaf in the summer and fall. After he told me of the excellent fishing that he finds at the lake while drifting minnows, we decided to make a trip up there. "I like to fish Fallen Leaf in the afternoon because the largest fish are taken then," said Okubo, so we didn't get to the lake until 12:30 p.m. on September 12. He noted that a full service marina and launch ramp are open to the public at Fallen Leaf, but you have to detach your boat trailer from your truck and park them at separate locations when launching here.

Okubo had launched his boat the day before, so we got in his 20 foot Nitro bass boat at the marina and went to a stump on the west side to set a trap for minnows. He brought along a bag of donuts to put in the minnow trap for bait. Twenty minutes later, we came back to the trap, but there were no minnows to be found.

"This is the first time this has happened," he said, with obvious surprise. "Usually we have no problem getting 30 minnows in this amount of time."

We checked the docks at the marina and along the east shore, but we didn't see any concentration of minnows. Finally, Okubo threw the trap in deeper water off the stump that we went to first. Fortunately, I had brought a tackle box full of Gibbs Minnows, so we went to the area on the lake's northeast side where he normally hammers the macks.

"I find the best action here in 200 to 250 feet of water," said Okubo. "It's an easy lake to fish, compared to Tahoe, since you can find mackinaws scattered throughout the lake."

While we waited for the donuts to attract Lahontan redside minnows, we jigged the Gibbs. Russ hooked up the first fish, a small one about 12 inches long that he released.

Within a few minutes of putting my jig in the water. I hooked a mackinaw that put up a dogged fight on my Lamiglas rod / Corsair reel. It was our first "keeper" mackinaw of the day, a 21 incher. We fished for another half hour and then went back to check on our minnow trap. When we pulled it out it had six lonely minnows in it.

We went back to the "hot spot" and I soon got a bite. The fish nibbled slowly until it engulfed the minnow and I set the hook. The mack gave a great fight, but it was only a 15 incher, albeit a fat one that I released.

Then Russell had a couple of takedowns, but the fish stripped his minnows off the hook before he was able to get a good hook set. I hooked the last fish of the day, a 22 incher that ripped off a lot of line and surged for the bottom at 4pm. It was a good day of fishing, but it would have been faster if we had been able to catch more minnows.

A private study being conducted by an avid mackinaw angler, Glenn Topliff, in cooperation with the DFG, may yield some information in the future about the mackinaw fishery. Glenn will be tagging mackinaws he catches with 250 custom made "floi" tags, mad available through a $150 private grant.

Topliff specializes in catching ig mackinaws; last year he landed two macks weighing 16-1/2 and 19 pounds, while this year he has taken two fish going 15-1/2 and 20 pounds at Fallen Leaf. However, the fish taken at this lake normally go 2-1/2 to 4 pounds

"I primarily troll with big lures, such as J-Plugs in sizes 4 to 5, and 5-1/2 inch Apex lures," he said. "I like the J-Plug because it has a rattle that draws a little extra attraction to the lure. I find y top action in 100 to 260 feet of water on the lake's east side. The key is to fish within 40 feet of the bottom."

He advised anglers who want to release the fish to bring the fish up slowly so the fish's air bladder won't inflate. Or they can pop the air bladder with a hypodermic needle like charter captains do at Tahoe.

Kokanee salmon have been a popular fishery at Fallen Leaf for many years, but the fishing has slowed down in the past two years for reasons yet unknown. Even veteran anglers such as Tom Johnson, who regularly limits out on mackinaw, has been unable to locate any kokanee at Fallen Leaf this year. This is surprising, since the lake has been planted heavily with kokanee, including 102,000 in 1995, 75,520 in 1996, 39,600 in 1997 and 50,000 this year.

Some brown and rainbow trout are also caught in the lake, but few anglers specifically fish for them. Try trolling Rapalas or other minnow imitation plugs along the shoreline.

Fallen Leaf Marina, open normally from Memorial Day until the end of September, has 14 foot fishing boats available for rental. The boat launching fee is $10.00 for boats with motors 25 hp and less or $20.00 for boats with motors over 25 hp.

For more information, call Fallen Leaf Marina at 530-544-0787. Information on the mackinaw tagging program is available by calling Glenn Topliff at 925-946-1447.

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