Speaking of humiliation, I went to Heenan Lake last Sunday, September 3, just as I advised my readers to, and I couldn't catch a fish- in a hatchery pond, no less! I brought a friend for a canoe trip, fishing almost four hours without a bite for either of us. Maybe things would have been different if I had been able to stay the whole day- the cutthroat in this lake tend to go on "sprees", not biting for several hours, then suddenly turning on and providing fast action. And make no mistake, my inability to catch a fish doesn't mean they weren't there. We saw some spectacular surface splashes made by large fish, but they were not interested in our spinners or flies. Conditions are a bit tough, with the water extremely low, as low as I've ever seen on opening weekend- I couldn't find any depth more than 15 feet deep on my sonar. There is also an algae bloom, fresh and green underwater, with matted blobs of dead brown algae on the lake's surface. Lures will foul very quickly with a buildup of this slime; flies fare a bit better, but both require frequent checking to make sure you are not presenting a "snot pattern" bait.

A retired warden stays in a trailer in the gravel parking lot all weekend, taking catch rate surveys and watching over this highly regulated water. He told me that on opening morning, September 1, one fly angler reported 27 fish, but that overall, fishing had been spotty so far, with few large fish and many skunks. Even the bald eagles looked bored, circling above, but never dive-bombing the lake. If the eagles can't catch a fish, it's time to go. Have faith, though, as the chill of autumn lowers the water temperature and algae count, this lake WILL turn on, for me and everyone else who had a tough time opening weekend. And even when the bite is off, you can have a sudden flurry and catch a half-dozen fish in 15 minutes; I'm sure someone reading this article had a great time last weekend and wonders why I'm making excuses.

Driving home past the East Carson River, I saw several happy anglers with no need to make excuses- each one had a trout or two in hand. I later learned that the owner of the East Fork Resort had paid for a Labor Day weekend stocking of the roadside water near his establishment. The river suffered a brief rush of high brown water due to heavy rains, but is now back in shape and extremely low, flowing at close to 60 cubic feet per second. The fish in the no-kill wild trout section are still there, though, and concentrated in the deepest pools and fastest mid-depth runs. I hope to get down to this great stream next week.

Another high-quality, catch-and release fishery I plan to fly fish soon is the Rosachi Ranch East Walker River in Nevada. My friend Jeff Keyser went there last Saturday and told me not to write about it for several weeks, so he could go back again before everyone heard about- OOPS! Forget I said anything, but if you happen to go anyway, bring an olive Hare's Ear, a Pheasant Tail, and maybe a small, beadhead Woolly Bugger.

As long as we're on the subject of Zero-Limit waters, let me mention another one for all you fly guys who did well at Heenan while I was catching algae- Milton Lake. Living in South Lake Tahoe, I do most of my fishing in areas south of the "big lake", but there are enough trout waters in the Truckee area to fill a "North Tahoe Report" each week. My roving fly fishing reporter Jeff Keyser also recently camped out at little Milton, a small lake reached by taking the access road to Jackson Meadows Reservoir off Highway 89 north of Truckee. Milton is fed by the tailwater flow from Jackson Meadows Dam, and is quite cold and glass clear. It is home to giant rainbows and browns, and angling is permitted only with barbless, artificial lures. The trout can be extremely wary- Jeff worked for two days to net three or four browns from 18 to 22 inches, caught on small nymphs suspended under a strike indicator. He also wanted me to keep mum about this lake, but come on Jeff! You're good and you worked hard for just a few fish! What are you worried about? This lake is already famous among fly anglers, and rightfully so- it even has its own fly, the "Milton Monstrosity", a pattern tied to imitate large, flying ants that usually appear in June, to the delight of both trout and fishermen. As for lures, they are allowed if barbless, but I hear that most of the season they just don't produce.

And poachers... well, let's just say that I assume a certain level of ethics among Fish Sniffer readers, and if I'm wrong, let me also announce on the internet that Jeff carries a gun when camping, while I prefer pepper spray.

In closing this week, let me report about one more wild trout fishery, but one of a different kind, where bait is permitted and you may keep five fish. How can this be? WHERE can it be? Fallen Leaf Lake. Yes, kokanee salmon fingerlings are planted here periodically, and rainbow trout are sometimes stocked near the marina, but the most consistent fishing is for wild mackinaw, or lake trout, and the most challenging is for big, wild brown trout. I went to Fallen Leaf for my first trip in Jeff's new canoe last week- you see, as Jeff has been getting me more deeply entangled in fly fishing over the last few years, I have turned him on to the possibilities of canoeing for trophy trout. Powered by an electric trolling motor and deep cycle battery, we deep trolled for mackinaw. Jeff added a trolling sinker to his flashers-and-minnow rig to bump bottom in 100 feet of water, while I attached my mini-downrigger to his canoe, and sent a huge, pearl Flatfish plug to the same depth. Jeff caught 6 fish, but they were more like mackerel than mackinaw, ranging from 12 inches up to about 17. I caught only one, but the big lure paid off, as this mackinaw was 26 inches long and over five pounds.

I planned to release my fish, but I made the mistake of holding it out of the water for too many photographs, and when I put it back in, it would not swim down. I know better than this, but if you're new to mackinaw fishing, let me warn you- macks are a coldwater fish, preferring temperatures in the 40s, which is why they inhabit such deep water as well. I was holding this fish in the air on a hot, sunny, late august morning, and that was a big error on my part. in warm weather, removal from the water at all can kill a mackinaw. The surface temperature of the water itself is already 20 or 30 degrees warmer than this species prefers.

I must say that I didn't feel too bad as I barbecued my fish with a honey-mustard-lime glaze, but in a wild trout lake where anglers can and do keep five fish, and there is no stocking program to replenish the mackinaw, please think about how many fish you really need (that one barbecued mack fed my family of five, with leftovers), and how to properly release one you don't need. Many anglers encounter problems when they reel a mackinaw up too quickly from the depths, and its swim bladder bloats up with air, rendering it incapable of sounding for the bottom when released. On guide boats on Tahoe, they will use a hypodermic needle to puncture and deflate the bladder. This is not something for an amateur to attempt, and frankly I don't think the guides can say with any certainty that the fish did not die later, either from infection or from water leaking into the bladder through the puncture. I recommend simply "resting" the fish. When you feel you have reeled the fish up to less than fifty feet below the boat, stop reeling for thirty seconds, maintaining tension. You should soon see bubbles floating up to the surface. This is the fish deflating its bladder, and it can now brought to the surface without bloating.

Next week I will offer a special article on a subject dear to my heart - Canoeing for trout. This is the perfect time to discuss the possibilities of this craft as a hard-core fishing vessel, as I finally wore out my old Coleman, and purchased a new 17 foot model, spending this week assembling it, registering it with the DMV, and customizing it with rod-holder, depth finder and downrigger mounts. I've also been receiving a lot of email asking for information on the subject. Reader Dan Shigematsu wrote "In your articles you often mention canoe trolling the lakes in the Tahoe area- now that the restrictions have gone into effect for all two stroke (motors) in the Tahoe basin, canoe trolling may be the most cost effective way for me to fish the local lakes." Darn right, Dan, it's the wave of the future- quiet, clean and when done right, effective on even the big waters. There are, of course limitations, and we'll get into them next week, but until that time, remember,

It's hard to relieve yourself in a canoe. Mark Wiza