Lake Tahoe fishing: Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout

Target species: Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Bluegill, Atlantic Salmon
Best months: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep for Largemouth Bass
Second window: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep for Rainbow Trout
Boat: 5 ramps and launches on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Lake Tahoe - Cave Rock (State Park), 2 lanes.

The lake

Lake Tahoe covers 123,077 acres in California, across 2 counties: El Dorado and Placer. It is a lake: the deepest point measured is 1640 feet (500 m). Our records hold 11 species for this water. 30% of the water lies in Nevada.

Lake Tahoe at morning - 7-2023.jpg
John D. · CC BY 2.0

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: 1640 ft (500 m).

South Lake Tahoe SW01.jpg
Scotwriter21 · CC BY-SA 4.0

7 target fish, led by Largemouth Bass

  • Largemouth Bass — Best months: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
  • Rainbow Trout — Best months: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
  • Brook Trout — Best months: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
  • Lake Trout — Best months: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
  • Brown Trout — Best months: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
  • Bluegill — Best months: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
  • Atlantic Salmon — Best months: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.

Also recorded here: Smallmouth Bass, Golden Shiner, Goldfish, Western Mosquitofish.

Sugar Pine Point State Park 1.jpg
DimiTalen (talk · contribs) · CC BY-SA 3.0

Water and conditions

Water temperature averages 47°F across the year. pH averages 7.5. These readings span 2016–2026.

Monthly average water temperature: Jan 40°F · Feb 39°F · Mar 39°F · Apr 42°F · May 45°F · Jun 50°F · Jul 55°F · Aug 55°F · Sep 56°F · Oct 47°F · Nov 42°F · Dec 39°F

5 ramps and launches on this water

On this water we hold 1 trailer ramp and 4 boat ramps.

  • Lakeside Marina — South Lake Tahoe. 4041 Lakeshore Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe 96150 · phone +1 530-541-9800 · website action-watersports.com/activities/category/lakeside-marina
  • Obexer's Boat Company — Homewood. 5300 West Lake Boulevard, Homewood 96141 · phone +1-530-525-7962 · website obexersboat.com
  • Lake Tahoe - Cave Rock (State Park) — 2 lanes.
  • Lake Tahoe - Sand Harbor website parks.nv.gov/parks/sand-harbor
  • Tahoe City Marina website tahoecitymarina.com

Fee and opening hours are blank for all 5 places in this list: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

Season by season

  • Winter (Jan, Feb, Mar, 39–40°F) — Steady but no peak: Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Atlantic Salmon.
  • Spring (Apr, May, Jun, 42–50°F) — Biting: Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Bluegill.
  • Summer (Jul, Aug, Sep, 55–56°F) — Biting: Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Bluegill.
  • Fall (Oct, Nov, Dec, 39–47°F) — Steady but no peak: Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Atlantic Salmon.

What is hard here

Wind is the limit, not the fish: 123,077 acres of open water build a short steep chop, and there is no shelter in the middle. Winter water drops to 39°F, and the warm-water species stop feeding well before you do.

Where this data comes from

  • NOAA ENC — NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts: soundings: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • NOAA ENC — NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.