Once in a while a black bass will be caught, though it is not believed that this is a native fish. It does not seem to thrive in Tahoe though the boatmen tell me they occasionally see a few, especially off the docks at Tallac and other points at the south end of the Lake.
Now and again small bull-heads will be seen, and a very small rock-bass. But these never bite on hook and line, and are seldom found more than two or three inches long.
On the other hand big schools of suckers and chubs are seen. The former naturally are scorned by all true fishermen as they are regarded as hogs, or scavengers, and are thrown back whenever caught, or are taken and fed to the gulls or pelicans. The chubs occasionally are hooked and are from half a pound to a pound and a half in size. As a rule these are thrown back, though they make good eating to those who do not object to their excess of bones.
One of the most interesting of sights is to see one of the schools of minnows that fairly abound in Lake Tahoe. In the clear and pellucid water one can clearly see them swim along. As they pass a rocky place a trout will dart out and catch his prey. A flutter at once passes through the whole school. Yet, strange to say, the trout will sometimes swim around such a body and either stupify them with fear, or hypnotize them into forgetfulness of their presence, for they will float quietly in the center of the mass, catching the minnows one by one as they need them without exciting the least fear or attention. The minnows generally remain in fairly shallow water, and keep so closely together that a line of demarcation is made between where they are and outside, as if it had been cut with a knife along a straight edge, and in some mysterious way the fish dare not cross it, though it constantly moves along with their movements.
It will be obvious that necessarily there is much market-fishing in Lake Tahoe and its surrounding lakes. Indeed there are large numbers of fishermen--Indians and whites--who supply the various hotels both of the Lake region and in San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and adjacent cities, and even as far as Denver and Salt Lake City, eastwards, and Los Angeles to the south. These fishermen are very persistent in their work, keeping at it from early morning until late at night, though their catches are supposed to be officially regulated.