Bacher: It’s big trout time at Amador, Camanche, Don Pedro and Collins lakes

If you like to battle trophy-size trout, it’s prime time to head to Amador, Camanche, Don Pedro and Collins Lakes. All four lakes are providing top-notch fishing for anglers fishing from shore and boat this winter.

Lake Amador is a regular producer of the largest trout in Northern California. Fish up to 12.64 pounds, raised in the lake’s onsite hatchery, have been landed by anglers fishing the Mother Lode lake over the past couple of weeks.

The lake management released 1,000 pounds of trout at the dam on Thursday, Jan. 11 and another plant is expected this week.

“The fish were a nice mix of 2-3 lb. cutbows with some trophy Golds and Blues in there, including one giant Blue we followed through the whole process,” said Lee Lockhart at the Lake Amador Resort. “Keep that bait shallow, folks — it’s cold on the surface and these trout love it.

“On a side note, the bottom of the lake now has sufficient oxygen for fish to breathe and that means catfish will be 160 feet deep feeding on the bottom out there in the middle. We know this because they come through our pipelines into the farm this time of year. Don’t be afraid to drop an anchovy or worm down and see what monster cats you pull up from the depths of Lake Amador.”

Anglers landed a bunch of hefty trout at the lake lately. Kris Pettitt caught a monster cutbow that tipped the scale at 12.92 pounds. He hooked it on a Bobby Garland original shad jig from a kayak.

Aaron Sepulveda from Concord caught a whopper of a Cutbow weighing in at 12.64 pounds while using a Mouse Tail.

James Curry bagged an 8.17 lb. Cutbow while fishing a firetiger Rapala at the mouth of Carson Arm Cove.

Finally, Kenny Hunt came out from Sonoma and hooked into a whopper trout weighing 9.44 pounds near campsite 39 on Power Eggs.

The lake level is 20’ down, the surface temperature is 52 degrees, the water clarity is 8’ and the oxygen content is 10.1 mg/L.

Lake Camanche: Shore anglers and boaters are also hooking plenty of trout at Lake Camanche on the Mokelumne River as weekly trout plants continue.

During their last plant on Jan. 11, Mount Lassen stocked 500 pounds of lightning trout at the South Shore Pond, 500 pounds of rainbow trout at the South Shore Pond, 1,000 pounds of rainbow trout at the North Shore Ramp and 1,000 pounds of rainbows at the South Shore Ramp.

Some huge lightnings are showing in the catches. For example, Damien was at Camanche recently when he bagged an 11 lb. beast of a lightning in the pond while using Berkley Gulp! Worms.

Another angler, Curtis, also got in on the action at Lake Camanche. He landed and caught two monster lightnings weighing 10 and 7.4 pounds.

More: Bacher: Steelhead anglers tough it out on American River opener

Don Pedro: For big, hard-fighting holdover rainbows, head to Don Pedro on the Tuolumne River.

“Don Pedro today didn’t disappoint,” said Monte Smith of Gold Country Sportfishing after his latest trip to Don Pedro on Jan. 13. "The bite was OK with the steady rain from the time we left the dock till almost the end.”

The anglers landed six trout and two bass, along with a few missed opportunities, while trolling with Smith’s custom spoons. The biggest trout weighed over three pounds.

“The weather came in as fast as I’ve ever seen. I looked up and noticed a very heavy thick fog deck was approaching fast and the wind started kicking up,” said Smith. “By the time I got the big motor started and got the rods in as fast as we could, I told the clients 'We have got to get the hell out of here now' and turned towards the dock.

“The wind was howling with three-foot waves at least,” he recounted. “The fog laid down on the water and all we could see was the white water when the waves broke and we couldn’t see land. Thank God for GPS!”

More: Bacher: Steelhead Numbers Soar at Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery

Collins Lake: The winter of 2023-24 has produced “abnormally good fishing weather” to date, said Ed Palma at the Collins Lake Resort.

“In terms of wind, at least a few days each week have been calm and things have generally been warmer than average years,” he stated. “The lake has come up a bit with the rain, currently about 30.5 ft. below spill, but we haven’t had so much runoff that it clouds the water.

“We’re still praying for more rain, but in the meantime, we’ve kept on planting trout all winter and have extended the schedule now into May (conditions permitting). Our most recent plant included some unscheduled trophy lightning trout — ostensibly getting too big for the hatchery.”

Headlining this report are three catches over New Year’s. Joey Rapo ended 2023 with a 4.75 pound rainbow trout caught on worms from the west shore near the mouth of Elmer’s Cove.

Jaden Stron caught a jaw-dropping 7 pound lightning trout on a jerk bait lure near the dam. And Mason celebrated January 1 with a 7.5 pound rainbow trout he caught from the shoreline below campsite #56 on classic green Powerbait.

Alex Durkin tipped the scales with a chunky rainbow trout that weighed in at 9.75 pounds while Grayson’s beautiful lightning, caught in open water from a boat, registered 8.5 pounds. Jamee and Luke headed out to the east side of the lake and managed a double limit, most of them caught in the shallows on Powerbait.

Tian and Joey kept their seven biggest of a double limit mostly caught trolling mid-lake under 10 feet and a few on Powerbait. Their top fish weighed 7.5 pounds.

There were some big catches throughout December including the 8.5 pound lightning trout Ron Cowan of Biggs caught, along with four others to make a limit. He was using nightcrawlers over on the eastern shoreline, according to Palma.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: It’s big trout time at Amador, Camanche, Don Pedro and Collins lakes