Bacher: Lake Amador and Pardee Trout, River Stripers Highlight Spring Fishing
IONE − Lake Amador, located in the Mother Lode foothills, played host to the NorCal Trout Angler’s Challenge event on Saturday, March 16.
Daniel De Leon won first place in the adult division with an 11.64 lb. trout caught while trolling a Rapala in the middle of the lake.
His brother, Sam, placed second in the adult division with the 7.56 lb. trout he also caught while trolling with a Rapala.
“This was a great event to welcome spring with,” noted Vince Harris, president of Angler's Press Outdoors, the organization that created the NorCal Trout Angler's Challenge. “There was beautiful weather, lots of families, and a great bite for most anglers — with some really big fish being caught.”
David Cohn placed third by catching a beautiful 6.55 lb. trout.
The fourth through tenth place adult division winners in the event were: (4) Arnel Ebojo, 3.62; (5) Luis Sul, 3.44; (6) Tom Wolfenberger, 3.4; (7) Justin Loveall, 3.26; (8) Joe Gaffney, 2.93; (9) Bryce Odenweller, 2.83; and (10) Janet Ellis, 2.78.
Fourteen-year-old Roa Allison won first place in the youth division with a 2.95 lb. trout. The second through fifth place winners were (2) David Grass, 1.33; (3) Mariah Field, 1.33; (4) Conner Perkins, 1.21; and (5) Joey Hill Jr. 0.99.
Ten-year-old Alan Mendez won first place in the kids division with a 2.66 lb. trout, while ten-year-old Zion Pearson placed second with a 2.1 lb. fish.
Click here for the complete results.
More: Sand Crab Classic Perch Derby Yields Big Perch, Family Fun in Santa Cruz
The lake management plants the reservoir with its own unique strains of cutbow, gold, blue and rainbow trout from its onsite hatchery.
Prior to the tournament, Lake Amador Resort stocked a total of 1,500 pounds of trout, including 500 pounds of trophy trout ranging from eight to 20 pounds and 1,000 pounds of cutbow and some golds. The trout planted in the lake are a mixture of Amador cutbows, golds, blues and rainbows.
Then on Monday, the lake management stocked 1,000 pounds of cutbows and some golds into the lake. “The water is unbelievably clear and whether fishing shore or trolling, the trout bite is on,” said Lee Lockhart at the Lake Amador Resort.
Successful anglers include Chris and Andrew Bustamante, and Isidro Castillo, who put together a stringer of eight quality trout while using PowerBait. They concentrated their efforts on the small coves along the shoreline, such as the ones past the spillway.
On Monday, March 18, Allan Ruba and Rodney Brow used grubs and Power Worms in Jackson Creek to catch two limits of trout.
The lake’s surface temperature is 61 degrees, the water clarity is 10’ and the oxygen level is 9.6 2mg/L.
Delta Striped Bass Bite Begins
The spring striped bass bite has begun on the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers.
“Striper fishing has been great for those going out,” said Jeff Soo Hoo of Soo Hoo Sportfishing. “Anglers have been doing the best while trolling with Yo-Zuris. On my latest trip on the Delta, we left them biting to get home in time to cook up some corned beef and cabbage dinner on St. Patrick’s Day.”
Mark Wilson reported fast striper action on his latest trip on the San Joaquin River from Three Mile Slough to Prisoner’s Point on Friday, March 15.
“Three of us hooked 37 fish, including 17 keepers to 5 pounds,” said Wilson. “We trolled with deep-diving Yo-Zuris on the incoming tide. The fish were small, going up to 5 pounds. We kept a total of six fish. The San Joaquin River water was clear on the incoming tide. The Sacramento River water is dirtier at this time.”
More: Bacher: Salmon fishing closures or restrictions are likely this year
Feather River Striper Action Starts: The spring striped bass run has also begun on the Feather River. The Sacramento River was still too high at press time to be fished from a boat, according to Armando Michalski at Johnson’s Bait and Tackle
“The fishing on the Feather is solid and more people are getting out on the river,” reported Michalski. “However, the Sacramento is still blown out with high water and floating debris.”
Most anglers fishing the Feather are concentrating on the Shanghai Bend and Boyd’s Pump areas. “Shore anglers and boaters are doing best while fishing with live minnows or cut baits including sardines and anchovies,” he tipped.
Most of the fish are schoolie males, but one angler recently weighed in a 30 lb. striper caught on a swimbait on the Feather.
Feather River flows are at 1,600 cfs through the City of Oroville with 8,400 cfs being released from the Thermalito Afterbay River Outlet for a total Feather River release of 10,000 cfs downstream, the California Department of Water Resources reported.
Pardee Lake Trout: This EBMUD reservoir, located on the Mokelumne River, is producing lots of quality rainbow trout.
“This morning RJ and I had the privilege of taking out Alan and Wayne for Wayne's 80th birthday trip and it was nothing short of epic,” said Nate Kelsch of Big Nate’s Guide Service on March 18. “Once again we switched lakes, and has Pardee changed in two weeks, the lake level has dropped over 7 ft. since we last fished it, so I had to make a few adjustments to the game plan, and these two guys smashed them. We had two trout limits by 10:15 a.m.
“Alan started our day off with a massive holdover Lassen rainbow and it was game on from there,” he continued. “Years of experience fishing all of these Gold Country lakes, as well as time on the water, pay major dividends when lake levels/weather conditions change rapidly. Today we kept our presentations in the top 20 ft. and varied our speeds constantly to get the job done.”
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Lake Amador and Pardee Trout, River Stripers Highlight Spring Fishing
