Three giant trout over 14 pounds lead Amador catches
IONE – Some lakes and reservoirs in California may never produce trout over 14 pounds, but Lake Amador — the Mother Lode’s trophy trout fishery — has produced three huge trout over 14 pounds in just the last few couple of weeks.
Let’s start with Alex and Tabatha Voight from Loyalton who used a Flicker Shad lure near Rock Creek to catch a monster 15.6 lb. cutbow.
Mark Lee and his son Tristan also had a great day fishing when they landed a 15.48 lb. cutbow and a few nice Amador Golds while using bronze kastmasters in the Mt. Springs area of the lake.
Then Kenny Frappart came all of the way from Yucaipa to land a whopper 14.2 lb. cutbow while using a Power Worm toward the back of the lake.
Other successful big trout anglers include Mike Rawlins and Ron Young, who teamed up to catch a 12.58 lb. tank of a cutbow while using a Rapala on the northeast side of the lake.
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Anglers are also catching good numbers of smaller fish. For example, Josh and Stacy Stow from Auburn landed nine trout with Speedy Shiners near Brunch Point.
On May 7, the lake management stocked 1,300 pounds of Amador Golds in the lake.
“We planted a bunch of trout in the launch cove then split the majority between the Dam and the Dry Camp Point,” said Lee Lockhart of the Lake Amador Resort. “The surface temperature dove down to 66 degrees in the main lake and 69 degrees in the Launch Cove, so the bite should be killer.”
“I heard Urban Escape Guide Service had 14 pickups by the time we dropped this load. Fish in the 20’ mark — and I bet it won’t take long to get a bite,” concluded Lockhart.
Why does the lake produce so many beautiful trout? It’s because the lake management raises their unique strains of Gold, Cutbow, Blue and Rainbow trout at their on-site hatchery.
The lake is full, the surface temperature is 66 degrees, the water clarity is 6 feet, and the oxygen content is 9.7 mg/L.
Berryessa King Salmon, Rainbows and Bass Bite
For multispecies fishing adventures, it’s hard to beat trolling at Lake Berryessa now. Nate Kelsch of Big Nate’s Guide had one of those unforgettable trips at the lake on Tuesday, May 7.
“Today I had the crew of Core Equipment out on Berryessa for another day of epic fishing,” Kelsch reported. “Larry, Rob and Ray put more than 30 fish over the rail, including seven different fish species.”
“By the end of our day they landed 12 king salmon, eight rainbow trout, three crappie, six bass (two spots and four smallmouth), one bluegill, and eight Sacramento pike-minnows to 10 pounds. We released a bunch and lost a bunch, including a donkey king that choked on my presentation and bit through the leader,” said Kelsch.
“We all had a blast, but I am beat as the wind was ripping and rods were popping. We fished down to 65 ft. with great success,” he noted.
Kelsch also reported top-notch fishing on his previous two trips.
“Yesterday we did an afternoon trip from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and fished some different locations with big results, then turned we turned around this morning with my clients Robert and Breck and they crushed them as well,” he revealed.
“I have had a lot of inquiries about running trips after my morning trips, so I called up my brother Charles and asked my youngest daughter Milani to join me for a late session on Berryessa. We got our lines in at 3 p.m. and Milani was battling a tank of a trout by 3:05 p.m. This continued until 6 p.m. when we called it a day. Charles kept three massive trout and nice king salmon. We released another five trout and one very large pike-minnow to be caught again another day,” he stated.
“Today my crew had a rough start, dropping the first two fish of the day, but soon found their stroke and started filling the bag with some donkeys,” he continued. “We then had another short lapse of lost fish and some hit no sticks, then ended up wrapping up their LIMITS by 1 p.m., including three king salmon.”
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Kelsch fished from the surface down to 60 feet chasing fish marks on his electronics. Power trolling spoons at speeds up to 4 mph is still his main technique, but he noted that he has added “another lethal weapon to the mix, as the water is starting to warm, and it's a game-changer.”
Rich Crispi of TW Guide Service has also experienced top-notch fishing at Berryessa on his most recent trips.
“I had another amazing day fishing Berryessa today with Sam and his son Max,” said Crispi. “We got a great mixed limit of salmon and trout. Our big trout of the day was 4.2 lbs. and the big king of the day went 4.10 lbs. These fish are truly giants.”
“The fish are dropping from 20 to 45 ft. deep. We pulled spoons at 3.0 mph Silver was the color of choice, we stayed patient and the fish slowly filled the box,” Crispi concluded.
Halibut, Stripers Roam the Bay
If you like to catch halibut and striped bass, it’s time to go fishing on San Francisco Bay. Anglers are picking up the two species while trolling anchovies and herring at a variety of locations throughout the bay.
On May 7, Captain James Smith of California Dawn Sportfishing reported “another solid day of fishing, with limits of halibut over the rail again.” The final count was 12 limits of halibut to 25 pounds and 10 striped bass to 12 pounds.
On the previous day’s trip, Smith reported “lights out fishing today as we finished up with early limits in beautiful weather.” The final count was 13 limits of halibut to 28 pounds and four striped bass to 11 pounds.
Captain Erik Anfinson of Bass Tub Sportfishing in San Francisco reported superb fishing for halibut also. The latest trolling adventure by Captain Aaron Anfinson on May 6 produced limits of halibut and seven bass for nine anglers.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Three giant trout over 14 pounds lead Amador catches
