VOL . 41 • ISS . 4

Lake Camanche offers shore anglers and boaters top-notch fishing for rainbow trout , largemouth and spotted bass , channel catfish and crappie .

Photo courtesy of Lake Camanche Recreation Company

Mokelumne River in the low , rolling Mother Lode foothills northeast of Lodi , Lake Camanche features excellent shore and bank fishing for trout during the fall , winter and spring months , but it can be fickle at times . “ You can go fishing all morning on the lake and leave at noon without a bite ,” said Bob Simms , host of the KFBK Outdoor Show on Saturday mornings . “ Then the anglers in the boat that arrives at the ramp at noon will catch their limits by 2:30 pm .” Right now is prime time for trout at Camanche , since the North and South Shores and South Pond are being planted weekly with rainbow trout . From now through May 6 , anglers can come and fish Camanche for a chance to win a variety of prizes during the lake ’ s annual trout derby , according to the Lake Camanche Recreation Company . The trout derby kicked off to a great start , with over 20 prizes redeemed during the opening weekend . Ryan Young was out for the start of the derby when he caught a beautiful rainbow weighing around 3-1 / 2 pounds . Before March 4 , a total of 100 tagged fish were planted between the South Shore Pond and Main Lake . When they catch a tagged fish , anglers can take their tag to the Office ( Monday and Tuesday 9-5 )

and the Stores ( Wednesday - Sunday 8-3:30 ) and get a spin on their wheel : https :// www . facebook . com / events / 1722563894613714 / The South Shore main ramp is now open . Anglers can now use this main ramp next to the store , instead of the low water ramp . Since regular rainbow trout plants began in 1989 , the East Bay Municipal Utility

District water supply reservoir , has become known throughout the north state as an outstanding trout fishery . Each year , over 60,000 pounds of trout are stocked between October and June . The fish weigh at least a pound and go up to trophy sized 8 pounders . Ten percent of the fish stocked in the lake and pond are trophy fish three pounds and over , including some real lunkers . The concessionaire plants only “ triploid ” fish — infertile fish incapable of spawning — since EBMUD biologists don ’ t want the rainbows mixing with the native run of steelhead in the Mokelumne River below Camanche dam . The largest trout I have every personally caught at Camanche was a 7-1 / 2 pounder that I landed while trolling in April over a decade ago , but many huge fish have been caught on this lake . You could catch the trout of a lifetime when you fish at Lake Camanche . Just ask Mark and Mike Seaters of Lodi , who teamed up to catch the lake record rainbow of 19.42 pounds while fishing a brown plastic worm near the dam on May 5 , 1998 . Ray Miles of Woodbridge set the record for the South Trout Pond when he bagged a 19.37 lb . largemouth while fishing a jig on March 28 , 1998 . While many anglers come to the lake to fish from shore or boat , very few are aware of the lake ’ s

This young angler holds up a limit of rainbow trout that he caught while trolling with Robbie Dunham , fishing guide , at Lake Camanche .

Photo courtesy of Koke Machine Guide Service history . After the dam was completed and the reservoir filled in 1964 , the remains of several Gold Rush towns were flooded . The most notable of these was Lancha Plana – “ flat boat ” in Spanish – a settlement in Amador County formed as a result of a flatboat ferry crossing across the Mokelumne River . Founded by Mexican settlers in 1848 , it was situated on the north bank of the Mokelumne River , 9 miles south-southeast of Ione at an elevation of 220 feet . Lancha Plana Bridge crosses the lake now about where the town once stood . Other towns inundated by the lake rising waters include Arkansas Ferry , China Gulch , and of course , Camanche , the town that the reservoir is named after . The town , formerly called Limerick , became Camanche , named after Camanche , Iowa , in 1849 . Since the lake is relatively shallow , with a maximum depth of about 150 feet when full , Camanche offers huge expanses of reefs and rock piles punctuated by standing timber and brush . The low areas between the rock piles act as channels and travel corridors that the lake ’ s trout , bass and other gamefish use for travel and security . Besides the lake itself , the South Shore also features the South Shore Trout Pond , regularly planted with trout in the fall , winter and spring . With abundant structure , Camanche features a trophy bass fishery dominated by largemouth and spotted bass . Kevin Miranda of Sacramento caught the lake record largemouth weighing 18.17 lbs . on June 26 , 2015 when he was fishing with a crankbait by Little Hat Island . That fish measured 31 ” long and had a 24 ” girth . That record shattered the previous record of 15.2 lbs .