Fish Sniffer Magazine Volume 42 Issue 07 | Page 11

Location : Lake Amador , located on Jackson Creek in the Mother Lode foothills near Ione , features 400 surface acres and 13-1 / 2 miles of shoreline when full . The reservoir is managed as a fishing lake – no water skiing or jet skis are allowed .

Fishing Season : Fishing is open year-round . The lake management and California Department of Fish and Wildlife plant the lake from mid -October through mid-June , depending upon the surface water temperatures .

Resort Facilities : Amador is a full service resort complete with a marina , fishing dock , café and store . The Tackle Box Cafe , located in the Lodge , serves breakfast and lunch on Fridays , Saturdays and Sundays . Also located in the lodge is a large general store and beer bar with a large screen TV . A well-stocked bait and tackle store with rental boats is also located in the lodge . Unlike many other lakes , Amador encourages fishing from its docks . The resort also features two 18-hole disc golf courses and a DG pro shop .

Launch Ramps : The lake has an expanded launching ramp with new docks and a paved parking area lighted at night for nocturnal fishing adventures .

Camping : Full hook-up RV sites and a 150 site campground , with showers and flush toilets , are nestled along the shoreline of Lake Amador . The sites are available year round with reservations or just show up . They always have room except maybe on some holidays .

Day Use and Other Fees : The parking fee ( 1 vehicle up to 4 people ) is $ 10.00 from October through April is $ 10 and $ 12 from May through September . Each additional person is $ 2.00 . The fishing permit costs $ 9.00 per day October through May and $ 7.00 June through September . The boat launch fee is $ 7.00 per day ; kayaks , canoes and float tubes are $ 4.00 per day .

Fishing information : Lake Amador Resort at ( 209 ) 274-4739 , www . lakeamador . com .

To Ione

Sacramento

I-5

To Rio Vista

Jackson Creek

12

580

16

50

88

124

Stockton

Placerville

Lake Amador

Lodi

Lodge

Dam

49

Dock

Jackson

49

Picnic Area

Spillway

R . V .

El 925

Swimming Pond

Carson Arm

Camp Dock

Mountain Spriing

Cat Cove

Isaacs Ditch

Elv 588

Boat Camps

Mountain Spring

Lake Amador El 468

Rock Creek

Doney Bay

Carson Creek

Amador County

Jackson Creek

Rock Creek

Kreth Creek

Jackson Creek

El

• Fishing for Amador ’ s cutbow , gold and rainbow trout is 639 best when Fishing plants are Notes taking Jackson place from Spillway mid-October through May . Bank fishing is best for

• anglers Fishing fishing for Amador Power Bait ’ s , Rainbow Power Eggs Trout , Rapalas is best and when nightcrawlers plants in are the taking top 3 feet place of water from until mid-October the water temperature through early warms June up . in Bank the spring fishing . is best Trollers for use anglers Needlefish fishing , Kastmasters Power Bait , Cripplures , Pautzke , Rapalas Fire Bait , Yo-Zuris , salmon and roe other and minnow nightcrawlers imitation in lures the . top 3 feet of water until the water temperature warms up in the spring . Trollers use Needlefish , Cripplures , Rapalas , Rebels , Yo-Zuri ’ s and other minnow imitation

• Florida-Strain Largemouth Bass offer year-round action . Night fishing with jigs and Power Worms is best during the fall . During the winter , drop lures .

• shotting Florida-Strain with small Largemouth plastics off main Bass body offer points year-round in 15 to 30 action feet of . Night water is fishing most productive with jigs . Spring and Power and summer Worms baits is best include during spinnerbaits the fall , plastic . During worms , Zoom the winter Flukes , , drop crankbaits shotting and top with water small lures plastics . off main body points in 15 to 30 feet of water is most productive . Spring and summer • Channel baits Catfish include action reaches spinnerbaits its prime , plastic in the summer worms , and Zoom fall . Toss Flukes mackerel , crankbaits , chicken and liver top and water stinkbaits lures off . the points .

• Crappie Channel fishing Catfish is best action off docks reaches and its other prime structure in the in spring summer and and fall . fall Fish . Toss mini-jigs mackerel and live , chîcken minnows liver . and stinkbaits off the points . Crappie fishing is best off docks and other structure in spring and fall . Fish mini-jigs and live minnows .

Elv 577

Hunter Lauren of Sacramento placed first in the youth division of the NTAC event at Lake Amador on April 23 with his 4.26 lb . cutbow .

Photo by Dan Bacher the Blue Dock . Mario Green pulled a 13.01 pound Cutbow from the depths of the Launch Cover while using a black and yellow Panther Martin with a gold blade JD Wheeler also landed a whopper Cutbow weighing 13.28 lbs . and measuring 30 ” in length . Over the years , Amador has produced some huge fish . Juan Garcia caught the lake record Cutbow trout weighing 20.12 pounds on November 11 , 2020 . Jeremy Silvas landed the lake record rainbow trout weighing 19.39 pounds on November 18 , 1920 .

T . J . Wood placed second in the adult division by catching this 4.81 lb . cutbow while rolling with an orange grub at Lake Amador on April 23 .

Photo by Dan Bacher

The resort is the only facility that I know of that has its own fish hatchery operation , an operation begun by Bob Lockhart three decades ago . The lake management was forced to shut down the hatchery during the 2014-2015 drought , the result of lack of water to keep the facility going . With better water conditions , the resort reopened the hatchery in 2017 . The hard fight that Amador ’ s own hatchery raised trout have historically provided anglers , along with their beautiful fins and colors , are due to the unique strains of fish grown here and the conditions they are raised in .

First , the hatchery raises the fish in tanks 5 to 6 feet deep , rather than 18 inches deep like other hatcheries , making for better growing conditions . Second , when the fish reach the age of 8 months and are taken out of the raceways , they are raised in 7 octagonal tanks with a constant current running through them . Swimming in the current forces the fish to become strong and healthy . Third , the resort uses top quality “ EWOS ” food to raise their fish . Since it includes krill and sardines , it helped give the fish ’ s flesh their unique pinkish orange color . Fourth , the lake management keeps the amount of fish in the hatchery at a lower density than the state and other hatcheries , so the fish display squared , rather than rounded , tails . Fifth , the quality of the fish they raised also has to do the unique strains of fish they raise . While they first spawned fish from brood stock , they began buying eggs because it was less expensive . Trout provide the most popular fishery at Amador from October through May , but the lake also features excellent populations of Florida-strain largemouth bass , channel and blue catfish , black crappie , redear sunfish and bluegill . The largemouth found in Amador are Florida strain / northern hybrids . Northern strain bass were planted in the lake after it was filled in 1968 , followed by the introduction of Florida-strain largemouth by the CDFW in 1973 . The lake record largemouth bass , caught in 1986 by Tim Kamura , weighed 17.1 lbs . The record catfish , caught by Joel Issac , weighed 39.6 lbs . The record crappie weighed 4.1 lbs . Amador is located only one hour from Sacramento and Stockton , and only two hours from anywhere in the Bay Area . The 1300-acre facility offers a heavily--stocked 400-acre lake , with an updated dual lane boat launch and a large fishing dock for shore anglers . For more information , contact : Lake Amador Resort at 209-274- 4739 , www . lakeamador . com .