Amador
(Ione) The trout plants are over at Lake Amador until the water temperature cools down in October, but the lake management did plant 500 pounds of catfish, ranging from 2 to 5 pounds each, on Tuesday, June 7.
“Anglers are still catching rainbow trout, but they are showing in deeper water at 20 to 25 feet deep in the main body,” said Kathy Issac at the Lake Amador Resort. Fishermen are bait fishing with PowerBait and crawlers or are trolling with nightcrawlers, spoons, spinners and minnow imitation lures.
Bass are in post-spawn mode and angler are hooking them on a mixture of plastic worms, Senkos and jigs, as well as on top water lures early and late in the day. One angler landed a 7.8 lb. largemouth bass while fishing a plastic worm on the rocky points past the spillway.
Crappie and bluegill are also offering solid action for anglers fishing crappie jigs, nightcrawlers and minnows in shade or brush or off the docks.
The lake is currently1-1/2 to 2 feet from full. The launch ramp is all pavement and wide-open for launching and has both docks in the water.
Meanwhile, anglers are gearing up for the Carp Cull Bow and Spear Fishing Tournament at Amador on Saturday, June 18. Registration starts and 6 am and the event ends at 2 pm. There is a $10 entry fee that covers the fishing and/or boat launch.
There is also a $10 big fish side pot. For more information, contact Lake Amador at 209-274-4739.
Pardee
(Ione) Kokanee salmon fishing is still going strong at Lake Pardee for boaters employing downriggers and leadcore line.
“Look for them across from the dam and around the mouth of the river,” reported Pardee Lake Recreation. “You will find them 35-45 ft down. The best baits have been purple, pink and watermelon hoochies”
For trout from the bank, the hot spots have been Rainbow Point or in front of the Stony Creek spillway. Rainbow, pink or green power bait has been working well.
“If you’re working from the boats, you want to go to the mouth of the river, the main body of the lake or the south end. Look for them 30-40 ft down. Worms, green PowerBait and pink lures have worked really well,” the report said.
Bluegill fishing has been hot for anglers using worms near Rainbow Point and up the river arm. They tend to hide under the trees and brush.
Camanche
(Burson) The big news at Lake Camanche is that the new ADA walkway in the South Cove is almost finished, with a just a few more railings to go.
The boat rental dock has been moved over as well as 2 of the courtesy docks and the covered berth.
The trout fishing has tapered off as the weather heats up. Black bass, channel catfish, crappie and bluegill offer the most consistent action for anglers hitting Camanche now.
For bass, anglers should throw top water lures such as Zara Spooks and Senkos first thing in the morning and then fish in deep water with Senkos or drop-shot plastics the rest of the day.
Fishermen can target the catfish with mackerel, chicken liver, anchovies and nightcrawlers in the coves around the lake.
The lake is now 71 percent of capacity, due to big releases from Pardee this spring.
New Melones
(Angels Camp) If you want to hook big kokanee, New Melones is one of the better prospects in the state now. Trollers are starting to hook improving numbers of kokanee, including big silver slabs over 16 inches.
“The bite is not fast or furious, but when you hook into one of these chunks, it is well worth your effort,” said John Liechty of Glory Hole Sporting Goods. “Most trollers are using small lures behind Sling Blades in pink, blue, or purple.”
Just ask David Ingraham, who landed a great limit of kokanee with the largest fish over 16 inches while using pink tubes or spinners behind either Sep’s or Rocky Mountain Tackle’s dodgers. Bob James of Murphys also landed a hefty kokanee while trolling with Glitterbug’s micro-hoochies near the spillway.
“Trout fishing has also been good with improved action over the past few weeks as the fish are feeding heavily on shad,” said Liechty. “The shad schools are holding in the deeper parts of the lake, and trollers are pulling large Needlefish or Speedy Shiners in shad patterns at depths from 20 to 30 feet over the main river channel. Bank fishing for trout has been very slow with most fishermen heading to the high county.”
“The post spawn bite is in full swing, and we have put some quality fish in the boat this past week using a variety of presentations and locations,” said Liechty, who runs Xperience Guide Service. “Each morning we start off searching for a topwater bite before switching to soft plastics on the bottom.”
On a recent trip while reeling in a 12-inch largemouth bass, Liechty and his fishing partner witnessed a potential world-record spotted bass try to eat it right at the boat. “I reached down to grab the line to release the fish, and the big spot latched on, and I could have grabbed it with my hands,” he noted.
Catfishing will continue to improve with the hot weather. They are more likely to feed in the mornings, evenings, or at night. Frozen shad, anchovies, and mackerel are all good choices for the whiskerfish, and catfish over 7 pounds have been weighed in at the shop lately. .
The crappie bite has slowed a bit with the arrival of hot weather. The lake rose 2 feet in the past week to 884.06 feet in elevation and 26% of capacity after receding for the past few weeks.
Glory Hole remains the only launch available on the lake with two lanes and a courtesy dock.
Don Pedro
(La Grange) It is not a matter of quantity, but quality at Don Pedro with the rainbows gorging on the shad schools. Largemouth bass fishing remains solid with a topwater bite in the mornings before dropping to the bottom with plastics or jigs. The warmer temperatures are bringing the bass to the surface in the mornings and driving the trout into the deepest parts of the lake.
Monte Smith of Gold County Sport Fishing found quality rainbows and kokanee on Friday while enduring temperatures over 100 degrees.
He said, “We started off trying for kokanee with spinners in the early morning, but after a period without marking fish or any strikes, we switched over to custom spoons at depths from 25 to 30 feet. Just went I turned back around because I saw some bait in the water, one rod got slammed, and it ended up being a15-inch kokanee weighing 1.5 pounds. There are some nice kokanee and rainbows in the lake, but you have to hunt around for them.”
Smith put his clients onto quality rainbows to 3 pounds using his custom heavy spoons, and some of the rainbows were loaded with shad.” I stopped counting at 90 shad in its stomach, and the most I had ever seen before in a trout was 10 shad. I think it will be a fantastic fall with the amount of bait fish in the lake. The key is finding the bait balls and working the rainbows below the bait.”