Last weekend a friend and I went fishing at Lake Amador.
Lake Amador is the place that I used to dream about when I was a kid. As a family, we would camp there several times a year and fish there just about every other weekend.
There’s pretty much a story that goes along with every stretch of bank on Lake Amador for me. The fishing hasn’t always been the best, but every lake has its good and bad days.
It’s strange how everything looked so much bigger back then. Lake Amador has become a special place for me that I try to visit at least once a year.
I could care less about catching fish most of the time, it’s the memories that are recalled that make visiting Lake Amador one of my favorite places to fish.
Delta Report
Typical spring-like conditions of off-and-on activity has been making it tough for anglers. When the wind is blowing try reaction baits such as spinnerbaits and swimbaits across points where there are sparse tulles. When calm, try tossing green pumpkin Senko’s towards visible holes within the grass beds or fishing the outer most weed lines.
Jigs fished deep from 6 to 8 feet is also a good technique for this time of year for targeting fish that are in transition.
New Melones Lake
Trout fishing is slow for a lot of anglers fishing off the bank. Anglers trolling for trout are starting to pick up fish while trolling the main lake between 20 and 50 feet deep with night crawler/Wedding Ring combos, U.V. Apexes or a Cop Car Needlefish or other shad-patterned lures trolled at 1-1.5 mph.
Bass fishing continues to be very good for anglers fishing from the bank down to 20 feet. Bass are spawning throughout the lake, making them easy targets for site fishermen. One of the most overlooked patterns is the morning top-water bite. It’s a good time to toss a Zara Spook type top-water bait first thing in the morning.
Lake Don Pedro
Anglers trolling for trout over the weekend have reported good results as apparently the bite has been great. Trout are being caught all over the lake by anglers trolling between 15 and 30 feet deep. Jenkins Hill seems to be the popular place to catch them.
Bass fishing has really turned on lately as many fish can be found spawning throughout the lake. Senko’s and small worms are working really well one the sun comes up. In the morning target the backs of coves with top water lures as there are many schools of fish that have migrated to the backs of coves. Coves where there are underwater brush piles or trees are holding schools of fish.
Lake Camanche
Trout fishing at Lake Camanche continues to be very good for a lot of anglers. Both the lake and the pond are putting out nice limits of fish.
Bass fishing continues to be good on the lake as many fish have moved shallow and be caught with a variety of different baits. Because of the spawn try using baits that can be worked across obvious spawning flats or beds.
In the morning try top-water baits and if the wind picks up try tossing swimbaits as the swimbait bite is always good when there are trout being caught on the lake.
Lake Pardee
Bass fishing is really starting to pick up as the water temperatures continue to rise. Look for the fish to be up shallow on beds. Because the lake is so clear the bass will be
spawning a little deeper than most other lakes. A big mistake anglers make when searching for beds on clear lakes is that they look too shallow.
Trout fishing is still hit or miss for anglers although there are reports of fish being caught by anglers trolling. There is an improving Kokanee bite for anglers long lining hootchies from 125 to 150 feet behind the boat.
Tip of the Week
Most fishing rods now a day are made with cork handles. After multiple times out combined with the handling of fish and bait they can become dirty.
Over the years I have tried several ways to clean the cork handles. One of the most effective ways that I have found was to use wet wipes.
Surprisingly, wet wipes do a great job and can also be used to wipe down all your rods components.
To contact Jarod Ballardo email jgbbass@yahoo.com.
