Lake Amador

It's a new year and I thought I'd take a trip out to Lake Amador and see what was shaking. I got there about 8:00 am, signed in and paid my $17.00. A buck more than last year. On top of that, they want an additional $2.00 to put your float tube in the water. I fished from the bank. Back in April of 2009 I profiled the Donaldson Trout and wanted to take a crack at them again. Amador is also famous for the Cutbow. You know what that is.

I parked on the opposite side of the dam from the resort and made my way to the water. I was surprised that the lake was so low. It was lower than the picture I put on the post dated 4/18/09. The one thing that could be a problem with Amador, is that the sides of the lake are very steep. I had to stomp out a little platform to stand on otherwise I would have slipped into the water.

Fished for about an hour with every lure in the tackle box and several colors of Power Bait on the second rod. Not a nibble. The lake posts the plantings and claim 3000 lbs a week and just short of 60,000 lbs this season. I sure didn't see any. Well, that's not quite true. I saw one swim by, right in front of me and if I had to guess, I'd say his speed was some where close to 60 mph. No moss gathering on that bad boy. Then moved to a flatter spot when a couple of Gentlemen left. Nothing there either.

I also watched the guys (probably a dozen or more) around me and they too, were fishless. The only one I saw caught, was from a boat in the middle of the lake. So other than Mister Speedy and the one from the boat, fish sightings were at an all time low.

That is, until I left the lake. Right below the dam, is what I gather to be the breeding tanks for the stocking program. All I can say is that there are three tanks, probably 20 ft in diameter and from the truck (you can't get nearer than about 100 yards) all I could see in the tank was dorsal fins and tails. BIG dorsal fins and BIG tails. I'd be willing to bet that there are guys with
AK-47's hidden in the trees just waiting for someone to jump the fence. OK, probably not, just my imagination going South.

So I think, based on last year and this trip to Amador, I'm putting this lake on the back burner and probably won't visit here again unless it's a last resort.

Oh, guess what? The Sun was shining and I was fishing in a tee-shirt for most of the morning. Got me a dose of Vitamin D for my trouble and I feel much better for it.

Rain for the next several days in beautiful Sunny California (there's a song "It never rains in California". That's a bunch of horsepucky.), so I'll be benched until next week. Then some more sunshine. Maybe I can get the tube in the water.

Till the next adventure.

Mark (Shoreman)