Sunday - Gonna try Amador

[erhetta]

Ok, I have had fun at fuller, but it is getting cold and Sunday looks to be a bit windy. I have never fished Amador, so I think I am going to head out there tomorrow. I just got a vacation and sick sellback check, so I don't mind shelling out for the day...If I catch a nice cut-bow, it will be all worth it.

I have a box full of buggers, another box full of wiggle tails....we shall see :)

[Scott V]

Yo "E", any good, did you go, did you have fresh trout for dinner last night?

[erhetta]

I will try to post pics and a full report this evening. I have to have some minor outpatient surgery this afternoon, so hopefully I can get on and post.

To answer your question, yes, it was a terriffic day. I caught the 3 biggest trout I have ever landed and LDR'd another two. Well worth the $24 to fish there.

I caught them all in the top 1' of water with a white sparkleminnow trailed by a brown and red nymph about 18" behind it. I was kick trolling at the times I caught all 3. Most of the boaters caught on white 1" grubs unweighted on top. One tuber was doing good with the green hares ear stripping it back.

[SHigSpeed]

Sounds like a load of fun... But $24? Can you break that down for us?!

Car + Fishing permit + pontoon?

That's crazy spendy.

Can't wait to see the pics of the big stubby finned fish.

_SHig

[erhetta]

Breakdown of costs:

$9.00 - Vehicle (2 persons)
$8.00 - Fishing (per person)
$7.00 - Boat Use ($2 or $3 for tubes)

For me, the trip paid off.

Warning - Some pics below may offend catch and release purists. I only harvest planted fish and only take what I can eat that evening.

With that in mind:

What I saw going in:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/erhetta/Fishing%20Pics/Amador%20trout/111341a9.jpg

An interesting note on the above....If the water district makes them cut down their water usage for the trout farm, they will be planting close to 100,000 lbs of trout very quickly into the lake. (Talking to the people that run the place pays off sometimes)

The lake is waaaay down:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/erhetta/Fishing%20Pics/Amador%20trout/8c151296.jpg

As you can see form above, walking around the lake would be very, very difficult...bring something to float on. If you have the cash you can rent a boat there for $60 for the day.

Yep...fish like these are fun to catch:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/erhetta/Fishing%20Pics/Amador%20trout/0eeaf4eb.jpg

My take for the day (Photo for SHigSpeed as he wanted stumpy fin pics :) )

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/erhetta/Fishing%20Pics/Amador%20trout/0e61a235.jpg

The next photo is to answer Scott V's question....Yes, my girlfriend and I had a wonderful dinner :):):)
(Nothing but lemon pepper and a hot BBQ for the trout)

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a167/erhetta/Fishing%20Pics/Amador%20trout/f0b8d1d5.jpg

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I guess we can do this all winter............thanks EH

[SHigSpeed]

Thanks for that! $7 for a pontoon!? Eeek... Was it an envelope in a post deal or did they check your truck and decide what your "boat" was?

Looks like fun though. I may have time this weekend: What's a big fish worth eh? :)

_SHig

[erhetta]

They did not check...you roll up next to the bar/store/restaurant and walk in to pay.

They ask how many people and if you are launching a boat.

The boat ramp is a single lane at the bottom because of the water being so low, so inflate your stuff at the top and toss it on top of the vehicle to bring down or use a wheel. The boaters get impatient if people are blocking the bottom.

[Scott V]

$24, ouch. If I ate trout I could handle that amount. But I might have to go down one of these days and give the lake another try. I'll have to bring you along Eric to take care of the fish for me, you know how I am about knocking out a fish.

[Ed Wahl]

Why not just have Eric bring along that bottle of Patron? You'll be wackin fish in no time. Ed

[Mike Churchill]

The price seems a lot less painful if you carpool in. They also give a group discount on tubes and pontoons--group of 10 guys gets the cut rate, so it works for club trips.

It ain't chasing wild fish in a Sierra stream, but it's a fun change of pace when you really need a reminder of what it's like to fight a fish. They have the hottest stockers I've ever seen--they routinely jump multiple times and make runs both deep and shallow. Plus most of the fish they put in are 18" or more (I caught a very hot 26 incher that went over six pounds two years ago that towed me around in my tube for a while after jumping four or five times.)

In October one yanked the rod out of my 91-year old grandfather's hands when it hit the rapala we were trolling and we nearly lost both the rod and gramps over the stern.

I'm actually going to take my wife and kids down there on Sunday to reacquaint them with fish. I can just about guarantee that all of them will hook something before my teenager gets bored with being on the boat with the family.

Mike

[dtp916]

I'll have to bring you along Eric to take care of the fish for me, you know how I am about knocking out a fish.

So the best technique I have seen was the main event UFC fight with Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar......Hammer Fist from Hell.

Nice job, Eric, you got me in the mood for patron. trying to make a brother fall off the wagon or what? :-)