Where to go for 'really good' trout fishing, trophy trouts in the San Joaquin Valley

IONE - Probably the best chance for Stockton area anglers looking to catch fish during the cold weather we’re seeing is targeting trout from the bank or a boat at three Mother Lode reservoirs – Pardee, Camanche and Amador.

Trout fishing has been “really good “at Pardee Lake on the Mokelumne River for bank anglers and boaters since the popular EBMUD recreation area opened to fishing on Feb. 17, said Chelsea Schweder at the Rocky Mountain Recreation Company.

“Anglers reported catching a combined total of 500 trout on opening day,” said Schweder. Two of those anglers were David and Pat Gomez from Stockton, who teamed up to catch a 7.18-pound trout on a black wooly bugger on one of the rental boats opening day.

Another angler, Tim, landed a 9.2-pound rainbow while fishing a Senko the same day. In addition, he caught another trout and two largemouth bass.

The trout action has been boosted by the addition of fish that were trucked to the area in mid-February.

Mt. Lassen Fish Farm stocked 2,000 pounds of Lightning Trout, 700 pounds of catchable rainbow trout and 200 pounds of trophy rainbow trout on Feb. 16. The fishery also stocked 2,700 pounds of rainbows and 300 pounds of trophy rainbows on Feb. 17.

On Feb. 24, Mt. Lassen stocked an additional 4,000 pounds of rainbow trout at the park’s launching station.

Bank anglers should fish PowerBait, Power Eggs, nightcrawlers, Kastmasters and other offerings in the main recreation area, including Tom Sawyer Island and near the launch ramp. Trollers should do best while using spinners, spoons, hoochies and nightcrawlers behind dodgers or flashers in the main body and up the Mokelumne River Arm.

Pardee is holding 187,187 acre-feet of water, which means it is at 92% of capacity. Information: (209) 772-1472.

Lake Camanche

Mary McQueen-Dunham and Chris Dunham of Sacramento found solid action on some chunky rainbow trout on their latest trip to this EMUD reservoir located on the Mokelumne River below Pardee.

“The first fish of the day hit a green and orange grub on the side planer,” said Dunham. “The bite was a little slow for us at first. I tried a white Apex and 10 minutes in the water got bit.”

“We also had good luck with fire tiger and perch Rapalas on the side planers. Fire tiger Apex lures did well on the downriggers. We caught 10 fish total, but only kept 8,” he said.

All lures were tipped with white Power Maggots trolled in the top 15 feet of water and 150 feet setbacks at a speed of 1.7 to 2.2 mph.

Nate Kelsch of Big Nate’s Guide Service also reported trout success at Camanche on his most recent trolling adventure.

“I had Ben and Mark out for a fun day of trout fishing on Lake Camanche, their first ever trolling trip. We started off with 3 fish hooked up right away and lost 2 big fish right at the boat, but proceeded to put the next 7 fish that we hooked in the bag,” he stated.

After the 5 next fish popped off, the anglers ended the trip catching a quality crappie.

“The trout are still scattered throughout the lake and the name of the game is to cover a lot of water. Depths varied from 5 to 25 feet and we had to throw the whole box at them to get bit, with no particular lure doing better than the other, but the faster the better,” Kelsch concluded.

Information: (916) 860-9180.

The latest addition of 1,800 pounds from Mt. Lassen Fish Farm at Camanche on Feb. 23 included 900 pounds of rainbows at the South Shore Ramp and 900 pounds of rainbows at the North Shore Ramp. The lake is 69% of capacity.

Information: (866) 763-5121.

Lake Amador

Trout weighing in the double digits continue to come out of this trophy trout producer.

Big fish honors go to Stockton resident, whose first name is Joaquin and who hooked a monster 14.14-pound Cutbow while fishing a crappie jig from the dam.

Bruce Odenweller bagged a 16.72-pound Cutbow while using worms and marshmallows floated off the bottom of the launch cove.

Finally, Lucinda Witte caught an 11..48-pound Cutbow on a red Rapala near the mouth of Jackson Creek on Feb. 23.

“We released 500 pounds of Cutbows right next to the blue dock and the last 25 tagged trout were in there, which makes 300 tagged trout released since the start of our fish derby,” said Lee Lockhart at the Lake Amador Resort after the addition of new fish on Feb. 23.

“The lake clarity has greatly improved and fishing has been excellent. Trollers are starting to do a lot better with fast running lures and bank fisherfolks are picking up lots of trout on PowerBait, crawlers, and Kastmasters,” he added.

Some black bass and crappie are showing now. Allen Johnson Jr. and Kris Schanz caught a couple of nice trout, three quality bass, and two crappie including one weighing 2.54 pounds.  They used broken-back fire tiger Rapalas in the middle of the lake on Feb. 21.

The lake is full and the surface water temperature is now 54 degrees. Information: (209) 274-4739.

North Delta black bass

Largemouth fishing is productive for quality fish, while striper fishing in the North Delta is tough.

“We’re  catching about a dozen largemouths per day, but they are good fish in the 3 to 6-pound class,” said Alan Fong, Manaager of Fisherman’s Warehouse in Sacramento. “On my latest trip on Wednesday, Feb. 22, I caught and released 12 largemouths and one striper weighing 10 pounds in the Mokelumne River area. I’ve been throwing Chatterbaits in the grass in 2 to 5 feet of water.”

Information: (916) 362-1200.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Trout fishing in Pardee, Camanche, Amador lakes off to promising start