My friend Brian Wilson (AKA Beachboy) gave me a call and said he was
going to be home for the holidays from the Navy and wanted to get some
fishing in while he was back. Don't have to tell me twice. Loaded up the
tin can, grabbed him and off to Amador we went hoping for some hog
sized trout. Up until today the biggest trout Brian had ever seen was
your typical DFG 12 inch stockers, so he was in for a treat today.
Arrived at the ramp around 0730 so a miserable sight of what it left of
lake Amador. I forgot to get a wide shot for you guys, but standing at
the top of the boat ramp you can't even see the water if that puts it in
perspective. One boat launching at a time and its a shallow launch in a
gully that's maybe only 20 ft wide. Glad I had the tin can today.
Dropped in and made out way trolling towards Mountain Springs only getting one short tap on a power worm along the way. Got back into the Arm and started seeing more fish rising. We pulled the trolling lines in and tried casting for em. Brian threw a kastmaster while I threw my jigs. We both immediately missed two solid hits right off the bat and struggled to find one to bite afterwards. Fish were rising all around us, but didn't want to hit. After 30+ mins of hitting em Brian finally gets one to take a kastmaster and takes the skunk off of the boat for the day.
Brian was in disbelief when I told him for this lake that's a small fish, and we'll be getting into some bigger ones.
Kept plugging at em for another hour for no more bites. Hated the idea of leaving fish to find fish cause they were still rising, but we went back on the prowl to see if we could find some hungry fish that were willing to bite. Trolled rapala's out towards Jackson to see if anything else was happening there. On the way I got grabbed on a J-7 firetiger Rapala and managed to get my first to the boat.
Now that's what I'm talking about. Probably about a 4lb hen to add to the box.
Kept trolling back into Jackson hoping to find some cruising schools to no luck. Just a sad sad sad little dribble emptying into the lake.
Needless to say there wasn't much here. Brian did managed to lose one on his Kastmaster, but much less activity here. Didn't stay long, trolled back out and tried trolling around the lake for a while hoping the Rapala bite was on. Made 3 laps around the lake and ran all the way back into the Carson arm for nothing else. Talked to a lot of other boaters along the way, many were skunked, but most seemed to have 1-3 fish. The bank anglers seemed to be doing way better then the boaters were doing. Made our way back to mountain springs since we knew there were fish there. As we were entering the arm Brian gets a hit on his Rapala finally.
Brought him in and landed the beauty.
Not a monster, but a new PB for Brian.
Running on the high we made one more short lap around the lake with the Rap's hoping for another grab, but it never happened. Back to Mountain Springs beached the boat and got out to try and soak some bait for these guys. Soaked some powerbait off the bottom and a pink powerworm under a bobber. My powerworm got grabbed after 5 mins of us being there, that I didn't get to in time before he let go. Brian keep at it with his kastmaster casting towards rises. Stayed here for a little over an hour and we managed to get one each and missed a few other bites as well. Power worm worked for me and the kastmaster for Brian. Sun was going down so we hopped back into the boat to troll our way back to the ramp. Trolled powerworms all the way back and managed to grab one more before we made it back to the ramp.
Sitting at the bottom of the ramp with the boat, sent Brian to get my truck and bring the trailer down. I can't see where the road towards the parking lot and I know its a long walk, but it seemed like I was sitting there forever waiting on him to come back down with the trailer. That bad feeling like something happened hit me and I was a little worried, but I tried not so be. Maybe 10 mins later sure enough I see Brian walking down yelling for me. Beached the boat and got out to see that the Jackass drove my truck off of the god damn ramp.
It was too dark to get a picture so let me try to paint it for you guys. The cement ramp you back your trailer down is maybe only 15ft wide give or take. On either side is a straight drop into a ditch maybe 2.5ft down. As Brian backed my truck down he made a course correction and wasn't watching as the front right tire goes off the edge and gets stuck. Luckily I have a small light truck so a couple of guys came over to help me out and were able to lift my truck up just enough to hope the edge as I put it in reverse. Disaster averted, be very careful out there guys. Its too easy to get yourself in a pickle out there. After holding the ramp up for 15 mins looking like a couple of clowns we got the boat on the trailer and got out of there in a hurry.
Back at the cleaning station to end our day.
Not the hottest day at Amador, but we got a nice haul to feed plenty of friends and family back at home. Beautiful day on the water, good fishing, great seeing Brian again, and except for our last minute mishap the day couldn't have been better.
Till Next Time Guys
Mark
Dropped in and made out way trolling towards Mountain Springs only getting one short tap on a power worm along the way. Got back into the Arm and started seeing more fish rising. We pulled the trolling lines in and tried casting for em. Brian threw a kastmaster while I threw my jigs. We both immediately missed two solid hits right off the bat and struggled to find one to bite afterwards. Fish were rising all around us, but didn't want to hit. After 30+ mins of hitting em Brian finally gets one to take a kastmaster and takes the skunk off of the boat for the day.
 | This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1024x768. |
Brian was in disbelief when I told him for this lake that's a small fish, and we'll be getting into some bigger ones.
Kept plugging at em for another hour for no more bites. Hated the idea of leaving fish to find fish cause they were still rising, but we went back on the prowl to see if we could find some hungry fish that were willing to bite. Trolled rapala's out towards Jackson to see if anything else was happening there. On the way I got grabbed on a J-7 firetiger Rapala and managed to get my first to the boat.
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1024x768. |
Now that's what I'm talking about. Probably about a 4lb hen to add to the box.
Kept trolling back into Jackson hoping to find some cruising schools to no luck. Just a sad sad sad little dribble emptying into the lake.
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1024x768. |
Needless to say there wasn't much here. Brian did managed to lose one on his Kastmaster, but much less activity here. Didn't stay long, trolled back out and tried trolling around the lake for a while hoping the Rapala bite was on. Made 3 laps around the lake and ran all the way back into the Carson arm for nothing else. Talked to a lot of other boaters along the way, many were skunked, but most seemed to have 1-3 fish. The bank anglers seemed to be doing way better then the boaters were doing. Made our way back to mountain springs since we knew there were fish there. As we were entering the arm Brian gets a hit on his Rapala finally.
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1024x768. |
Brought him in and landed the beauty.
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1024x768. |
Not a monster, but a new PB for Brian.
Running on the high we made one more short lap around the lake with the Rap's hoping for another grab, but it never happened. Back to Mountain Springs beached the boat and got out to try and soak some bait for these guys. Soaked some powerbait off the bottom and a pink powerworm under a bobber. My powerworm got grabbed after 5 mins of us being there, that I didn't get to in time before he let go. Brian keep at it with his kastmaster casting towards rises. Stayed here for a little over an hour and we managed to get one each and missed a few other bites as well. Power worm worked for me and the kastmaster for Brian. Sun was going down so we hopped back into the boat to troll our way back to the ramp. Trolled powerworms all the way back and managed to grab one more before we made it back to the ramp.
Sitting at the bottom of the ramp with the boat, sent Brian to get my truck and bring the trailer down. I can't see where the road towards the parking lot and I know its a long walk, but it seemed like I was sitting there forever waiting on him to come back down with the trailer. That bad feeling like something happened hit me and I was a little worried, but I tried not so be. Maybe 10 mins later sure enough I see Brian walking down yelling for me. Beached the boat and got out to see that the Jackass drove my truck off of the god damn ramp.
It was too dark to get a picture so let me try to paint it for you guys. The cement ramp you back your trailer down is maybe only 15ft wide give or take. On either side is a straight drop into a ditch maybe 2.5ft down. As Brian backed my truck down he made a course correction and wasn't watching as the front right tire goes off the edge and gets stuck. Luckily I have a small light truck so a couple of guys came over to help me out and were able to lift my truck up just enough to hope the edge as I put it in reverse. Disaster averted, be very careful out there guys. Its too easy to get yourself in a pickle out there. After holding the ramp up for 15 mins looking like a couple of clowns we got the boat on the trailer and got out of there in a hurry.
Back at the cleaning station to end our day.
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1024x768. |
Not the hottest day at Amador, but we got a nice haul to feed plenty of friends and family back at home. Beautiful day on the water, good fishing, great seeing Brian again, and except for our last minute mishap the day couldn't have been better.
Till Next Time Guys
Mark
