If it's dry, go check out Lake Amador

Outdoors, by J.D. Richey, Journal ColumnistNow don?t quote me on this one, but I heard that we actually may be in store for a reasonably dry weekend.Yup, I know, it sounds like crazy talk in light of all the gloomy weather we?ve had in the past month, but does it hurt to do a little positive thinking?I know the winter seems so depressing at times, but would it kill you to cross your fingers and hope to the mighty weather gods above that the parents of the local weather forecasters didn?t entirely waste their money by sending their kids to meteorological school?So, let?s just say ? hypothetically, of course ? that it doesn?t rain too hard this weekend. What are you going to do? Get outdoors, that?s what! I know, I know, the NFL playoffs are on, but that?s what VCRs are for. It?s time to get fishing and I have just the place for you: Lake Amador. HOT FISHING: For the past several weeks, Lake Amador has been serving up some serious trout action. Water conditions at the lake have been in good shape and the fine folks at Lake Amador Resort have been planting the lake regularly?to the tune of about two tons a week! In fact, since Oct. 9, the lake has received close to 70,000 pounds of trout.The average fish at Amador has been going 3-4 pounds lately, with a few topping the 8-pound mark. Recently, a five-fish limit of trout was weighed in at the resort?s tackle shop and it tipped the scales to 26.5 pounds! Obviously, there are plenty of trout and lots of lunkers in the lake, but the thing that makes the winter fishery at Amador most interesting is the fact that the trout, though planted, are of a much higher quality than the ones raised by the DFG and other private hatcheries. SWEDISH FISH: Lake Amador has its own hatchery and raises a hybrid variety of trout that originated in Sweden. I usually hate fishing for truck trout, but these fish are different. Amador?s cuttbows, as the people at the Amador hatchery call them, are handsome fish with silvery flanks and all their fins in tact ? unlike the ugly, round-tailed biscuit eaters you?ll see at other stocked lakes. For a hatchery-raised trout, Amador?s cuttbows are a breed apart?and above. When hooked, they act almost like mini steelhead and seem to have a real fondness for getting airborne. Another quality that endears Amador?s trout to anglers is their tendency to hang near the shore in the top 10 feet of the water column ? usually, you?ll find them within a foot or two of the surface. For bank anglers, that means the fish are often within easy casting range. Trollers enjoy the fact that they don?t have to run downriggers or leadcore line to get down to the fish.HOOKING UP: There are several ways to tie into Amador?s cutts. My favorite is to fly fish for them out of a float tube. A No. 5 rod with floating line or an intermediate sinktip are good choices and Woolly Buggers in olive, black, purple, white, cinnamon and yellow are about the only flies you?ll need. Slowly troll across the face of the dam, the mouth of the launch cove or near the spillway and give your fly an occasional strip. If you don?t get bit, try stripping a little faster until you find what the fish want that particular day.From the bank, anglers have been doing extremely well lately on white 1/32-ounce crappie jigs worked just under the surface. Spoons like Kastmasters and Little Cleos will also work. Power Bait and nightcrawlers are popular offerings, though the trout have not seemed to want them in the past week. Trollers can drag Woolly Buggers and leechy-style flies behind small dodgers, brightly colored Needlefish and Uncle Larry?s spinners or straight nightcrawlers without weight or attractor blades. Bank fishing has been best over the past 10 days near the spillway, the campground and along the dam face. The launch has always been popular, but Lake Amador Resort is trying to discourage people from fishing there now as there have been too many run-ins with bank anglers and boaters recently. THE DETAILS: The downside of fishing Lake Amador is you have to drop a little coin to get in. There?s a $7 entry fee that?s good for two people in one vehicle. It?s an additional $1 for each other person in the same car. There?s also a $6/person fishing daily fishing permit you?ll need to buy, which covers the cost of the stocking program ? definitely worth it! To launch a boat, it?s five bucks and, if you?re going to tube-it, you?ll have to shell out a two-spot. Lake Amador Resort has a campground, recently-improved launch ramp, tackle store and coffee shop that are open 7 days a week. Everything there seems a bit?well?dingy to me, but the Lockhart family that owns the place is friendly and the fishing?s makes everything better.Lake Amador is located near Ione. Take Highway 49 south towards Jackson and then head west on Highway 104/88 at Sutter Hill. Continue on 88 and then turn left on Jackson Valley Road. Follow the signs to the lake. For more info, call Lake Amador Resort at (209) 274-4739.oooJ.D. Richey graduated from Placer High in 1986. He has been published nationally. To reach him, call (916) 736-9031 or e-mail him at JDRicheyOutdoors@aol.com.