10 May 13 , 2022 MAP FEATURE
VOL . 41 • ISS . 7
Lake Amador is just 5 feet from full and there is plenty of access for both bank and boat anglers around the reservoir . Photo by Dan Bacher
Jackson Angler Tops Amador Trout Derby with 6.51 Lb . Fish
IONE – Kim Sidvers of Jackson won first place in the adult division of the NorCal Trout Angler ’ s Challenge ( NTAC ) event at Lake Amador on April 23 with a trout weighing 6.51 pounds . She was trolling a Speedy Shiner at 30 feet deep with Tom Wolfenberger when she hooked the hefty Amador Cutbow . The couple hooked just one other trout , a 1.07 lb . fish that Wolfenberger landed , “ We were fishing in the bay outside of the Jackson Creek at 11:30 a . m . when I hooked up the lunker ,” Sidvers said “ This was the second time that I ’ ve won one of these tournaments .” The previous tournament that she placed first in was the San Pablo Reservoir NTAC event on February 8 , 2020 , when she caught an 8.22-pound rainbow trout . The second through tenth place winners were ( 2 ) Kainan Sattelburg , 5.22 ; ( 3 ) Tony Jaehnichen , 4.71 , ( 4 ) Erin Baldanzi , 4.2 ; ( 5 ) Debe Hall ;, 4.09 ;( 6 ) Dave Quick , 3.92 ; ( 7 ) Rich Peterson , 3.67 ; ( 8 ) Mark Sepelayak ; 3.26 ; ( 9 ) Becky Wood , 2,1 ; and ( 10 ) Franck Witte , 1.92 . Debe Hall was fishing PowerBait from shore with her grandsons , 4-year-old Sam and 8-year-old Dean , when she hooked her beautiful Amador Gold . Joey Hill Jr . won first place in the youth division of the tournament with his 1.2-pound rainbow . He was trolling with his dad , Joey Hill Sr ., when he caught his winning fish Aleta Peters placed second in the youth division with her 1.16-pound trout , while Owen Swisher placed
third with his 1.04-pound fish . A total of 110 participants entered the event , according to Vince Harris , President of Angler ’ s Press Outdoors , the organization that created the NorCal Trout Angler ’ s Challenge series . Fishing was tough this day , with a total of 20 trout weighed in . “ We ’ re happy to see everybody out on the water enjoying the sunshine and worrying less about COVID ,” said Harris . Information : https :// anglerspress . com . 1000 pounds of Mt . Lassen rainbows were stocked on Friday and 420 pounds of 5-10-pound trophy Cutbows / Golds were released Wednesday before the derby for a total of 1420 pounds for the week , reported Lee Lockhart of Lake Amador Resort . On the week after the derby , the resort released another 600 pounds of trophy size Amador Golds , half at the blue dock and half near campsite 89 . “ That totals just over 2000 lbs .. stocked in the last 7 days and 33,200 lbs . for the season , so fishing should be great ,” observed Lee Lockhart at the Lake Amador Resort . “ I ’ ve seen some caught trolling Rapalas , some off shore with PowerBait and they seem to be ranging from 5 ’ all the way down to 40 ’, probably due to all the fresh , oxygenated rain water that just came in ,”: he said . “ Speaking of rain , we actually came up another 4 ’ in the last storms bringing us up to 5 ’ from full and rising . Right now , everything is biting so don ’ t be afraid to put on a night crawler and go after all species out there ,” said Lockhart . The lake level is 5 ’ from full , the surface temperature is 65 degrees , the water clarity is 6 ’, and the oxygen content is 10 mg / L Amador produced one of the most memorable trout adventures that I have ever experienced . On a morning in June 1991 , I went to the lake to catch some bluegill , since the tasty sunfish were on the bite the day before during a shore fishing trip I made to the lake in the afternoon . Fishing under a bobber off the docks below the lake clubhouse , I didn ’ t hook any bluegill , even though fishing buddy Doug MacPherson and I had experienced topnotch bluegill fishing the day before . However , I did get into an epic trout bite . I caught one 3-1 / 2 to 4 lb . rainbow after another on light spinning gear , releasing some and keeping my limit of five fish . The limit weighed just shy of 18 pounds , a great weight for five fish anywhere in northern of Central California . The resort is the only facility that I know of that has its own fish hatchery operation , an operation begun by Bob
Kim Sidvers of Jackson won first place in the adult division of the NorCal Trout Angler ’ s Challenge ( NTAC ) event at Lake Amador on April 23 with a trout weighing 6.51 pounds .
Photo by Dan Bacher
Lockhart three decades ago . The lake management was forced to shut down the hatchery during the 2014-2015 drought , the result of lack of water to keep the facility going .