It's no big surprise that Amador was my first choice when taking out a couple old college buddies who were looking to score on the fish of a lifetime the weekend of April 12 and 13. I was fishing with John McGhee of Parkdale, Oregon and Zane Wiley from Kentfield in Marin County. While Zane has an 11 pounder to his credit, John's personal best was only 7.52 pounds and we meant to do something about that.

Our morning started off with a 7:00 am launch and we began fishing right out of the boat ramp. That's one great thing about Amador; the entire lake is very productive and you rarely need to even start your big motor. While it may seem a bit expensive get in to Amador, it still beats the fifty to sixty bucks most of us burn in a day of chasing bass on the Delta or Clear Lake.

I was tossing a Basstrix swimbait off the bow while John and Zane were casting Senkos and baby Brush Hogs to the bank. The action began immediately for John and Zane. They were consistently catching smaller males in the 1 to 2 pound class on the plastics while I kept heaving the big swimbait.

Around 11:00 am, the sun finally broke free of the heavy cloud cover and we made a run to the Mountain Springs Arm to look for spawning fish. The banks were loaded with small males in the 1 to 2 pound class and we managed to spot several big females, but they were out deep cruising outside the spawning beds.

We finally came upon an overhanging tree and noticed a big fish suspended under the branches. It's typical to see large fish suspended in shallow water this time of year and those fish are normally very spooky and extremely tough to catch. It just so happened I was holding a light spinning rod rigged with a chartreuse lizard rigged on a dart head. I made a short pitch to the bank about 6 feet from the fish and watched in amazement as she swam straight over to the lizard and inhaled it. The fight was on and about 5 minutes later I had landed a 7.8 pound beauty.

Now it was John's turn and we started running bank looking for something that might top 7-1/2 pounds. As we neared the back of the creek arm, I spotted a bright gold flash against the bank. It was a good 50 feet away and I knew it was a big pair of fish getting ready to spawn. I handed John a flippin' stick rigged with a bright white gitzit and told him to get ready as we quietly made our approach.

John's eyes lit up when we could finally see a great big female larger than the fish I had just landed locked up with a male that would go a good 5 pounds. John was visibly shaking as he threw the gitzit onto the bed. "Don't set the hook when the male grabs the bait," I explained. "If you hook him, she might spook off and never come back."

Of course the male immediately grabbed the gitzit and swam in circles as john gave it line hoping it would spit the bait. This went on for a good five minutes as the aggressive male kept inhaling the gitzit just before the female could get to it. I finally handed John another flippin' stick rigged with a Castaic bluegill and told him to give it a try. He pitched the bait to the bank, pulled it down to the nest and the big hen quickly nosed down on the bluegill and "chomp" it was gone."

The big bass was no match for 25 pound P-Line and John soon had his personal best, a gorgeous 8.7 pound largemouth. After a few quick pictures, she was gently released and we were on our way down the bank.

We managed to spot several more trophies that day, but couldn't put any in the boat. We spent most of the afternoon enjoying a red hot bite on 1 to 3 pound fish while casting Zoom Flukes, baby Brush hogs and even Zara Spooks.

I did get one last shot at a double digit fish we had located during the day. Just before dark, we ran back to where we had seen her and I cast a Lucky Craft rip bait to the spot. After a couple quick jerks, I was letting the bait hang in a few feet of water when my line jumped and we both saw her turn sideways and run. My G.Loomis crankin' rod loaded up for a split second, then suddenly went limp and she was gone. Oh well, something to look forward to on the next trip.