"We're the only guys to plant trophy trout, ranging from 2 to 6 pounds, year round," said Bob Lockhart, Jr. "We're also the only hatchery that uses pure oxygen in our system."

Lockhart said the hatchery now uses twenty-five 3,000 gallon fiberglass tomato containers to raise the fish. They raise fish from their own brood stock and acquire eyed eggs from another fish supplier.

"All of the fish that we plant are 2 year olds over 2 pounds each," said Lockhart. "This is different from most other hatcheries that are afraid of spawning mortality resulting from when the fish stop eating for 90 days during the spawn each year. Most private hatcheries can't afford to hold the fish for an extra year; they release the fish after one year so they can double production."

Besides being larger than fish in most other hatcheries, the trout in Amador are of higher quality than those raised in other facilities, with less rounded fins, firmer flesh and more pronounced colors.

"The injection of liquid oxygen into the water keeps the flesh firm and the colors vibrant," said Lockhart. "It allows us to raise fish with the use of little or no chemicals, so our fish are essentially organic. Most hatcheries use antibiotics to stop infection by both warm water diseases related to external parasites and cold water diseases that cause the fish not to eat as well."

The fish I have observed ranged from almost steelhead-like silver sided fish to beautifully colored fish similar to Lahontan cutthroat. The fish also exhibit less rounding of the tails that occurs in other facilities.

"Everybody once thought that the worn fins resulted from the fish rubbing against concrete tanks," said Lockhart. "However, the tail wearing actually occurs because most rearing facilities aren't deep enough."

He also noted that they used best herring meal that they can to feed the fish. "We use less food to grow the fish faster to get better and firmer trout," he emphasized. "In the meal, there is a lot of ASTA, the natural chemical from krill that turns trout and salmon meat pink. That's why our fish have pink, not white, meat."

Two days before the trip that Michigan outdoor writer Jim Juntilla, Bill Shelton of Shelton Products and I made to Amador on December 19, the Lockhart family planted 5,000 pounds of trout from 2 to 7 pounds, including 50 tagged fish. The lake is holding a tagged trout derby from now through May 15, when the anglers catching tagged fish will vie for a $5,000 raffle prize.

Shelton, Juntilla and I, after not catching anything while trolling with white grubs and nightcrawlers, pulled off to the side of the shore in the Launch Ramp Cove and began fishing. While Jim Juntilla landed two big trout to 3-1/2 pounds while soaking Power Bait from Shelton's 22 foot aluminum Herbercraft boat, I missed several trout while bank fishing with chartreuse Crave Turbo Dough.

After going back to fish in the boat, I landed two hard-fighting trout, including the largest of the day, a beautifully colored 4 pound "cutbow." We ended up taking home eight big, fat trout.

We caught all of our trout while soaking Berkley Power Bait on Shelton's self-releasing hooks and "Tadpoles," which serve as sinkers or bobbers depending upon how much water you put in them. The fact that I landed no fish while fishing the same bait on treble hooks and other traditional gear is a tribute to the fish hooking ability of Shelton's unique hooks.

Every one of these fish put up an exciting battle, with a lot of hard runs and surges, more reminiscent of a steelhead that a lazy "hatchery" trout. Other boaters reported mixed results, many blaming the tough action on the fact that the barometric pressure was dropping as a front moved in. "I caught 20 fish while trolling last Sunday, but only one today," said Gary Kawano, veteran CSBA activist and Lake Amador trout enthusiast. "The bite was off."

However, the bite wasn't off for two enterprising anglers, Andrew Nguyen of Elk Grove and Norberto de Rosario of Daly City. The two anglers caught their limits of big trout while tossing out trout roe under bobbers, which they had taken out of previously caught fish at Amador, along with mini-jigs in launch ramp cove.

The father-daughter team of Paul Cunningham and seven-year-old Ariel also found success tossing out mini-jigs and minnows. They caught three big trout and one 2 pound largemouth bass.

The lake's rainbow trout record, set 10 years ago, is 16 pounds, 12 ounces, according to Lockhart.

Lake Amador remains a popular target for Florida-strain trophy bass. Tim Kimura of Sacramento set the lake record in 1986, when he landed a 17.1 pound largemouth while fishing a Tennessee Shad crankbait. Every year fish over 10 pounds are caught on a variety of jigs, plastic worms, spinnerbaits, crankbaits and other lures. The fish feed heavily on the lake's abundant shad and other forage.

During the summer and fall months, catfishing hits its prime at Amador. Although the lake management stocked a few blue catfish years ago, the vast majority of cats are channels. Lockhart stocks 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of channel cats every year to supplement natural reproduction.

Black and white crappie were first introduced from Black Butte Lake in 1980. One of the best places to catch them is the new dock, where the lake management is planning to put in a wheelchair accessible slope. "The anglers who regularly catch crappie at Amador are very tight-lipped," noted Lockhart.

Amador has great facilities, including an expanded launch ramp with new docks and a paved parking area lighted at night for nocturnal anglers. The Tackle Box Cafe, located in the lodge, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner on weekends. The lodge also features a large general store, beer bar with large screen t.v., bait and tackle and rental boats. Full hook-up RV sites and a 150 site campground are also available.

For more information about fishing and fees, call Lake Amador Resort, (209) 274-4739.