Shore Anglers Experience Wide-Open Trout Fishing On Pardee Opener   By: Dan Bacher March 2, 2007 More Articles by Dan

Mild weather and heavy plants of rainbow trout made Friday, February 2 one of the hottest season openers at Lake Pardee in recent years. Shore anglers did the best, but boaters also caught lots of trout while trolling and bait fishing.

I’d like to say that I arrived in the pre-dawn darkness or just as the sun began to creep over the Mother Lode horizon, but that wasn’t the case. I didn’t make it to the lake until around 2 p.m. on Friday, but the lake was a still a maelstrom of activity as shore anglers hooked one fish after another and boaters came in with good catches of trout.

The lake management and Department of Fish and Game teamed up to plant a total of 11,000 pounds of rainbow trout right before the opener. The Lake Pardee management stocked 2500 pounds of trout, including many in the 4 to 8 pound range on January 29. On the same day, the DFG stocked 3500 pounds of rainbows averaging 1 pound each.

Lake Pardee planted another 2500 pounds of rainbows in the 3 to 7 pound range on January 30 and another 5,000 pounds of 4 to 8 pound fish on February 2.

With the low, clear conditions of the lake, you could easily see schools of hefty rainbows swimming along the shoreline in the main recreation area.

As I got ready to try my luck shore fishing, I ran into subscribers Wes and Patty Hampton of Sacramento. They reported catching 6 rainbows to 4 pounds while trolling orange and fire tiger grubs while top lining with side planers. While I was shooting photos, I saw one angler, Steve Jorge, hook several trout.

I got down on the lake and started casting yellow/black Panther Martins, but there were no “takers.” However, as soon as I switched over to chartreuse Nitro Bait, I began hooking fish after fish. My first fish was a 3 pound rainbow, quickly followed by four other rainbows in the 1-1/2 to 2 pound class.

Meanwhile, Minh Nguyen and his daughter began hooking up trout on Power Bait.

However, for some reason, Rick Maestas of El Dorado Hills wasn’t getting bit. “I’ve been here since early this morning and I haven’t got a bite yet,” he said.

“I tell you what,” I said. “I’ll let you use my rod and bait while I walk around taking photos and I guarantee that you will catch fish.”

I rigged up my rod for him with some fresh Nitro Bait, told him where to cast and he hooked up a fish immediately. After I walked around the shoreline and took some photos of happy anglers with their trout, he had also caught his limit!

However, the two most successful anglers that day were Bob Young and Jerry Lewis, who nailed their limits of trout, topped by two gorgeous browns measuring 18 and 20-1/2 inches long.

“These are the first browns we have ever caught on Pardee,” noted Young. “We caught the browns while bait fishing with nightcrawlers first thing in the morning up the Mokelumne. Then we filled our limits out with the rainbows.”

The fishing continued to be great on Saturday and Sunday of opening weekend. “Every cove is full of anglers and they’re still catching trout,” said Dale Robitaille at the Lake Pardee Marina just before the Superbowl started on Sunday. “Wooly Buggers behind bobbers are the hot items today.”

Although trout in the 4 to 8 pound range were planted, the larger fish seemed to elude angler’s hooks. Mike Carr and his wife weighed in the largest rainbow caught on the opening weekend, a 6-1/2 pound beauty, along with a chunky 5 lb. fish, according to Dale.

Owners Richard Cooper, Kerry Cooper, Dennis Johnston and Linda Hill have done a great job of improving the facilities since taking over the management of the recreational facilities last year. The great fishing anglers experienced on opening weekend is largely a result of their heavy plants of quality rainbows.

The many amenities that Pardee Lake Recreation offers anglers include hiking, picnicking, boat rentals, a ten lane boat launch ramp, a new state of the art fish cleaning station, developed overnight camping, 2 swimming pools, RV sites with full hook-ups, laundry and hot showers, flush restrooms, a coffee shop, an arcade, a store, a gas station and a full service marina.

Although anglers concentrated on trout on the opener, the lake also has the one of the best populations of trophy smallmouths of any lake in California, along with good populations of largemouth bass, channel catfish and bluegill.

For more information, contact Lake Pardee Recreation, 4900 Stony Creek Road, Ione, CA  95640-9439, Office: (209) 772-1472, FAX: (209) 772-0985. The gate opens at 5 a.m. everyday.

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