Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3810 April 26- May 10 2019 | Page 17

Rancho Seco Facts Rancho Seco Recreational Area Area Map Clay Station Road Sacramento County Clay Twin Cities Rd To Hiways 104, 99 and I-5 Herald Rancho Seco Recreational Area Entrance Group Campsites Swimming Beach Dam B Dump Station RV Camps A Tent Camps C Fish Cleaning Ramp Dock Windsurf shop Horseshoes Location: in the rolling hills of southeastern Sacra- mento County east of Herald. From Sacramento, take Highway 99 south to the Highway 104 exit. Go east on Highway 104, 15 miles, to the Rancho Seco Park exit. Fishing Season: The park is open year round to fishing and other activities from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The park entrance gate is locked nightly. Day Use: The day use fee is $12 per vehicle. Boat launching facilities: The park’s 160-acre lake is maintained at a constant level year round, so you will find no problem launching. You can launch an electric motor boat, rowboat or sailboat from either of the two boat ramps. The boat launch fee for a trailer and vehicle is $15. The fee for car top launch kayak is $15. Tent Camping: There are 20 lakeside campsites where you can pitch a tent or sleep under the stars. Each campsite has a barbecue, picnic table and drinking water. A semi-private 1-1/4 acre grassy area is available for group campovers and special events. Reservations are required at least two weeks in advance. RV Camping: The southwestern rim of the park features 18 RV campsites. Each site has a barbecue, fire pit, picnic table, drinking water and electrical outlets. A dump station is conveniently located. The maximum stay is 14 days. Picnic Facilities: One hundred shady, grassy picnic areas adorn the lake’s southern shore. Picnic tables and barbecues are available on a first come basis. Picnic areas can be reserved for groups of 30 people or more. Swimming: the lake is roped off along a 36,000 square foot sandy beach. Lifeguards are on duty during the summer. Children should always be supervised by a responsible adult. Extras: General Store (open May-September), solar heated showers, fish cleaning station, 3 public restrooms, horseshoe pit, Rec. Room with washer and dryer (for overnight campers only), handicapped access. Information: 24 hour informational recording, (209) 748-2318; RV, tent and group camping and picnic reser- vations, 800-416-6992. Sacramento 15 Apr 26 - May 10, 2019 MAP FEATURE Maintenance Office VOL.38 • ISS. 10 Parking Restrooms Picnic Areas General Store Fishing Notes • Rainbow Trout are planted from late fall through early spring in a cooperative program between the DFW and SMUD. Bank fishing is good   for anglers tossing out Kastmasters, PowerBait, nightcrawlers and Pautzke salmon eggs. Float tubers and boaters find success with Wooly Buggers and flies as well as bait and lures. • Largemouth Bass fishing is best during the spring, though the fish can be caught year round. During the winter, fish jigs,    plastic worms and grubs slowly in the deeper areas of the lake. Some Florida-strain fish over 10 pounds are caught every    year. • Redear Sunfish action is most productive in the spring and summer. Fish worms and mini jigs at the edge of weedbeds.    Fishing from a float tube or a boat is most effective. Crappie and bluegill are also found in the lake. Matt Allen of Vacaville landed a 17.2 lb. large- mouth bass measuring 29-1/2 inches long at Rancho Seco on February 16, 2005. He used a Huddleston Deluxe 8” Rainbow Trout to entice the bass while fishing in an aluminum The kids winners, along with Al Ernst of SMUD (left) and Sheldon Bright of boat with the Fish Sniffer (right), show off the prizes they won during the day one of the an electric SMUD Derby. Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. motor. He had caught twin 11 lb. bass on a Huddleston swimbait a rancho-seco-recreational-area few days before and bolstered by his new Rancho Seco Recreational Area is a found success. Matt returned to the lake 400-acre park overflowing with recre- with a renewed confidence. ational opportunities including camping, The largest bass are taken in the late boating, fishing, swimming and wildlife winter and spring during the pre-spawn, viewing. The 160-acre lake is fed by the spawn and post spawn periods. Anglers Folsom South Canal and is a great year- round day or overnight getaway located in nail them while using Huddleston and other rainbow trout swimbaits, Senkos, California’s Central Valley, just 25 miles swimbaits, plastic worms, spinnerbaits from downtown Sacramento. and jigs. Rancho Seco was built to serve as a Rancho Seco is a lake with the potential source for emergency cooling water in for producing a state or world record the event of a nuclear accident. After the largemouth bass. The lake has the three power plant was decommissioned in a characteristics needed to produce record ballot measure approved by the region’s voters in November 1990, the lake became class fish: Florida-strain genes; conditions that allow the fish to reach large size; and a year-round recreational facility. a good food source, particularly planted Rancho Seco not only kicks out huge rainbows. trout, but also is legendary for the big The lake also features good popula- Florida-strain largemouth bass that thrive tions of redear sunfish, black crappie in its fertile waters. The lake’s amenities now feature boat and bluegill, along with channel catfish. rentals including aluminum fishing boats Fishing for all four species is best for with electric motors, paddle boats, and boaters, float tubers and shore anglers in kayaks. the spring and summer. Fishing at the family oriented facility, On August 16, 2015, Brad McGarity now operated by the Rocky Mountain of Galt set a new California state record Recreation Company in conjunction with for “hybrid sunfish” when he landed a the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, fish weighing 1 pounds, 4 ounces and (SMUD), is available year-round. measuring 11 inches long and 11.25 Rancho Seco is located just 25 miles inches in girth. south of Sacramento at 14960 Twin Cities The park sits in the middle of an oak Road in Herald, CA. From Sacramento, woodland with oak trees dominating the horizon when looking away from the lake. take Highway 99 south to the Highway 104 exit. Go east on Highway 104 about Below the oaks, a variety of grasses and 15 miles to the park entrance. flowering plants grow especially near For more information about the Rancho the vernal pool locations. The lake shore Seco Recreational Area, call 209-748- has a thick barrier of blackberry bushes everywhere except the dam and the picnic/ 2318 or visit http://www.rockymoun- tainrec.com/lakes/lake-rancho-seco.htm camping areas. or https://www.smud.org/en/about-smud/ Ducks and geese swim in the recreation community/recreational-areas/rancho-se- areas where the shore is clear. Great co-lake.htm blue heron eat the fish from the lake. For more information about Angler’s Bald eagles and hawks nest in the trees Press Outdoors, call Vince Harris (916) surrounding the lake. Many insects are 768-0938, or visit: www.anglerspress.com present including dragonflies and grass- hoppers. Raccoons are a notable mammal using the lake as a water source, with their droppings dispersed along the narrow animal trails cutting across the park. Rocky Mountain Recreation Company is the conces- sionaire at Mike Ringler, who placed first on day two with a 7.08-pound rainbow, and Rancho Seco. Sheldon Bright, Fish Sniffer staffer, pose with the boat that Ringler won. Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.