Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3720 Sept 14-18 | Page 19

Fuller / Rucker / Spaulding / Lake Valley Reservoir Facts

Lake Spaulding: offers 25 campsites,( 13 are walk-in sites),( fee), 5 picnic sites, fishing, swimming, boat ramp, water skiing and an overflow camp. The lake is handicap accessible. Chinook salmon, rainbow trout, brown trout and a sleeper population of brown trout are available. Elevation is 5000 ft.

Directions: Take Hwy. 20 from I-80 for 2.3 miles. Turn right on Lake Spaulding Road, then 0.5 mile to area.

Fuller Lake: offers day use facilities and a boat ramp. The boat speed limit 10 mph. Rainbow and brown trout abound in the lake’ s cold waters.

Directions: Take Highway 20 from I-80. Turn right on Bowman Lake Road then approx 5 miles to Fuller Lake. Elevation is 5341 ft.

Rucker Lake: offers 7 dispersed, walk-in campsites( fee), fishing, swimming. Non-motorized boating only is allowed here. Largemouth bass, brown bullhead catfish and green sunfish are the three species anglers can catch. Elevation is 5464 ft.

Directions: Take Highway 20 from I-80. Turn right on Bowman Lake Road, then approx 7 miles to right turn on Rucker Lake Road,( unpaved), follow signs for Camp Liahona.

Lodgepole Campround, Lake Valley Reservoir: offers 35 campsites( fee), fishing, swimming, handicap accessible. Boaters have to observe a 10 mph speed limit. Anglers target brown, and rainbow trout and brown bullhead catfish.

Directions: Take Yuba Gap exit south from I-80 0.3 mile, turn right toward Lake Valley Reservoir and go 2.7 miles to camp. Elevation is 5800 ft.

For more information on recreation facilities on PG & E lakes, go to: www. pge. com / mybusiness / environment / pge / recreation.

For more information on fishing these lakes, call Will Fish Tackle in Auburn, 530-346-7960.

To Grouse Ridge Area Lakes

Rucker Creek

Spaulding Tunnel

Clyde Mtn 6052

Black Oak Spring

Rucker Lake Spillway 5462‘

Fuller Lake Spillway 5463‘

Day Use

Dam

To Bear Valley Highway 20

Conduit

Zion Hill Tunnel 5678

Jeep

Trail

Siphon

( 4WD

5567

Blue Lake Spillway 5464‘

Zion Hill 6204

Rim Powerhouse

Lake Spaulding 5040’

Fishing Notes

•• Fuller Lake features Rainbow and Brown Trout,, a mixture of holdover and planted fish. Float tubers find success on both species using a variety of dry and wet flies,, while boaters troll with Rapalas,, Rebels and other minnow imitation lures. Shore fishing access is excellent; Power Bait, nightcrawlers, flies and spinners are

all all productive.. Fishing is is good from mid-May when the road is is opened to the late fall or early winter when snows prevent access to the lake.

•• Rucker Lake has a self sustaining population of Largemouth Bass,, Bluegill Green Sunfish and Brown and Brown Bullhead Bullhead Catfish, Catfish but bass, but are bass the are most the prevalent most prevalent species species. Fish with. Fish light with line

and light finesse line and baits finesse, such as baits 4 inch, such Magic as 4 Worms inch Magic, for Worms the best, for action the best. Spinnerbaits action. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits, crankbaits jigs and top, jigs water and lures top water can also lures be can good also at be times good. at times.

•• Blue Lake is offers in the Brown process Bullhead of being Catfish re-filled and from Rainbow a big Trout drawdown. Fishing. Rainbow pressure Trout is very and light Brown here Bullhead. Catfish are found here.

Dam

Only)

Penstock

Chang Vang and his two-year-old daughter, Mia Joy Vang, show off a couple of rainbows caught while shore fishing at Fuller Lake on September 1.

Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. fishery, but hasn’ t been planted for five years. There are some wild browns in the lake, along with a sleeper population of smallmouth bass.“ Spaulding is only planted with Inland Chinook, which have been in limited to no availability in recent years due to low fish numbers on the Klamath. Iron Gate Hatchery has been our statewide inland Chinook hatchery for years, due to normally decent fish numbers and low incidences of disease outbreaks particularly IHN,” said Rowan.“ When we did have Chinook available the last few years we have prioritized stocking Folsom and Almanor for our region since they have much higher angling use, better fish returns and are close to an urban area.”“ Trout of various species have been tried in Spaulding in the past but returns have been very poor. The last Chinook plant in Spaulding was 25,000 fingerlings in 2012. Not likely any of those fish remain,” said Rowan. On the other side of Interstate 80 from Spaulding, you can sample the trout and brown bullhead catfish action at Lake Valley Reservoir off the Lake Valley Reservoir Road. You can hook beautiful holdover rainbows to 20 inches while tossing out PowerBait, nightcrawlers, spinners and spoons near the boat ramp and dam or while trolling with nightcrawlers and an array of spoons, spinners and plugs. For more information, contact: Yuba River Ranger District, Tahoe National Forest, 15924 Hwy 49, Camptonville, CA 95922, Phone: 530-288-3231. to 12 inch range but with some larger fish mixed in. I have caught fat, healthy bass in the 12 to 15 inch range at Rucker and I’ ve seen fish to 3-1 / 2 pounds landed. I have heard reports of bass to 8 pounds, but the largest fish documented in a photo was a 6-1 / 2 lb. largemouth caught from a boat in 2009. Purple, motor oil, water melon, green pumpkin and blue plastic worms are the most productive baits for me at Rucker. I usually do best using wacky-rigged Yamamoto Senkos or split shotting with Berkley Power Worms and other soft plastics. The CDFW planted 2,100 Goose Lake redband rainbow fingerlings in 1985. Redband trout, originating in the warm waters of Goose Lake, are uniquely adapted to survival in shallow, warm lakes not suitable for the survival of other trout and char. However, I have never seen nor heard of any trout being taken out of the warm waters of Rucker in recent years. On a trip to Rucker July 2010, my neighbor hooked two brown bullhead catfish in the 2 to 3 pound range while fishing a jig off the dam where the cats were protecting their nests. There is no boat ramp at Rucker, although you can carry in a float tube, canoe or small boat from the campground. Another option for anglers is fishing for brown bullhead catfish at Blue Lake, located at 5964 feet in elevation, on Rucker Creek above Rucker Lake Other nearby angling options nearby include Lake Spaulding and Lake Valley Reservoir. Spaulding, a beautiful Pacific Gas & Electric Company reservoir located on the South Fork of the Yuba River in Nevada County at an elevation of 5,014 feet, is known mainly for its landlocked salmon

Six-year-old Maddox Kumanchik and his dad, Keenan, had fun hooking these rainbows while bank fishing with PowerBait at Fuller Lake on September 1.

Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.