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 .