I made my first ever trip to Rucker to sample the largemouth bass fishing, based on a tip from Ted Samford, the PG&E ditch tender for the area, and Bob Simms, host of the KFBK Outdoor Show. Simms, expecting to catch some smallmouth bass at the dam, was surprised by the fast action he experienced on largemouth bass while using a variety of trout lures on a recent jaunt to Rucker. He caught and released 6 bass to 10 inches in the 10 minutes he was there.

After talking to Simms and Samford at the Open House at Elkhorn Bait and Tackle in Rio Linda, I decided to make the drive up there myself. "Fish the north side of the lake," advised Samford. "Park in the parking lot at the end of the dirt road and start fishing along the weeds on the lake's north end."

I took Samford's advice, since being the ditch tender and a former Lake Stampede fishing guide, he knows more about Spaulding area lakes than anybody. I arrived mid day on Sunday, probably the worst time to fish for bass during the heat of the summer. I first threw out a threaded nightcrawler under a water-filled Adjust-A-Bubble. In spite of fishing a number of locations while wading in my shorts, I didn't get one bite!

I switched to fishing a Rebel bumble bee crankbait because of the abundance of bees in the Sierra this time of year. Within a few minutes, I hooked my first largemouth of the day, an 11 incher. I followed up by catching other bass in the 10 to 11 inch class on the same lure, but it wasn't red hot by any means.

However, I decided to concentrate on an area with weed beds interspersed with a few granite boulders between the dam and the PG&E access area. I threw out a 4 inch "original" Magic Worm, Texas-rigged on a worm hook. Above the worm I put two split shot to get the lure into about 8 to 10 feet of water.

This was definitely the hot bait! I lost count of the fish that I caught and released over the next two hours. I hooked at least 20 fish throughout the afternoon, and had no problem catching a "tournament" limit of fish in the 13-1/2 to 15 inch class, along with numerous bass in the 10 to 12 inch class and a few smaller ones.

These were hot fish, with each bass jumping 2 to 4 times; I lost at least four good-sized fish that leaped their way to freedom. The fishing was great, the water warm and clear and the scenery was gorgeous. What an absolute blast!

Amazingly, I was the only one fishing the lake until two other anglers, Matt Tassone and Sam Adams of Nevada City, began fishing the lake with a canoe.

"I caught and released an 8 pound largemouth while using a plastic worm three weeks ago," said Tassone. "My family has a cabin on the lake, so I fish for bass here frequently. Two months ago we were catching a lot of 3 to 4 pounders before the fish spawned."

I decided I'd had enough bassin' fun for the day, so I packed up my gear and headed up to get a shot at trout before dark at Fuller Lake.

Rucker usually ices out by April and the road opens by mid-May, depending upon snow and weather conditions, according to Samford. The lake also has good populations of bluegill sunfish and brown bullhead catfish.

The "wild card" at Rucker is the Goose Lake redband rainbow population. The DFG planted 2,100 redband fingerlings in 1985 and they appear to be doing well. Redband trout, originating in the warm waters of Goose Lake, are uniquely adapted to survival in shallow, warm lakes not suitable for survival of other trout.

Campsites are limited and there are no toilet facilities at Rucker. There is no boat ramp, although you can carry in a float tube or a canoe from the parking area.

After a "hard afternoon" of hooking bass, I ended my day fishing in the cold, clear waters of Fuller Lake. I hooked two trout while using a nightcrawler under a bobber near the dam, but lost both of them. The fishing was slow, with the exception of one fly fisherman who reported catching and releasing four trout, a mixture of rainbows and browns. Another angler caught a rainbow from the bank tossing a humpy pattern, while Merrilee Davidson of Roseville fooled a rainbow fishing Power Bait on the bottom near the dam.

On a follow up two hour morning trip to Fuller Lake four days later, I landed two rainbows and one 14 inch German brown while bank fishing with inflated nightcrawlers. However, I didn't see anybody else hook any fish.

Fuller can produce outstanding trout fishing at times, particularly in the fall before the lake ices over and in the spring just after ice out. Fuller is one of the better trout lakes in the region - and one of the most popular, particularly on summer weekends. Fuller receives approximately 2,000 pounds of catchable brown trout and 4,200 to 4,500 pounds of rainbow trout during the season.

Fuller has excellent facilities, including a day use area near the dam and a concrete boat ramp. The lake is known for its great shore fishing access. However, ice fishing on the lake during the winter is not safe because of the exchange of water between Bowman Lake and the Spaulding #2 Power Plant, where water from Fuller enters Spaulding Reservoir through a tunnel.

In addition to Fuller and Rucker, anglers can catch rainbow trout and brown bullheads at Blue Lake, located on Rucker Creek above Rucker Lake. You have to either hike to the lake from the parking lot at Rucker or drive on a rough 4 wheel drive road to the lake. The highest of the three lakes at 5964 feet in elevation, this deep lake is being refilled after being drained down 50 feet by PG&E.

For fishing information about Fuller Lake, call Auburn Outdoor Sports, (530) 885-9200. Fishing reports on Rucker and Blue lakes are tough to get; you have to go there yourself to see how the fishing is. For water conditions on all three lakes, call Ted Samford, (530) 389-2748.