Rucker Lake smallmouth??

I took a trip up over Donner Pass yesterday. I had read online that there were smallmouth bass in Rucker Lake. I packed up the Sammy, grabbed the old man, and hit the road at 4:30 am. The Google map was dead on, and we arrived at the lake right around 6. The parking area was about a hundred yards from the lake. We got the pontoon set up, and dragged the kayak down to the water.

I tied on a Byron's Knucklehead, and cast back toward the weed lined shore. On my first cast I got a strike while untangling my line. (There are lots of things to get tangled on a pontoon boat.) I missed that one but on my second cast I landed a small largemouth. Not bad.

This kept up for at least 10-15 fish. I switched to a streamer pattern on a sink tip to try to reach some bigger fish. No luck. I must of caught at least 50 largemouth of this size. I decided to go to the other side of the lake to try my luck.

The far side if the lake is much steeper and rocky. I was able to land three decent sized bass.

I caught a few green sunfish, and probably could have caught them all day with a nymph or dry fly.

I really wanted to catch a bigger bass so I moved on. I kept hitting the structure along shore, and was finally able to catch a good fish. He was just off the shore, next to a tree, on top of a large rock.

It was a good day, and a good trip. It was nice getting the old man out, and getting him into some fish too.

Rucker Lake was a great lake for a kayak or pontoon boat. You can easily paddle all the way around it. The fish were plentiful, but small. I would really like to fish it again in the Spring when the bigger fish are spawning.



I didn't see or catch a single smallmouth in Rucker Lake. If you ever have please let me know.