Rancho Seco/Lake Amador

Feeling trapped and needing exercise I went tubing last week on Rancho Seco Lake and Lake Amador. I didn’t really have expectations since I was targeting some alone time and excercise.

The two days were beautiful and quite therapeutic:) I never was close to anyone but the people who took my money with gloves and protective materials on themselves. I cleaned my hands with sanitizer after each encounter. Once in the water I was hundreds of feet at any one time from the closest boat or person.

So the fishing on Rancho Seco-well I look back on it and it was really good. I scored a slam, catching 10 crappie all over 3/4 of a lb even one at a pound , one smallish bass, post spawn, and one 3 1/2 lb trout. They stocked them that day. I cast and trolled an intermediate clear line with a Denny Richards AP fly. It is becoming my go to fly for all occasions. I even caught a Lahonton Cutthroat trout at Pyramid the last week it was open in shallow water on it.

Lastly, I fished Amador Lake. It’s a shadow of the fishery it used to be, as the stocking program for various reasons has dwindled into close to 40,000 lbs of fish a year. They used to put in over 250,000# in it's heyday. The one plus of their program is they do put in some great fighting fish and large too. I did manage three trout between using my type three and intermediate lines. I let them sink a bit near the middle of the lake. My biggest about three pounds. It was still a great outdoor exercise and adventure.

What is your favorite fly pattern for crappie at Rancho Seco?

jealous- good for you!

Would you eat the crappies out of there?

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Originally Posted by John Sv

Would you eat the crappies out of there?

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sure- why not?

Jealous? yes

I have caught other fish a R. Seco, but not crappie. (yet)

I think I would eat crappie out of the lake. The water was intended as back-up cooling water and is up stream from the plant. I have not come across mercury warnings for this lake.

Rancho Seco is a beautiful place and a good fishery.


Warm water species are usually Spring, Summer and Fall....LMB, Red Ear Sunfish and Crappie.


In the Winter and Spring it has planted Rainbow trout which has been going on for many years now.


Two of the best fly fishers I know, Mike Monroe and Chuck Campana both spent many years out there.

They both use small prams to get better access to the fish. The water there is extremely clear, most of the time.

Mike use to fish for the large Mouth Bass with a large Casual Dress nymph, I believe.

Chuck told me he would find a school of the large planted trout hold up in certain places along the shoreline.

He said after locating the pod of fish which can be seen swimming and fining the surface at times.

I think Chuck used a 9' #4 line rod with a weight forward floating line, 15' leader to 4x and a small olive Woolly Bugger?


I think evenings in the Spring and Summer would be good for bass and panfish with poppers.

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I think it would be cool to talk about Crappie which are not as commonly caught by most fly fishers.

Spring time is the best time for Crappie.....

Someone in the Davis fly fishing club was talking about a big Crappie bite in Lake Berryessa.

Clear Lake is the most famous lake for Crappie in Nor Cal.

I used Denny Ricard's AP but if you use a wooly bugger or even a midge under indicator those would work. I think if you place any thing buggy in front of them you will hook up many fish.

I definitely would eat them if my wife would let me use the kitchen :)

A Rancho Seco slam involves 4 species: bass, crappie, bluegill and trout.

The water there is constantly flowing in and out, it has some of the clearest and cleanest water you will fish locally.

I've been fishing there for close to 20 years and have determined that there is no best color. Depth and retrieve is the secret. I've had an annual pass for a long time and put in many hours there. I've caught crappie to 16", bluegills to 15", my biggest trout was 8.75 pounds and I have caught some big bass, but the big ones are tricky. A slow day is 8 fish.

For trout, your best bet is back in the coves in super shallow water, less than 2'.

Bill; I have been preaching about crappie on Clear lake to Granite Bay and Gold Country FF for a couple years. GCFF had a fishout scheduled in March that was cancelled because of Covid. 4 guys went anyway just before Clear lake closed; it had been cold and windy previously. One guy had over 35 fish, their total was 80. Many fish over 2 lb. I had 10 guys from GBFF interested in an exploratory trip; but the lake is now closed. The spring shallow water bite will probably be over before the lake reopens. Well, maybe next year.

You have me interested in going next year.

Send me a pm with phone; we can talk. Or watch Granite bay FF or Gold Country FF around Jan/Feb to see the Mar/Apr planning and dates for next spring. Or if they open the lake before June. After May/June they move deeper and sidefinder is necessary to find them at 20-30 ft deep. Besides, bass are available 0-10 feet and much more interesting.

Mike,
The fish we got mid-March in the west end were dark and spawning. We thought uh-oh. However this w/e in the east end the fish were still bright and solid. Usually a session will produce at least one fish close-to or over 16" which puts quite some bend in your 3wt.
Interesting to see what 3-4 warm days or 3-4 cold days do to their moods at this time of year.
....lee s.

I did some research on the timing......March looks popular for many.

I think an annual fish out would be cool.

Lots of videos on YouTube......torments.

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I worked in a bait-n-tackle shop in West Sacramento when I was a youngster.

In the spring we sold thousands of small ~2 inch "Crappie minnows" for Clear Lake.

My boss there, Harry Boley, caught a huge 3 pound plus Crappie over in the Sacramento Bypass and had it mounted by Burnette

Brothers in Ripon, CA. His son, Paul Boley, has the wonderful mounted fish.

I think you're right Bill. March seems to be a good month because the bass start spawning and the lake management stocks trout up to April 1st.

I went out last week and today, probably for the last time this year. Way more people getting outside to break the monotony of the stay at home recommendations. Saw a lot of pricey bass boats on the water :) So many types of floating fishing craft. So I used my AP with an intermediate line mostly since I discovered I like this combination best. I caught twenty two with four bass last Wednesday. Went out today and used an assortment of poles and lines. Mostly i gauged the depth of my flies and experimented with other flies. I saw damsels flying around so I tied on a small damsel fly nymph. I caught many on it but fell back to my go to mostly. I caught seven bass and twenty three others. It definitely was a hoot getting to know this lake. I look forward to fishing Seco next year.

I think we passed each other, me in a green pontoon boat. If it was you, thanks for the tip about depth. I caught four more nice Bass and lost a couple in the weeds after your suggestion. What makes fishing great, willingness to share information with a newbie. The one I hooked in front of you was my first.

It sounds like you have it dialed in :)

We could have some mini Kiene's fishing outings some day?

Camping at Clear Lake next Spring?

Camping at Rancho Seco is very nice too.

We had a Delta May LMB outing once or twice?

Bill, I got my introduction to the Delta on the October 2007 Board outing. On Saturday, Paul and Robin Egan took me out in their boat. As a life long trout fisherman, Paul shocked me when he handed me a 9-wt with a floating line that looked like a cable attached to an Umpqua Swimming Frog, then told me to cast INTO the tules. Only the first of many days I spent down there with them.

Saturday afternoon I watched as Captain Jerry Neuberger turned 99 cent flip flops into foam poppers using an electric drill as a lathe. I also met Ed Wahl, David Lee, and Scott V. over beers that evening.

On Sunday, Capt. Jerry took me out on his boat and gave me guided tour of the central Delta.

I've been a Delta Striper and bass junkie ever since and have done my best to pay it forward to others. I also attended in 2008, when I was part of the tiny boat flotilla fishing in the slough and the edge of Franks Tract. We used the long-closed Lundborg Landing as our base of operations both years, I think. It was south of the Sugar Barge on Bethel Island.

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Originally Posted by Mike Churchill

Bill, I got my introduction to the Delta on the October 2007 Board outing. On Saturday, Paul and Robin Egan took me out in their boat. As a life long trout fisherman, Paul shocked me when he handed me a 9-wt with a floating line that looked like a cable attached to an Umpqua Swimming Frog, then told me to cast INTO the tules. Only the first of many days I spent down there with them.

Saturday afternoon I watched as Captain Jerry Neuberger turned 99 cent flip flops into foam poppers using an electric drill as a lathe. I also met Ed Wahl, David Lee, and Scott V. over beers that evening.

On Sunday, Capt. Jerry took me out on his boat and gave me guided tour of the central Delta.

I've been a Delta Striper and bass junkie ever since and have done my best to pay it forward to others. I also attended in 2008, when I was part of the tiny boat flotilla fishing in the slough and the edge of Franks Tract. We used the long-closed Lundborg Landing as our base of operations both years, I think. It was south of the Sugar Barge on Bethel Island.

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Good times !!

I remember the 2006 Summer Bass bug trip well - 117 degrees as we drove in , only time to fish was at Night !

D.~