Lake Casistas, California.
Lake Casitas is one of the premier fishing lakes in the region and is known for its "world class" bass fishing. Four of the 10 largest bass have been caught at Lake Casitas. In addition to largemouth bass, the lake is filled with rainbow trout, crappie, red-ear sunfish, bluegill and channel catfish. Record fish in all categories have been caught throughout the years. Night fishing until 11 pm from the shorelines is held on selected weekends when the moon is full and weather permits.
Be sure to browse thru the slide show on the main page, it has some really nice pictures.
Lake Casitas Recreation Area
Marina Café
(805) 649-2514 http://www.lakecasitas.info/index.html
Park Store
(805)649-1202 http://www.casitasstore.com/
Lake Casitas Marina
Bait & Tackle Shop
(805) 649-2043 http://www.lakecasitas.info/boatrent.html
Lake Cachuma,
It is located at an elevation of 800 feet in the Santa Ynez Valley. It has 3,200 surface acres. The Cachuma Reservoir, created by Bradbury Dam, has a storage capacity of 205,000 acre-feet. The Santa Ynez River feeds this reservoir.
Campsites for tents and RV's of all sizes are available year-round on a first-come first-served basis. The Cachuma Lake Recreation Area boasts 500 regular camp sites; 90 sites with full electrical, water and sewer hook-ups; 38 sites with electrical and water hook-ups; and 6 sites with corrals for horses. All campsites include picnic tables and BBQ pits and are located near showers, rest rooms, and water. As far as Bass Fishing goes the lake contains a healthy population of Largemouth and Smallmouth bass.
The lake does not have a full service marina only a snack bar.
Directions: From Santa Barbara, proceed 24 miles northwest on Hwy 154 (San Marcos Pass Road) to the park entrance. From Solvang, proceed 12 miles east on Hwy 154 to the park entrance.
For more information, call (805)688-8780 for reservations and information
Also contact: Cachuma Lake Recreation Area
A Santa Barbara County Park
HC 59 - Highway 154
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
Recorded Info: (805) 686-5054
Group Reservations: (805) 686-5050
Fax: (805) 686-5075
Voice/TDD: (805) 686-5055
for lg mouth it would have to be clear lake and for all around it would be paradise lake
for right now, it is a pond on camp Pendelton. (I can go everyday during lunch) HAHA! don't get too jealous everyone. when I get my boat I'll see you on the big water
Eric
Well it's hard to choose just one body of water in California for Bass fishing. I am going to have to say it's a toss up between Clear Lake and The Delta. Two outstanding fisheries that are a blast to fish.
I like clear lake and the delta but I am so close to New Malones and we do have some good bass fishing there and Mcclure
I have actually never fished New Melones or Mcclure. I want to but have never made it out there. I hear a lot of LM are being caught on them. I only live 45-60 minutes to either the delta or Clear Lake so I think I am pretty spoiled when it comes to that. lo
I am fishing Trinity Lake for the first time ever Sunday for the Fed Tourny. I hope I can stick some of those fierce smallies it's known for.
Good luck on sunday. I am fishing at a little local place here called fox grove on sunday then in a week or two its up to McSwain for a day fishing.
Thanks! I am excited to fish Trinity but kinda nervous since its a lake I ahve never fished before. I guess we'll see if all the map studying and reading a ton of old fishing reports on the lake pays off. Good luck with your time on the water!
San V. and Lake Poway for me.
lo Mine by the way would have to be Lake Cuyamaca in the hills east of San Diego. Alpine like setting with plenty of good trout and laremouth, late spawning time. They also have a nice population of smallies arount! Great lake staff/Rangers. Very helpful, and knowledgeable. Awesome, truly!
tnx,
sd ~beer~
Clear Lake for big fish, but for the overall experience and beauty Lake shasta followed closely by Lake oroville. I just think they let the lakeside developement get out of hand at clear lake.
CLEAR LAKE # 1 for Largemouth
Havasu for smallies and northern strain largemouth.
Shasta for spots.
There are many others also. I have fished a bunch.
Heck I guide on Castaic and love it. I also guide on Pyramid and Piru. Fun lakes for #'s but not many big fish.
heh, havasu is great for smallies, so I guess we can consider it close enough to be california...
Guess my favorite would be Clearlake, of course I'm bias because I live right on th lake their! Caught my biggest bass right off my back deck, a 20" 8Lb 7oz er
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2 Clear lake = big fish
3 Trinity = big smallies and shear beauty
4 Don Pedro = potluck, you never know what your going to catch
5 Del Valle = quite possibly the best urban lake anywhere, o.k. i am biased.
6 Shasta = if you want to eat your catch, you can get your fill of spots, excellent eating.
7 Berryessa = best lake for LM, SM and spots all in one day
8 Pardee = best chance at a record smallie in the state of ca.
9 McClure = 50-75 fish days, if you like numbers.
10 Indian Valley = it's the sleeper in my top 10
#1 The Delta = O.K. technically not a lake, but the most diverse tidal fishery in the west. there is something for here for everyone. I'm fortunate to have carved out a life close by and be able to call it my home. I live minutes from the ramp (any number of them) and fish it 100 x or more a year, I can go 2-3 months or more and never fish the same water twice, not easy to say about most of our western waters.
#1. Clear lake for big fish.
#2. McClure for early morning top water
#3. Pine flat for family fun
All of course are in california.
YOU KNOW, I REALLY LIKE LAKE CACHUMA, I KNOW SOMETIMES IT CAN BE TOUGH BUT ONCE YOU DIAL IN ON WHAT THE FISH ARE DOING YOU CAN DO VERY WELL, AND I LIKE THE CHALLENGE, SO FAR THIS SPRING IVE GOT A SOLID 4 POUNDER AND A NICE 3.5 AND A BUNCH OF 2 PLUS AND ITS BEEN PRETTY CONSISTANT SINCE THE WATER LEVEL IS UP, THEY CLOSED CASITAS FOR A WHILE IM NOT SURE IF ITS OPEN YET SO IVE BEEN HITTIN CACHUMA ALOT. I KNOW THERE ARE BIG BASS IN THE LAKE TOO SO IM GONNA GET ONE SOON HOPEFULLY!
i know its not a lake, but i love fishing in the delta. lots of steep rocky banks for bass, and you can fish for a variety of fish there.
1 EASTMAN ~cf ~gf
2 hensley
3 millerton
4 pineflat
5 mcclure
Does anyone know if Pyramid Lake has rental boats?
My boss told me they used too but then stopped 'cause insurance reasons, but that was years ago.
Thought I'd ask here 'cause it was too late to call.
Love Oroville because it is so close to me and spring is incredible. Shasta is gorgeous and always produces. I discovered Bullards Bar recently, and even though I can't seem to catch anything over 10 inches I have seen some toads come out of there.
LET'S NOT FORGET ABOUT........LAKE MEAD..........
Sounds like most of you are from Nor Cal. But if you get the chance to fish Lake Barrett do it! You have to get a reservation to fish it, but 100+ fish days for a boat are the norm.
My personal best was 57 fish from my kayak. The only draw back is that its mostly full of Northern Strain Largemouths. They're aggressive scrappy little fighters, but the biggest bass I have caught there was only 5lbs.... but I have seen pictures of a few double digit fish.
Definitely clear lake, the delta is also fun to fish. I've also heard good things about the bass in the pond at Rancho Seco, the retired nuclear power plant, but I've never fished it. The fish are tricky and tough to catch but a few 10# in there.
With so many lakes with in a one or two hour drive , I would have to say my favorites are 1) The CA Delta 2) Clear Lake 3) Don Pedro 4) New Melones 5) McClure. I will be fishing some new to me lakes next year like Oroville , Bullards Bar , Salt springs.
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In order: Clear Lake, Oroville, Shasta, New Melones, Camp Far West, Berryessa. I also like the Delta, but just have not been fishing it much lately.
I've fished from Castaic just north of Los Angeles to Shasta in Northern Cal.
There is a lot of awesome water and to pick one would be nearly impossible. But if I had too, it would be the Delta or Clear Lake, and the only reason is vegetation. I love fishing vegetation. But it's hard to pass up the numbers days I had on Oriville, when you catch a hundred bass a day, that's fun...
The Delta, and Clearlake. this year, Clearlake has been a disappointment for the most part. no biggies.
Berryessa and Lake Sonoma have been fun. Camanche almost killed me, so that is my least favorite lake. haha.
i'm an explorer. i have a secret lake i am not talking about, and two local lakes 7 mins from my home. but Shasta was fun, as well. i am lucky to be near so much water that is fishable year round.
I have been sworn to secrecy!
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Lake Perris, Lake Hodges and Lake San Vicente are my favorite SoCal lakes, however Hodges is now closed to boats since the launch ramp is out of water. It's going to be float tubes an kayaks for the foreseeable future until the dam is fixed there. Perris is probably my favorite of them all since I grew up walking the shoreline and have fond memories of catching those super aggressive spotted bass in a once world record class fishery. It's a damn same what happened to it, but there is still great bass fishing to be had, albeit all Florida bass now.
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