just starting to get into bass fishing and looking for good public spots where there is no fee to fish in the mission viejo and lake forest area. ive heard rancho santa margarita lake is pretty good as well as lake mission viejo. just looking for as many spots as possible to tryout!

there is a park in HB that is pretty pressured but I still get them out of there.  it is between Edwards and Goldenwest just south of Slater.  Mile Square park in FV still has Bass in there too.  I just started myself (4 months) and joined a Bass Club which has been a great help. I fish as a back seater and have already participated in 3 club tournaments and it's been a blast. 

That's pretty cool. I'm a little further south in Mission Viejo but know where those spots are at and will definitely check them out. How did you go about finding and joining a bass club, wouldn't mind looking into something like that to make some friends to fish with.

Irvine Loop Lake has bass, I keep most of my fishing ventures in the Northern Orange County/LA County parks.  You can always check out Google Earth and look around where you are for any small ponds/lakes that you can scout and check out.

That's smart with the google earth trick, never would have thought of that. Are you talking about the Yale Loop? I've had friends tell me about it before but haven't had a chance to check it out yet.

Go to Irvine Lake....The spawn is on right now...You can fish from shore or rent a boat...Lots of fun and the water level has come up a lot.