The wife and I will be down there from the 20-24 of May. Staying in the Encinitas area early in the week followed by a couple of nights beach camping at Doheny State Park. I lived in Fallbrook as a child and camped there and am familiar enough with the coast. However, only fished off the pier at Oceanside way back then. I am going to do some fishing while there, I just am not sure what to do or where to do it. I would like to catch a fish from the ocean and a bass. This is what I was thinking but Im open to suggestions and ideas.

 

While in Encinitas area: Find a lake nearby and shore fish for bass for a few hours. Will the bass be in post spawn by then?

 

Doheny camping: My understanding is that beach fishing is allowed just north of where we will be camping. I don't know about the tides or anything but it seems convenient, if my understanding is correct.

 

 

This is my vague plan. Im hoping someone can help me refine it. As in better places to try, where the fish might be, baits to use, gear etc. I generally just have bass tackle, but don't mind exposing some lower end stuff to saltwater. Also, I am open to guides/charters if you guys know of any.

 

Thanks

Welcome back to CA.

Lake Hodges isn't too far from Encinitas, take a look at the local fish reports. I know it's down about 25' which reduces this lake size about 30%, leaving the shoreline bare of any cover. Boat rentals are available and you will need a CA fishing license.

Laguna Niguel lake is near Doheny Sate park, it's a trout lake with some good bass fishing and a fee to fish lake, go online and check the fishing reports. This is a good swimbait lake and the bass could be on some beds, this is a better day outing for the family option.

Good luck, wish I could help more but haven't fished either lakes in a long time.

Dana Point harbor next to Doheny has good spotted bass fishing, the beaches is where the original Scrounger was invented! Check the surf fishing reports for the area, plus a sport fishing boats operate from both Dana harbor wharf and Oceanside harbor Helgrens that have rental tackle available, your bass tackle is OK for sand bass and calico bass targeted by the local spirt fishing boats.

Tom

I second the laguna niguel lake.

Ive caught my PB there and its a good lake with calm waters.

The fishing is usuallypretty decent and they let kids fish off the dock

Thanks Tom and Matty for the help.

 

Regarding Hodges, I learned that my parents took my brother and I fishing there when we were young. Too young for me to remember and no bass were caught. So, it looks like Hodges will be where I target my first CA bass. On a Wednesday. I read the regs and learned you can only fish on certain days. haha. Utah allows fishing 7 days a week, but no live bait.

 

Is Hodges a stereotypical CA lake? Clear and pressured? I'm thinking finesse tactics will be the ticket??

 

 

I checked out the Laguna Nigel and wow. Those are some big rainbows. Trout fishing is big in Utah and have seen a few fatties here. But I would not have expected to see them so large down there. It seems the odds of catching a bass there would be fairly high, but also very pressured. We might have to check it out if Hodges gives the skunk.

Someone who fishes Hodges regularly can help you better.

Hodges is excellent when near full pool, it's drawn down about 40' now. This means no shore cover except where aquatic grass is able to grow and that is where the baitfish like Threadfin shad hide early morning, then move out into deep water during day time. The water at Hodges tends to be off color green,about 3to 5 ft visibility.

Small shad size top water lures like Splash-It in shad colors can be good early morning. Split shot, drop shot and finesse mojo rigs on 6 lb spinning tackle using 5" or 6" Roboworms in shad colors like a Bait Ball or purple MMIII, Owner size 1 or 1/0 #5133 should work during the day near points or around grass areas. Same lures and presentations should work in any SoCal lake.

Good luck.

Tom

Thanks to all for the input. Things didn't go exactly as planned. The day we started the trip the motor on my wife's Rav4 decided to throw a rod about an hour into the drive. After a long tow, a few hours later and a rental car, we were on the way, again. Not the best start, but many people stopped to offer help on the side of the road. Its good to be reminded that people aren't all bad.

 

Here is a brief recap of the fishing highlights.

 

After reading about the low water levels and high temps recently, I wasn't feeling too confident at Hodges. I found that Dixon Lake was about the same distance from where we were staying and they currently don't require a CA license. So that saved a couple of bucks and the chance to fish where Dottie lived sealed the deal. I stopped at Pat's bait and tackle in Vista and got some roboworms and megastrike shake2 heads. Long story short we fished crigs and drop shots for a few hours off the dock and a rocky point without a fish.  The scenery was nice, the water super clear. I was surprised at the depth of the algae when fishing the crig. It was a nice outing for sure. Maybe next time conditions will increase my odds of landing a bass.

 

We drove north to Dana Point and camped the last two nights in CA. I bought a license and squid for bait at Dana Wharf sport fishing to try the next morning. I rigged my 7ft medium spinning rig with a double drop shot type setup and a 1oz pyramid sinker. The rods max weight rating is 1/2oz. A MH would've been better, but I don't own a two piece MH and didn't want to buy one to use for one day. I was able to cast it out far enough to keep it in place for the most part. It was so cool to wake up at 6am grab my gear, a beer, and walk 100yds to fish in the Pacific. I managed to catch two leopard sharks, two spotfin croakers, and a round stingray throughout the day. Some other guys were fishing with mussles later in the day and had a bucket full of yellowfin croakers. This was my first time surf fishing and it was a blast. It was exciting to not know what you might reel in.

 

On the way home, we stopped to fish at Sand Hollow State Park in southern Utah for a few hours. I managed 3 small bass in about 2 hours. The biggest being a small female close to 3 pounds. Using a Rage lizard on a crig. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I can't remember the last time i've caught that many bass in a day. or at least such a short period of time. So, I was pleased with the result.

 

All in all, it was pretty fun for not being a fishing trip and such a crappy start. My wife was a great sport about all of the fishing. As I sat here typing this out, I realized last night I accidentally clicked 'restore' instead of 'backup' with my iphone connected to itunes. All of the photos and stuff from the last ten days are gone. Except for the few I sent to other people and am trying to get back. d**n. As far as I can tell there isn't a way to undo a restore. I will add the pics as I get them.

Thank you for responding, few do that. Glad you had a chance to fish and enjoy being out, sorry to hear about the vehicle issue.

Tom

Lake Hodges is good but prepare to drop shot deep.  Not a lot of rain this year and the lake is way down. Lake Poway and Miramar are near there as well.  If you want to take a little bit of a drive, Santee Lakes, Lake Wolford, Lake Murray, Lake Dixon, Lake Jennings, El Capitan, and Otay.  All of them require a fee and I think all of them require a CA fishing license except Lake Dixon, Santee Lakes and Lake Poway if I remember correctly.  Santee Lakes only offers bank fishing and you can bank fish a few others.  Almost all the lakes have boat rentals as well.  Check their respective websites for more info.  A lot of big bass in SD county.  There are some "secret spots" as well but you are gonna have find those yourself on your next trip out. 

I might be a little late, but Lower Otay down south in sdc is the ultimate bass lake in probably the whole of Southern California.