Buying Tickets to Fish in California
Southern CA Bass Fishing and the Reopening of San Vicente Reservoir
(The writer's opinions and observations expressed here are his own, and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views, policies or positions of FLW.)
I grew up in south Florida, fishing Lake Okeechobee and the surrounding fisheries in the area. I moved to California when I was 21 to pursue my surfing career and did not start bass fishing again in California until I was about 31.
Water in California is just not as prevalent as it is in Florida, and without researching the fisheries you would never know how good the bass fishing is out here and or where to go. Bass fishing in southern California is very unique to the other regions in the U.S.
There is no shortage of rules out here, that’s for sure. Speed limits, restricted times for entering and leaving the lake, closed access on certain days – these are just a few things you experience when fishing in southern California. Let’s not forget that the area is a desert for the most part, and all of the reservoirs we are fishing are used for drinking water for the surrounding cities, so government officials do all they can to protect the water.
In that vein, California closed access to San Vincente Reservoir near San Diego about eight years ago due to an expansion of the dam, which now allows for an additional 152,000 acre-feet of water supply. Prior to San V closing in 2008, it was a sought-after destination for local anglers and a good fishery. Recently, the lake was reopened. Well, after missing out on fishing the lake for eight years, every angler that was in the area or even hundreds of miles from the lake was licking his chops to get a shot at those fish that had not seen a lure for so long.
The city of San Diego knew there was going to be a major turnout for opening day and the months following, so it partnered up with Ticketmaster so that anglers could purchase their tickets online to launch, park and fish the lake. This eliminated a lot of chaos on opening day and made launching smooth.
I was not able to get out there on opening day but was able to fish the fourth day following the opening. I met my friend Justin Hanold at 4 a.m. and jumped in line to launch at daybreak. Justin had been fishing on opening day and told me opening day was lights out! You basically could have thrown your truck keys with a treble attached and smashed them. They wanted anything.
He also fished day two and told me that the fish had already started getting conditioned to the anglers and all the pressure, so you needed to start actually fishing and not just casting anything you wanted.
We launched around sunrise and ran across the lake. Fishing was really good on reaction with cranks and swimming jigs for the first hour. Once the morning bite slowed, we moved deep and caught them on jigs for a bit. Midday, we moved shallow, and this is when it went crazy. We were throwing frogs in the shallows, and the bites were the most violent topwater bites I have ever experienced while bass fishing. The frog would hit the water, and you had better be ready to click your reel in gear and swing because it was fast and furious. The bass looked like great whites breaching on seals in the shallows. It was awesome!!!!
The frog fish ranged from 4 to 6 pounds, with the odd one going a little bigger than that. It was one of the special days that I will never forget. We caught probably 60 fish total for the day and even mixed in a couple of crappies and bluegills caught on a little swimbait.
So even though the fishing is starting to slow a tad compared to opening day as the fish begin to adapt to the anglers, it is still going strong out there and hopefully will be a great addition to the options we have here in southern California for bass fishing.
Another lake that has reopened recently in the area is Diamond Valley Lake. Due to the drought we have had out West the past couple of years, Diamond Valley Lake had dropped to a level that the water was below the launch ramp, and we could not launch our private boats for about nine months. Unlike San V, Diamond Valley was not closed completely to the public, and you could still rent boats and fish from shore. Diamond Valley is one of my favorite Lakes here, and it sets up to fish many techniques both shallow and deep.
About the same time the ramps opened, I had partnered up with my friend Shea McIntee from the show Stoked On Fishing and agreed to film six episodes with him. For the first show I wanted to go to Diamond Valley since it had opened back up, and I had not been out there in nine months. I called my longtime friend and NBA legend Brian Shaw, who is now the Lakers’ assistant coach, and asked him to join me.
We hit the lake to film a 30-minute show and to have some fun. The fishing was decent. We caught some on Texas-rigged Roboworms and on Coolbaits under-spins. Brian grew up fishing but is so busy with his coaching and family that he does not get out as much as he would like to. We had a blast. It is awesome how fishing brings people together from all walks of life to share one common thing – the passion for the outdoors and fishing. If you have a moment, check out the show we filmed. (Stoked on Fishing)
It is great to have some additional bodies of water in southern California. It can at times be a bit of a challenge to fish out here with all the rules and regulations, the drought and other hurdles, but in the end it’s a great experience and at times provides world-class bass fishing. Enjoy your next trip on the water, and I hope to see you out there.