Any good lakes for bluegills and other sunfish ?

[stressD]

Can anyone suggest any Local LA city lakes or ponds for bluegills and other sunfish? I grew up in PA and used to fish for sunfish at local lakes and ponds with no problem, it was easy but no so much in CA. I recently started freshwater fishing again and got skunked most of the time. I try to get as much information as possible before I make a trip. So far I've been to Lake Balboa (skunked), El Dorado twice (skunked both times), Belvedere Park (skunked), and Legg Lake most recently with one catch that unhooked 5 feet from shore (either a catfish or carp). And I've read here and on other sites that El dorado and Legg both hold bluegills but didn't see any. Was I not fishing in the right place? Or am I having a really long streak of bad luck???!!! The last time I was at Lake Balboa, many years ago, the tilapia bite was on fire, 20 plus hooked, this year not even a nibble? Some help fellas!!! Thank U in advance.

[beaner]

Yeah man any lake here in L A works really good for bluegill and sunfish, just walk the shore line and look for them. they will hit any small meal worm or piece of night crawler. Good Luck.

[pho boy]

hey stress i use to live in lancaster pa. if you want to catch bluegill you got to go to dvl or skinner they got alot of gill there . if you go p.m and i give you the spot to go . huge bluegill are at skinner right now.

[City Dad]

no bluegill in Balboa... later in the summer lots of tilapia.

Probably not going to find the kind of panfishing you're accustomed to in PA around here. No natural lakes with lillypads, etc.. Have seen reports of nice 'gills from some of the larger impoundments though.

[jonnyfishon]

if u want to drive aways, lake perris is the best spot for big bluegills and redear sunfish, jumbo mealworms work well

[Panfish Slayer]

good luck with the slabs, im looking for them too!

[cartmanis]

santa fe damm has them, but they are like 4-6" prolly not worth keeping but fun to catch on #2 line, i havent been in 2 weeks cause of back injury but when i was last there, they where starting to come alive.

[Sublime-Steve]

Lake perris.... i watch the asian guys pull huge bluegill and redear out all day on crickets and worms

[Panfish Slayer]

lake perris has some ones from what ive seen in pics...

[bassmeister]

Yeah Perris has em. Two weeks ago i got into the big red ear. Musta got like 40-50 of them. When I cleaned the ones I kept they stunk, I could still smell them the next day after cleaning them.

[usmcfisherman]

u could also come up here to the mojave desert. mojave and jess ranch have lots of blugill and green sunish.

[atacks22]

El Dorado Regional has nice population of bluegill, bass and carp have good action. I took my son and he caught like 15-19 lil bluegill on a fly. Legg Lake has pretty good action for Bluegill too.

[Zhazi]

Sorry to hear you got skunked at El Dorado but there are a lot of Blue Gill to be had there! Use a weighted bobber and lead the hook 1 1/2 - 2 ft. Use Wax worms and Red Wigglers as bait. Fish along the Tulis and I guarantee you'll get hits! (There are a lot at Paddleboat Lake or Area III)

[Cartman]

u could also come up here to the mojave desert. mojave and jess ranch have lots of blugill and green sunish.

I've thought of fishing Jess Ranch for gills, but they have a five fish limit don't they? I mean, five bluegill can be not very much fish.

[shy_boxer]

I am not much of a panfish angler but from what I have seen or heard this would be my list.

Lakes:
1. Perris
2. Hemet
3. Big Bear

Urban Lakes:
1. Eldo
2. Laguna
3. Santa fe Dam

[Ifishtoolittle]

People look at the date of the post next time, just saying, but yeah all the lakes mentioned above are just dandy for panfish.

[TheAsianGuy]

I've thought of fishing Jess Ranch for gills, but they have a five fish limit don't they? I mean, five bluegill can be not very much fish.

Nope. 25 is the limit for one or mix bunch. Even that limit got shot to hell and back since people are just hauling in 30+ per person in the 50 gals coolers off the boats. This is why I like to practice capture, hold in the baskets to make they are alive before releasing, and release small fries while keeping the larger ones. Kill them before going ashore to prevent yourself from getting ticketed for hauling live fishes out of the water, as Seal pointed out.

[Cartman]

Nope. 25 is the limit for one or mix bunch. Even that limit got shot to hell and back since people are just hauling in 30+ per person in the 50 gals coolers off the boats. This is why I like to practice capture, hold in the baskets to make they are alive before releasing, and release small fries while keeping the larger ones. Kill them before going ashore to prevent yourself from getting ticketed for hauling live fishes out of the water, as Seal pointed out.

I was asking about Jess Ranch. I think they have a five fish limit there. I am sure they are not taking 50 gal coolers off the boats because there are no boats.

[TheAsianGuy]

I was asking about Jess Ranch. I think they have a five fish limit there. I am sure they are not taking 50 gal coolers off the boats because there are no boats.

My mistake. Was talking about Perris. Jess Ranch, no clue..

[smokehound]

tri-city has crappie. Some of them get to one pound!

[seal]

I have been catching Bluegill over 1lb in Silverwood this year pretty consistantly, more than past years. Seeing them all over in the shallows feasting on Damsel fly nymph's and fry.

[smokehound]

I have been catching Bluegill over 1lb in Silverwood this year pretty consistantly, more than past years. Seeing them all over in the shallows feasting on Damsel fly nymph's and fry.both skinner and silverwood are excellent bluegill spots.. I'd say there could be a few state records lurking around in skinner!