Jackson Lake

[Cartman]

My wife and I took a trip up to Jackson Lake Friday after a brief stop at BPS. What a beautiful place that is, and cool compared to down here. The water is very high, almost up to the road. The lake is swarming with small bluegill. Just for fun I drowned a few maggots and was catching them within 10 seconds, sometimes before the bait could get down. Bored with this I waded out to my knees and tossed out a castmaster. Caught a nice trout on the third cast. Got him in the bucket and caught another one right away. After that, nada. We hadn't planned to stay long, and we left around 5:00, but a good time was had by all, and we have two butterflied trout in the freezer til we can get some more to add to them.

[teejay]

Sounds like a nice place to take the kids.

[Cartman]

Sounds like a nice place to take the kids.

That's exactly what we were thinking the whole time. Put a pole in their hand with a bobber and some wax worms or red worms and watch them drag them in. The gills are really small, but just catching anything is a thrill to little kids, and the lake is swarming with gills.

[Natural Lefty]

The first time I went to Jackson Lake about 10 years ago the Bluegills grew large, but maybe the Bass died out and the Bluegills overpopulated the lake. The trout are still there, but they are stocked. I remember there were also a bunch of Goldfish in there, like a huge school of them that could be seen swimming around.

[Cartman]

The first time I went to Jackson Lake about 10 years ago the Bluegills grew large, but maybe the Bass died out and the Bluegills overpopulated the lake. The trout are still there, but they are stocked. I remember there were also a bunch of Goldfish in there, like a huge school of them that could be seen swimming around.

I've been going there three years, and I don't think there are any bass in that lake. The red goldfish are there. The first time I was there I saw what a thought was a red paint spill or toxic waste spill floating in the middle of the lake. Turned out it was those red goldfish. There are a million of them, and you can see them in bunches near the shore, but they're pretty small (max 5" or so), and like the gills, they don't seem to grow bigger. I've never caught one. I've seen old guys with carp poles trying to catch them for whatever reason, but I've never seen one caught.

[Natural Lefty]

I swear that many of the Bluegills were large (like 8-9 inches and 1/2 pound) there about 10 years ago, so something must have been controlling their population, presumably Bass. I guess there were Bass there, but they died out. I think they died out at the biggest lake at Rancho Jurupa a few years ago too, so now it's full of tiny Bluegills, Green Sunfish and Carp.

[Viejo]

I've lived in the area and fished Jackson for 40 years. No Bass. No Catfish. Just Bluegill and planted trout. They drained the lake and cleaned out the bottom and reeds recently and there were no Bass in the drawn down sag pond. There was 7 dump truck loads of human supplied trash pulled out.

[Cartman]

I swear that many of the Bluegills were large (like 8-9 inches and 1/2 pound) there about 10 years ago, so something must have been controlling their population, presumably Bass. I guess there were Bass there, but they died out. I think they died out at the biggest lake at Rancho Jurupa a few years ago too, so now it's full of tiny Bluegills, Green Sunfish and Carp.

Yeah, that's what happens when there are no predators to clean out the population. I guess they over- populate and don't have the resources to grow really big.

[Cartman]

Sounds like a nice place to take the kids.

I forgot to mention, teejay, that they have swimming in the lake, too. Kids love floating around.

[Natural Lefty]

Viejo, maybe the Bluegills were growing larger then because they had recently drained and refilled the lake, reducing the Bluegill population.

By the way, I wonder how they drain that lake, since it's a natural lake. Do they get a big vacuum and just suck the water out?

[Viejo]

They just open up the drain valve at the East end and the water runs down a small creek bed that normally has small amounts of overflow water running down it (No, there are no fish in the creek bed). Jackson lake is a Sag Pond and has a small spring. It is gradually trying to fill itself in and become a meadow in Nature's time (much longer then we deal with in our lifetime). It was created, it is thought, during the massive earthquake on the San Andreas in the 1800's. It was developed further back when the whole Big Pines area was a LA County Park (before being given to the Angeles National Forest because they couldn't fund it anymore). Without intervention from man, the pond will fill itself in and have wildflowers in wild profusion.

[vortec_cruiser]

I see that float tubes are allowed, so I was wondering what the water temp was like. Also, how deep is it?

[Cartman]

I see that float tubes are allowed, so I was wondering what the water temp was like. Also, how deep is it?

cruiser, I see guys with float tubes doing great at Jackson Lake. What I have been told is that there is a trough that runs down the middle of the lake. I have cast into the edge of it from the shore, but there is a lot of debris between the middle of the lake and the shore that can be a real nuisance. With the float tube you can fish that trough easily without having to drag your line through and the vegetative matter. Yes, this is a lake where the float tube gives you a definite advantage, and it is small enough you can cover the entire strike zone in no time.

As to the temperature, I never used a thermometer, but I'm assuming it is at least a little cooler than lakes down here. It is in the mountains 5,000 feet up. I have waded in past my knees. I can tell you it is pretty warm near the shore and cooler but not cold at knee depth. It is cool enough that they still have stocked trout this late in the season.

[vortec_cruiser]

cruiser, I see guys with float tubes doing great at Jackson Lake. What I have been told is that there is a trough that runs down the middle of the lake. I have cast into the edge of it from the shore, but there is a lot of debris between the middle of the lake and the shore that can be a real nuisance. With the float tube you can fish that trough easily without having to drag your line through and the vegetative matter. Yes, this is a lake where the float tube gives you a definite advantage, and it is small enough you can cover the entire strike zone in no time.

As to the temperature, I never used a thermometer, but I'm assuming it is at least a little cooler than lakes down here. It is in the mountains 5,000 feet up. I have waded in past my knees. I can tell you it is pretty warm near the shore and cooler but not cold at knee depth. It is cool enough that they still have stocked trout this late in the season.

Thanks for the information, Cartman. Since I haven't been to Jackson Lake, I want to give it a try. It's also close to home, which is a plus. I don't like tubing with waders, so I was wondering if I could get away without using them at Jackson. It looks like I'll give it try.

[Natural Lefty]

Thanks for answering my question Viejo. They must have built a drain pipe at some point. All lakes fill up gradually with sediment or get breached as time goes on if nothing happens in the way of further lake building. Just look at all the inlet deltas even on alpine lakes.

If Jackson Lake was created by an earthquake, it must have been one enormous one. I read somewhere that it's right on the San Andreas, and is a result of tectonic activity, but I thought it was the result of gradual movement along the fault, or maybe a sump lake like Tahoe where the ground falls in one area relative to the surroundings.

[Piss on Myspace]

I see that float tubes are allowed, so I was wondering what the water temp was like. Also, how deep is it?

shallow, shallow and shallower...from the road, stay on the left side of the lake...pw's and jigs fer sure, lures if they stocked...and ill think youll be fine without the waders

[ZipperWurm]

i was there saturday afternoon with some friends. easily caught my limit from the shore on panther martins within an hour. too many people on such a tiny lake...but i enjoyed grilling those trout later that night:Razz: