Lake Poway 60 surface acres of excellence!

[BarracudaBen]

I have been fishing city park lakes in the 562,714,310, & 909 areas for 4 or 5 years now. El Dorado, Legg, Cerritos, Alondra, Peck, Downey are all glorified skunk holes. Im sure weve all lucked out a few times with some dinky bass, stunted bluegill, or one of the trout senor cormorant hasnt got around to yet. LETS NOT FORGET POACHERS...legg wouldnt even be on this list if it werent for yearly spawn poachers ....so to the topic..Imagine a city park lake with 5-10 ft of visibility. Imagine a city park lake with numerous double digit bass and a breeding population of blue and channel cats. I have been to Poway three times this year and have limited or near limited on trout everytime. Im not the only one catching either this lake is filled to the gills with fish. They stock the lake with trout(Tailwalkers) in the winter though holdovers will stick around until early summer. The cats are stocked in warmer months but are in the lake yearround. The bass population is ridiculous. ALMOST everyone practices C&R here. There are even some Smallies in the lake. Dirt cheap entry and boat rentals make the extra $20 on gas even out. I say dont knock it until you try it. If you're a champion angler with your own boat maybe Poway isnt for you(dont tell mike long). But if you're like me and tired of the mudhole skunk or just wanna see your kids catch fish i got five letters for you....POWAY

[Gillslayer]

BarracudaBen I could not agree more with you . My son is 12 years old and loves to fish. His grandparents live in the San Diego area. He fished a kids trout derby there in Feb and caught 5 lbs of fish. And won a decent Okuma rod and reel combo for trout fishing by the way that event was free for him. Whenever we go down to visit we always hit that lake. Last time We were down there it cost 12 bucks to shore fish for both of us. During that kids derby some dad caught about a 4lb bass and he even was not supposed to be fishing. I feel great lake for the price your almost always get fish. At least my son and I have.

[geedavell]

Sounds like a fun place for kids Can you take float tubes in there?

[gokuguy]

Negative on the float tubes. They have an aquaculture permit by the state as a drinking resorvoir, and they don't allow any outside vessels, float tubes, fish finders, or floating catch baskets.

Small lake but one of my all time favorites for sure.

[etucker1959]

Negative on the float tubes. They have an aquaculture permit by the state as a drinking resorvoir, and they don't allow any outside vessels, float tubes, fish finders, or floating catch baskets.

Small lake but one of my all time favorites for sure.

What's the catch? Sounds too good to be true. lol

[gokuguy]

What's the catch? Sounds too good to be true. lol

Lol, right?! No state fishing license required. 6 dollars for an adult fishing permit, 24 dollars to rent a boat all day. 3 dollars for seniors. It's definitely a gem so far. Crystal clear water, and the people I've seen fish there are a lot of locals who really take pride in the lake. Tons of hiking trails that are always in use, and friendly staff and rangers who will definitely try to help you get on some fish. I don't think I'll go again on a saturday as the shoreline was jam packed, but the weekdays are awesome.

The only downside of the lake, (and it's not even a big deal) is the limit of trout is only 4. They only stock the tailwalkers from Chaulk Mound, Nebraska, so the fish are good size.

About an hour and a half drive from North Orange County, so definitely worth the extra gas if you have a group of people going together.

The new concession stand owner opened up in January, and he is working on getting a liquor license soon. Alcohol and pets are allowed on site.

If you are going to fish this lake, I only ask you don't abuse the lax environment there.

O yeah, this time of year they only open for fishing Wed- Sunday. Check out Lake Dixon, almost the same as Poway except it's 7 dollars for the fishing permit and 35 for an all day boat rental.

[seal]

Lived in Poway for years. Lived about 5 minutes from the lake, fished it several times a week from a tube. Damn shame you can't tube anymore, back when the trout worm phenomona started we use to use a float bubble rigged slow sink with a long leader and killed um with Berkley trout worms, sometimes they would be on the surface and take um right off the top. And yes the bass fishing was excellent and I'd bet still is. Thanks for the blast from the past, damn shame on the tubes!

Oh on the fly, full sink with a trout worm was deadly also.

[BarracudaBen]

What's the catch? Sounds too good to be true. lol

I still havnt found anything negative to say they even sell live crawfish and shiners...I like how during the kids tourny they stock small trout not only to help the kids but also to get some food into those double digit bass...heck even the bluegills are monsters there

Heres a lil secret I taught myself on accident ..if you rent a boat righ up some powerbait on a hook with a few small split shots about 18" above.....find which way the wind's blowing and allow your boat to drift...this trick seems to work at high noon when the fishing has slowed down

[etucker1959]

I still havnt found anything negative to say they even sell live crawfish and shiners...I like how during the kids tourny they stock small trout not only to help the kids but also to get some food into those double digit bass...heck even the bluegills are monsters there

Heres a lil secret I taught myself on accident ..if you rent a boat righ up some powerbait on a hook with a few small split shots about 18" above.....find which way the wind's blowing and allow your boat to drift...this trick seems to work at high noon when the fishing has slowed down

That's funny about your drifting trick, if been doing that at Corona and SARL for over 20 years. Can you C&R the trout or catfish?