San Diego Fishing Reports, News, Forums & Articles

Blogs - Tom Lowery's Blog

San Diego Lakes Spring bass fishing has been really good this year. El Capitan, Otay, Sutherland, and even Hodges! The nice thing about San Diego Bass fishing is there is always a bite year round. We had a great wintertime spoon and swimbait bite, a good pre spawn worm and jig bite, and good fishing during the spawn. Many of my Guide Trips were people just starting to Bass fish and now they are hooked! My "lesson" trips during spring were also popular for people looking to learn/improve a technique. So Spring has sprung and Bass are almost done spawning..... now what?

Read more: Spring report and what's to come

Fish Reports - Saltwater Fish Reports

Captain Alan Clowers took client Benjamin Vega out to the Coronado Islands on Sunday seeking Vega's first yellowtail. Clowers reported they bounced around the South Island for nothing early, but then found some meter marks on the middle grounds in 85 feet of water just before noon. Vega soon hooked up with a nice 30 pound yellowtail, and they caught another 4 fish between 26 and 30 pounds between then and 4:00 PM. All fish were caught on fly lined sardines on 25 and 30 lb test with fluorocarbon leaders. Clowers reports the water temp at 65 degrees, and good looking clean blue water. The yellows are here and biting, and with Memorial Day coming up, now is a great time to book a trip with Captain Clowers to get some of your own.

Clowers runs trips aboard his 25' spacious sportfisher, with its larger capacity its a great option for a family to enjoy a fish catching day. His saltwater trips are limited to 4 (with a 3 adult max), while he can fit 5 on for San Diego Bay trips. The boat is also equipped with a private porta-potti, another plus for a family trip with women and children. For more information on Captain Clowers, visit his website or give him a call at 619.800.FISH (3474).

Fish Reports - Barrett Lake Fish Reports

228 anglers purchased permits at Barrett last week, those that reported catches at the dock talied 4,625 bass, 184 bluegill, and 140 crappie. The water temperature is listed at 67 degrees and the lake is 13 feet below capacity, down a little over half a foot from last week. Unlike last season, this year's second week failed to top the opening week and saw fishing drop off significantly from the opener, of course 4,625 bass caught amongst 228 anglers is plenty to go around.

If you were unable to secure tickets for May or June, there have been several for sale or trade on our Barrett Ticket Trader forum, as well as tube spot openings on others' tickets. To read the reports from our member's opening week experiences at Barrett, visit our Barrett Fishing Reports forum. Tickets for the month of July go on sale Tuesday, June 12th at 7:00 PM.

Fish Reports - Santee Lakes Fish Reports

The bass bite has been excellent this past week. Early morning bite is the best. Try senkos near the dock on lake 5 or the west shore of lake 4. Bass 10 lbs. and over are caught at the Lakes every year. The Lakes record is 13 lbs. 8 oz. Be sure to have your fish weighed by staff if you think it is over 13 lbs. 8 oz.

Lakes 2 and 4 were stocked on Friday with catfish and limits were easy to come by. Mealworms and mackerel have been the popular baits. Check out Santeelakes.com and make a Lakefront Camping reservation. Campers have Lakes 6 and 7 reserved exclusively for them and with a night permit you can fish until 11:00 pm. Both lakes 6 and 7 have been stocked with Catfish.

Read more: Santee Lakes Fish Report

Fish Reports - Lake Jennings Fish Reports

It's that time of year once again so come out to Lake Jennings to kick of our NIGHT FISHING season. The lake will open on Friday at 5 PM and close at Midnight. Don't forget to bring your lantern. The lake will be stocked this week with 2000 lbs of catfish and just like in the past the cats start to bite just before we stock. Several were caught this weekend at Cloister Cove under the "Bird Trees". Some trout are still being caught but no limits. Bass are still in 15-20' of water but are moving back to the points but keep in mind that you can do very well night fishing for Bass. Redears have begun to spawn in a lot of the same locations the bass were occupying. Your best bet to catch a nice size Redear is to use a mealworm on a small baitholder hook.

Read more: Lake Jennings Fish Report

Fish Reports - Lake Cuyamaca Fish Reports

The water temperature at Cuyamaca has risen to 65 degrees, and with that, largemouth bass are coming to the shallows to begin to spawn. The warmer water has also turned on the crappie, making for a nearly wide open bite. The smaller crappie at Cuyamaca are great for introducing kids to fishing. There was also a 12 pound trout caught, pictured here.

Cuyamaca is open daily, a boat launch and rental boats are offered. For more information, visit our Lake Cuyamaca page.

Fish Reports - Barrett Lake Fish Reports

The opening day at Barrett yielded 3,600 bass for the 100 anglers on Wednesday. The weekend group of 176 reported catching another 4,219 bass on Saturday and Sunday to bring the opening week tally to 7,819 bass. 358 bluegill and 114 crappie were also reported last week. Barrett opened this year about 12 feet lower than last year (12.45 feet below spill as of Monday), which saw the lake completely full at the opener.

The water temp is listed at 65 degrees, compared to 58 degrees last year around this time. Anglers were reporting that the water is a little dirtier than last year, and thus were getting away with fishing much heavier line and still producing as many bites.

Last year saw Barrett's opening week topped by the second week of the season, so we shouldn't be surprised if anglers catch even more bass this week.

If you were unable to secure tickets for May or June, there have been several for sale or trade on our Barrett Ticket Trader forum, as well as tube spot openings on others' tickets. To read the reports from our member's opening week experiences at Barrett, visit our Barrett Fishing Reports forum. Tickets for the month of July go on sale Tuesday, June 12th at 7:00 PM.

Fish Reports - San Diego Bay Fish Reports

Darien Hightower connected with me at the Safari International Fund Raiser. He had never fly fished in salt water and I had to take him on a trip. He brought his Uncle Jack Hightower along. The tides were good and the weather a little cool and the Spotted Bay Bass were biting. We worked the dark colored Clousers early for a number of good sized fish. Once the light increased we went to shrimp imitations and the fish continued to bite. Overall they landed 25+ fish and Darien landed one of the biggest of the year at 16".

Captain Bob Day is a licensed fishing guide offering fly fishing or light tackle trips on San Diego Bay through his service, En La Mosca Adventures. For more information on trips offered by Captain Day, visit his website or give him a call at 858.449.4071

Fish Reports - Sutherland Reservoir Fish Reports

The 95 anglers checked at Sutherland last week reported catching 240 bass, 7 bluegill, 3 redear sunfish and 224 crappie. Top catches were a 6.05 pound bass and a 2.8 pound crappie. The launching conditions are listed as good with the lake 39.38 feet below full pool. The surface temperature is listed at 70-72 degrees. Sutherland is open on a Saturday, Sunday and Friday schedule for fishing, with Friday open for shore fishing and float tubing only.

For more information on Ramona's jewel, visit our Sutherland Reservoir page.