Lake Jennings

When Ranger Hugh Marx left Lake Cuyamaca to take over operations at Lake Jennings it instantly gave the small clearwater reservoir in Lakeside credibility among the top fishermen in the county. Hugh is arguably the most respected person working with a lake here in town. Hes taken a relatively featureless trout lake and turned it into a viable fishery for all species. Hes dug trenches, installed fish habitats, created hard bottom structure in an otherwise soft bottomed lake AND noted the GPS coordinates of every one of those improvements and made them available to anglers on Lake Jennings' website. No other lake, with exception to Cuyamaca (which Hugh was responsible for while he was there) has such a resource available.

The bass fishing is limited, but can be very, very good. Some of my best fishing days in 2010 were at Jennings. There is almost always a good drop shot bite if you find the feeding fish, and when the water dirties up, as it does sometimes there, you can experience a fantastic reaction bait bite. The bass are relatively left at peace, so when they're biting you can have the bite to yourself for the most part.

The catfishing at Jennings is very good. The only reason I didn't give it 5 out of 5 stars is because it hasn't kicked out a truly giant fish yet. But with the trout plants and a growing population of blue catfish, that will surely change. Rick Guseman, one of, if not the best catfish fishermen in San Diego frequents Lake Jennings. That should tell you all you need to know about the quality of catfish fishing at Jennings.

The trout fishing is even better. Hugh stocks the lake frequently and steadily in the winter with Mt. Lassen Sierra Bows. I was very tempted to give it 5 stars, but backed off a bit just for the fact that some traditional trout fishing styles are not ideal at Jennings, namely fly fishing. While I'm sure it can be done effectively, you're not going to forget you're fishing in San Diego and mistaken it for Montana. Realistically though, only Cuyamaca can even come close to making that comparison. So, for the traditional San Diego style of trout fishing, Jennings might be the best thing going right now. Hugh and his staff make it even better by keeping such an accurate gauge on the fishery, so you'll get all the intel you need while you're buying your daily fishing permit.

The concessions are great, along with Santee Lakes are probably the best in the county. They're a reminder of what the city lakes used to be, hopefully all the lakes will get back to that at some point.

The lake is located very conveniently within a mile or so of Interstate 8. There is an accessible paved road going nearly all the way around the lake to get you right to almost any spot along the shoreline.

The launch ramp is great, but doesn't have a lot of parking. A few boats on the lake will fill up the lower parking area, and then its a steep walk up and down to the upper lot. The water level is very stable, so the launch ramp is always available. Its very easy to launch at Jennings, with a steady decline, a nice courtesy dock and a straight shot down the evenly paved ramp.

The rental fleet is top notch, made up of very well maintained Carolina Skiffs and Yamaha Four Stroke outboards. The only thing that would make this rental fleet any better is the addition of electric trolling motors.

Jennings is open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Being open only 3 out of 7 days knocks them down a bit in that department, but that leaves Hugh and his staff a few days per week to improve the lake. And they're not wasting any of that time at Jennings.

This is the most improved fishery in the county, and its only getting better.