Fishing San Vicente Reservoir In Southern CA

AKA: San Vicente Lake

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San Vicente Reservoir Fishing Video
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San Vicente Reservoir, CA

Popular Fish Species San Vicente Reservoir, CA

San Vicente Reservoir Popular Fish - Largemouth Bass

Largemouth Bass Fishing

San Vicente Reservoir is known as a big bass lake. Fishing for bass can be quite rewarding, with an occasional bass over 4 pounds being caught. Bass often move shallow and become aggressive when they are in a feeding mood. Use shallow crankbaits around rip rap. Around grass, use worms, jigs, topwater and spinnerbaits. In deeper water, drop shot rigs, big worms, jigs and spoons are good options. In winter, spend your time fishing deeper structure where the bass spend much of their time.

San Vicente Reservoir Popular Fish - Black Crappie

Black Crappie Fishing

A nice population of black crappie resides in San Vicente Reservoir. Crappie tend to run in schools, and once a school is located, there is a good chance for catching significant numbers. Crappie fishing is easy and requires simple, basic gear. Virtually any fishing pole, reasonably small line and crappie jigs or small hooks baited with live bait, creates the ideal setup. Add a bobber and you can set the depth you prefer the bait to maintain. The best time to catch crappie tends to be at dawn and dusk. Live bait and small jigs are the most common method for crappie here. Because crappie prefer cover and structure, locate brush and vegetation in appropriate water depths. Using a fish finder can help locate schools of crappie, which tend to stack vertically around cover. In spring and fall focus on the 8 to 12 foot range. As the crappie move deep in summer and winter, follow points out deep, as well as find ledges near channels in deeper water.

San Vicente Reservoir Popular Fish - Channel Catfish

Channel Catfish Fishing

To fish for catfish on San Vicente Reservoir, most any rod and reel will work, as long as the line is strong enough. Blue catfish also reside in the lake and fishing for them is often good as well. For serious catfish enthusiasts, using the right equipment improves success. A medium action, to medium-heavy action rod is ideal, in the 6' to 7' range. Use a slip sinker or Carolina rig with popular catfish baits on at least 10-pound line. Use sharp hooks with bait holders on the shank, or circle hooks for live bait. San Vicente Reservoir has a decent population of channel catfish, and they are eager to bite. The typical fish are about 2 pounds, with larger ones caught frequently. Night fishing for catfish often delivers better results than daytime fishing. Fishing for channel catfish is often most productive around any kind of structure in the area. In Spring channel catfish migrate toward incoming water, so stay up river away from the main lake. In early summer look for rocky banks, the bigger the rocks the better. In summer and winter deeper structure is where to look. The river end of the lake is often the area where the bigger catfish are caught. Road beds, creek channels and rocky points are all good places to begin.

San Vicente Reservoir Fishing Video

Fish species to fish for...

Guide to fishing for largemouth bass, channel catfish, blue catfish, black crappie, white crappie, rainbow trout, bluegill and redear sunfish at San Vicente Reservoir in California.

Big, Florida strain largemouth bass, and lots of them, swim in the waters of San Vicente Reservoir, a 1,700 acre lake, located in the southwest corner of the state in San Diego County. In addition to great bass fishing, there is good fishing for crappie, catfish, stocked rainbow trout and sunfish.

This lake is ideally fished from a boat. Although there are 15 miles of shoreline, fishing from the bank is pretty limited. Boating access for everything from kayaks and canoes, to power boats and pontoons, is via Lake San Vicente Boat Launch Facility on the southwest corner of the lake.

Primary fish species residing in San Vicente Reservoir

Click images for fishing tips and details about each species.

San Vicente Reservoir Amenities

Marina: YES
Boat Rental: YES
Boat Launch Ramp: YES
Campgrounds: NEARBY
RV Hookups: NEARBY
Lodging: NEARBY
Convenience Store: NEARBY
Bait & Tackle: NEARBY
Restaurant: NEARBY

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Public Boat Launch Ramps & Landings

San Vicente Boat Launching Facility
Located in the southwest corner of the lake, just west of the San Vincent Dam, this is a six-lane, concrete ramp with a dock and paved parking.