Orange County Fishing

[MurdaJ]

Im an avid fisherman, where ever there is water, Ill fish. Ive caught some nice fish in places people have literally laughed at me for even trying.

I mainly call Newport Harbor my home, for fishing anyways (Im not that rich yet), so a majority of my posts will probably be from outings there. I also do spend a lot of time fishing freshwater, but not at the usual fisheries. I am an urban lake specialist, from trout and catfish stocked park lakes to hidden spillways and ponds holding big carp and bass.
Newport Harbor, bait barge sand bass on da fly, fishing on an SUP

Carp on da fly, secret drainage ditch


Some of my fishing even includes gorilla-style urban fishing, involving long hikes through brush and maybe even hopping a few fences

Id like this thread to be a collection of reports and fishing stories in the OC area, theres a ton of water out here so I know theres gotta be some other fish heads around.

PS.. I have a few secret hotspots and tactics I just might divulge..

[MurdaJ]

For trout stocking info, check out this link: Fish Planting Schedules - California Department of Fish and Game

Orange County is in Region #5

[funplace123]

Orange County has boring fishing holes. A bunch of stock man made lakes. At least in Big Bear, you feel like the outdoors.

[havasu]

Originally Posted by funplace123

Orange County has boring fishing holes. A bunch of stock man made lakes. At least in Big Bear, you feel like the outdoors.

And if you get hungry, you put your pole down, walk across the street, and have Mc Donalds, El Pollo Loco, or one of 100 restaurants within walking distance.

[MurdaJ]

Originally Posted by funplace123

Orange County has boring fishing holes. A bunch of stock man made lakes. At least in Big Bear, you feel like the outdoors.

Im happy we have a bunch of man made lakes. Can't always make the 3 hour round trip to big bear lake for the same stocked trout.

[MurdaJ]

Originally Posted by havasu

And if you get hungry, you put your pole down, walk across the street, and have Mc Donalds, El Pollo Loco, or one of 100 restaurants within walking distance.

and dont forget del taco! Its within site of eisenhower park.

And it looks like they stocked that lake, as well as a few others this week so Ill give it a shot after work.

The DFG is quiet about exact times, but usually they stock on Wednesday from what ive heard.

[havasu]

Just don't go the day they stock. The fish will taste like mud. They need a few days to become tasty after being caged up with a few thousand of their friends.

[MurdaJ]

Originally Posted by havasu

Just don't go the day they stock. The fish will taste like mud. They need a few days to become tasty after being caged up with a few thousand of their friends.

Im fishing with artificials so ill probably release anything I catch today.

That is interesting though, as Ive heard of certain lakes producing mud-tasting trout, but never experienced it myself. It is very possible they caught their trout on a stocking day

[havasu]

A buddy of mine use to work as the Ranger in the San Gabriel Mountains. We picked up the official release times and locations, and caught our limit in about 5 minutes. We cooked them up that night and after one bite, they went into the trash. What a waste!

[MurdaJ]

Originally Posted by havasu

A buddy of mine use to work as the Ranger in the San Gabriel Mountains. We picked up the official release times and locations, and caught our limit in about 5 minutes. We cooked them up that night and after one bite, they went into the trash. What a waste!

Eisenhower report:

Fished after work last night with 3 friends from about 4:30 to 5:45. Between all of us using artificials, we managed one tiny bass. We did see a couple other guys catch 3 stockers though.

I hit again this morning from 8 until a quarter after 9. I soaked some chart powerbait while drop shotting a power worm and ended up with 1 trout. There were about half a dozen other fisherman/fisherwoman, and I saw 2 other trout besides mine come in before calling it quits to head to work.