San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Heading out to lake cuyamaca for a few days. Anybody got any tips for that lake.

I’d like to know also, been thinking about it soon

ONly know it is good trout fishing in the winter months.

They stocked trout every couple of weeks. They had a bad crappie stunted growth at one time. They also have a catch and release for white sturgeon.

foulhook wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2026 10:23 am They stocked trout every couple of weeks. They had a bad crappie stunted growth at one time. They also have a catch and release for white sturgeon.

Have you heard of a Sturgeon being caught, I’ve been curious how big they may have gotten by now?
My buddy with the boat wants to try for bass.

So many better Bass Lakes. Cuyamaca had its time in some high water years and produced a lot of bass for a lot fewer Anglers than today. I would think you can catch more Bass easier at Otay, EL Cap, Murray, even Jennings. While further away, Big Bear has both Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, if you desire that Mountain scenery. I’m afraid Cuyamaca will disappoint.

vito1023 wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2026 7:34 am

foulhook wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2026 10:23 am They stocked trout every couple of weeks. They had a bad crappie stunted growth at one time. They also have a catch and release for white sturgeon.

Have you heard of a Sturgeon being caught, I’ve been curious how big they may have gotten by now?
My buddy with the boat wants to try for bass.

Last one I heard about was 2024, it's about 6 ft, you can see pic on official_lake_cuyamaca on instagram. Pretty big size

Good luck. Another lake that has just withered away. I stopped and fished on my way home from a work trip last fall. The lake is a mud hole. Low visibility. Cover is mostly dry. I snagged a brand new osp Chatterbait on one of the rentals and one of the lake workers unlocked the dock fence and got it off for me. I asked how fishing had been. I believe he said he “thinks” a couple bass were caught last season…

The lake is in bad shape, low water levels, lots of overgrowth in the water.
Not sure if the boat launch is open.
Another sad example of how far SD city/county lakes have fallen into despair.

If you're looking to camp at a lake in the SD mountains, I would go to Morena. There's a campground there with a little town and bass fishing is decent.

vito1023 wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2026 7:34 am

foulhook wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2026 10:23 am They stocked trout every couple of weeks. They had a bad crappie stunted growth at one time. They also have a catch and release for white sturgeon.

Have you heard of a Sturgeon being caught, I’ve been curious how big they may have gotten by now?
My buddy with the boat wants to try for bass.

Spent a few hours at night electroshocking the lake in April. The sturgeon I saw was at least 8-9' long and really didn't like the electricity.

We also shocked 18 bass for the whole lake and they were all 5-13 lbs. A nice example of density dependency and what is possible when the population isn't very large for the size of the lake.

I grew up fishing there. It has some years with good trout fishing, and some years can be dismal. It really isnt a good bass fishery. Lots of carp these days. I still want to catch and release one of the sturgeon there.