This report will be in two parts, first part is the information I have gathered doing my own research and second part will be my report of fishing the lake.
I have never fished or been to Lake Cuyamaca, but it has been on my radar for a long time. It’s a smaller sized mountain lake at about 100 acres. It is located in eastern San Diego County. For me, it has two reasons that I want to fish here, one it is a mountain lake, and I appreciate getting out of the city and just listening to birds and the wind, its is very rejuvenating. Second, in addition to the common fish species in a freshwater lake like bass, catfish, and trout, it has lake sturgeon. Lake Cuyamaca is the only southern California lake that has them. From what I researched, sturgeon caught in this lake is few and far in between, but why not try?
Information on this lake has been retrieved from the lake Cuyamaca website, lakecuyamaca.net, itself and Wikipedia, wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake Cuyamaca. The dam was bult in 1888 to provide water to San Diego. Below are some pictures from the website-
Lake Cuyamaca is open every day from 7am till 6pm and on weekends from 6am till 6pm. They have a full-service tackle shop. The day use fee is ten dollars a day, but it is waived if you are fishing or camping. The lake has several campsites and some even right at the shoreline. It also has cabins to rent and again some even at the shoreline. If fishing, you must check in at tackle shop to show California fishing license and buy their fishing permit which is ten dollars. You can buy California fishing licenses at the tackle shop, too. The big item I see is no night fishing which might be a no-go for some people. You can launch your own boat, kayak, or float tube for a nominal fee or rent one of their boats for a reasonable price. The park itself has hiking and birdwatching. It has playgrounds and people can just picnic there. Also, a restaurant that has all the common varieties. Gift shop, too.
Stayed tuned, for part 2 the review, for my first ever trip to this wonderful lake.
Shoreline
Lake Cuyamaca map
Lake Rules
Lake Fishing permit
Lake’s fishing regulations
Dam Construction
Dam Construction
