Pacific coastal recommendations
 

I am planning an impromptu road-trip with the kayak from San Diego to Seattle starting next week. I'd like to do some fishing along the way and am looking for recommendations. I fish La Jolla nearly every weekend so I am no stranger to ocean fishing on the kayak. Some epic lake fishing or river fly-fishing float would also be considered.

Suggestions?

I would take the 395 north
 

Through the eastern Sierra and my first stop would be lake Crowley for some Sacramento perch, that taste just like crappie. Big trout there to. Plenty of places to stop with out reservations. After that Plenty of options lake Convict is beautiful so is twin lakes.fly fish on the back side of bridge Port reservoir ect. I would go all the way to Reno before cutting over to the coast and end up in Eureka and fish Humboldt Bay lots of ocean kayak fishing there. Good luck.

Thank you for sharing all of your fishing reports with us!

Post this same inquiry on kayak fishing forums in the areas you think you might want to fish. Also, try messaging kayak fishing anglers on FB, YouTube, and Instagram in whatever areas you are interested in fishing. They might not invite you to join them but will probably have some good suggestions on where to go and what to expect. Good luck.:reel:

I agree with going to Crowley and hitting up the Mammoth lakes. I was there this year a few months ago and did well in the float tube at Crowley and also at June and Grant lakes (June Loop). In Mammoth itself the lakes like Mamie, Mary, and George didn't produce but Twin Lakes did. You might as well get in on them before they close the gates in about 2-3 weeks. Twin Lakes in Bridgeport is also another place you might want to check out as well but that's taking you further east then you want to go I'm sure.


I never fish the coast, but I;m sure you can't go wrong hitting up Morro Bay and Santa Cruz and hitting the kelp that's a short distance away from the beach. I just don't know which areas might have MLPA's which you might want to check.

Also....
 

Shelter cove....you may not want to leave that spot for rock fish :reel:
Plus I would definitely map out all the free rest stops
Like the one just north of mammoth exit, in the middle of the hwy.

Thanks all for the input - still getting ready to head out. When you say map out the free rest stops - are these rest stops you can sleep at? I have a roof-top tent that I plan to deploy...

Yes
 

You can sleep in a rest stop 8hrs, especially the ones big enough for simi

check out Norcal kayak fishing website
 

check the Norcal kayak fishing website - There are lots of kayak fisherman on this website and lots of info. Have a great trip. Agree about shelter cove.

OOPS
 

It's Norcal Kayak anglers

check with the Fresh and Salty folks too. Also bring something to stay warm in the fridgid waters of the north. Different world up there when it comes to water temperatures. Look up BLM land and dispersed camping for free places to stay. I will look for a link I use this site when looking for camping spots https://www.campendium.com. Use the filters to look at Free Camping and look at the map along your route for spots to stay. If you are going to stick to the coast look at Leffingwell launch ramp in Cambria. Good rockfishing there you can get fish reports from the Central Coast Kayak Fishing group on FB, might be able to hook up with one of theose folks.

Trip
 

I had to reduce the trip this time due to some unplanned work but it allowed my son to join me and we spent the weekend at Lake Crowley. Fishing was slow (for everyone) due to a recent change to lure only (no bait) and fly-fishing from the yak isn't so easy with two of us on it...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/S12dyYKgQGm74QCU8

Thanks for sharing your trip John -- beautiful scenery!

What part of the lake did you fish?


I drove by Crowley yesterday mid afternoon and didn't even see one boat on the lake. Either the bite really was bad or they were in the arm but either way it looked dead!

They closed down the boat launch for the season 10/30.

Are you aware 🤔
 

The back side of the lake is BLM land free camping the ranger told me you go thru a housing track to get in about 4 or 5 miles south from the front gate and go around the dam. And also I noticed you can
drive in on dirt roads to the Owen's River delta, i like fishing there the best for perch.
But you need to check with the ranger first about a fishing permit and if lake is closed to public
The landing doesn't own rights to the hole lake
I boondock launched when I was there and I noticed vehicles at the delta.my issue is do you still have to get a fishing permit if your not staying in the camp ground or using their launch. All the other lakes are free

Also....
 

There an 8$ camp ground with bathrooms open 24hrs you check in your self
At the north end of the lake Crowley on the opposite side of the hwy you would never know it's there unless you take the frontage rd on that site of the hwy if you need a place to go and sleep because your only allowed to stay at Crowley a week.

I've never bought a permit when I drove in to fish all the spots North/NE of West shores with my float tube. They do have big concrete barriers when entering to stop people from pulling trailers in, can be a tight squeeze but other than that I launched at North landing with about 30 other vehicles and didn't have any sort of a problem.

Does that mean you don't need a permit
 

Or you have never been check. And would an f250 long bed fit thru the concrete barriers I could unhook my 6x10 trailer and pull it thru by hand with a trailer dolly

I can't say for sure because I've only fished there a handful of times but I don't think you need a fishing permit unless you're launching at their ramp and or parking within the gated area. None of the other lakes require a fishing permit like they do locally in S. Cal.

It might be a tight squeeze for you but I have seen 4dr short bed full size trucks and suburbans back there which leads me to believe they fit or there could be another larger entrance. I do it with my access cab 1st gen Tundra with 4x so the turning radius isn't as tight but I get through no problem.

Do you know if there's a name for that dirt road
 

And thanks for the reply
Tight lines amgio