Lake Vail 5/9
 

Been hearing good things about lake Vail out east Temecula. I could have picked a better day than right after a storm, but Saturday was my day available to fish so I made the drive up from SD. First off, its a beautiful place out in the hills with no development around. Second, its kinda of pricey imo. 20 to park, 10 to fish, and 20 to launch a kayak.

Fishing was pretty slow for me. Managed 6 bass on weightless jerk baits and drop shotted robo worms. Shad were thick in many places but the bass weren't on them. Birds were getting busy though. Early in the morn I saw a slay-fest right on the bank. Grebes and comorants had a huge shad school pinned against the bank and a mixed flock of herons and egrets were on the bank killing the shad from that side. Those shad were Between the Frying pan and the fire for sure.

There was a thin layer of algae right on the surface that made the lake look green but under it the water was clear, 6' feet of vis at least. The lakes not huge but there were only 3 boats, 3 yaks, and a float tuber on the water.

I got tired of trying to get the bass to bite so I pulled up next to a steep bank and soaked some mackerel chunks. Didn't take long for the whiskers to find me. Ended up with 2 channel cats at 6 and 8 lbs. I haven't caught cat fish in a looong time. What a blast, they fought amazingly hard. Even on my heavy flipping out fit they were ripping drag and towing the yak. The bass went back in the lake but the cats came home with me.

I'll head out there again, but on a better day. Mike

Very cool. I've been wanting to fish that lake. I have a friend that likes to fish it.

Theres an awesome campground there too. Kinda weird but the lake is past the turnoff for the campground (seperate entrances off hwy 79 south). Mountain biking trails all around the west end. A yearly pass to use the lake was 5,000 bucks last i checked. 5,000! Probably why u dint ever see it crowded. Theres always talk of developing those hills, but for now, like you said, undeveloped and clear to the eye...rare.
Fyi

Did they change the rule at Vail? Last time I fished the lake it was a catch and release only lake.

Do you have a link to that $5,000 membership fee? There is a regular at sdfish who fishes it every week and he said he only pays about 2000-2500/yr. but he has been a member for a long time so maybe he has a grandfather clause?

The water district bought the lake last year and it is no longer a catch and release lake.

It is 150 to launch a boat.

50 to launch a kayak but you can share the parking fee.

You can keep fish from the lake now. The ranger said they have crappie up to 2 lbs in Vail and that most of the cats are in that 5-10 lb range. With out a fish finder it can be tough to locate crappie unless theyre in stick ups or trees. I didn'ttry for then at all. Id say the price is similar to fishing Barrett or hitting a 1/2 day boat. I like fishing new places even if I end up feeling lost in the area. There were coves just bubbling with shad. Fished those areas hard with many different lures but the bass weren't after the shad that day. Mike