Lower Otay Lake, San Diego - Back to Warm Weather

Fishing Time: 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Weather: AM: Foggy and cool PM: sunny, warm, T-70

Moon Phase: 70% Moon

Location:  Lower Otay Lake - San Diego

Water Temp:  Unknown

Best Bait:  Live shiner 3 ft under a slip bobber on a size 2 mosquito hook

Who Went:  Dunc

I’m back in San Diego after a great holiday break at home.  After two weeks off, it was hard to get back into the swing of working every day.  Yuck.  For my first day off I wanted to hit a new lake that I’ve heard a lot about from locals.  Of course, they talk about how good it is in April and May, but I won’t be around that long, so now is the time!  Lower Otay Lake is near Chula Vista, California, and it looks just like what you would expect from a big bass producing lake.  Shorelines lined with tullies, sunken brush, and trees underwater.  The unfortunate part is due to the tullie lined shorelines there is very limited access for a float tube.  I drove around the lake and there were so many spots that looked good, but access with a float tube was impossible. 

I found the best looking spot I could drag a float tube and dunked it in the water.  Armed with my usual bucket of shiners, I started making my way down the tullies trying to keep my shiner near the bottom in 10-15 ft of water.  This lake was tough because the bottom was so thick with decomposed tullies that my shiner kept getting snagged or covered in moss.  I soon realized this tactic was not going to work, so  I put away the shiners for a bit and went to a 3-inch clear ice fluke and threw that towards the tullies for a bit.  Unfortunately, that didn’t produce either. 

I was a bit frustrated at this point, so I rigged up a slip bobber and pinned a live shiner about 3-4 ft below, and threw it up near the tullies while I munched on a snack.  I didn’t finish my second bite before the bobber went down hard.  After a quick fight I landed the first largemouth of the day.  Bingo.  The bobber was producing.

I continued my slip bobber tactics up and down the tullies and landed a total of 5 bass and missed about 3 more.  They were all small, but it was fun and much better than getting skunked.  I would love to hit this lake again on my boat if I ever get the chance, because there are some great looking areas, and from my internet research, there are some good gravel bottoms and underwater ridges that unfortunately I couldn’t access on my tube.  Good news is, I have avoided a skunk at every lake I have fished in San Diego so far, so no complaints.  Bad news is, I can’t seem to find anything with any size and it’s driving me nuts because I know they are there!  Maybe my time will come…