I enjoy coming to this place, but never catch any fish and it's pricey. Very chill and relaxing. If you really want a fish you can pay an extra $8 to get one out of the kiddie pond to cook up. I recently tried out the overnight camping ($61 is alot of money, plus 10$ a bundle of wood). I again didn't catch anything, but was fighting fish and getting a ton of bites at around 4am. My buddy right next to me did well tho. He caught 2 smaller trout by 6am. By 8am, he had hooked a gorgeous 24in 5+lb Rainbow Trout, which I ran in the water to net quick. Not much luck after that, but it shows there are some trophy fish in there, just gotta get lucky. If I bring my son's down to fish, I'll look elsewhere since its difficult here. But it's not a bad place to camp and fish for a night, since they bite between 4am and 8am.

As a kid I fished there when it was just a basin and it was good, even the riverbed was good. It turned into a pay lake and at first, many times I got skunked. After a while I started watching the regulars and asking them about their gear. They were happy to share. After learning the good spots and correct gear I hit my limits almost everytime. After a couple years I quit fishing for about 6 years. Well I started again, got new gear and the first night only got one and a few bites. I went the next day and hit 2-4lb and a 2lb trout at dusk. I went the following Saturday and at dusk hit my first lightning trout and then my limit. There are plenty of fish there, but you need to learn the lake a bit. Ask the staff what the fish are hitting on, how long a leader, weight, hook size. You'll catch fish. Same goes for catfishing there, get out far, you don't need a boat, the right leader, weight, hook etc you'll get em. Sometimes it's the fishing technique, not the fish. Same goes for ocean. Good Luck.

Good place for family fishing, you can stay for one night on weekends, no need license for fishing, but you need to get early on weekends if you want good spots. There is a store for food and drinks also you can’t rent a boat.

This review is for Huckleberry pond, a small, fenced area with a concrete pond for the kids to fish. What's great: the kids WILL catch a fish - either a lightning trout or a rainbow trout because the pond is so heavily stocked. Also, the staff are very helpful in terms of readying the fishing poles, taking out the swallowed hooks from the fish, and for a tip, filleting the fish you've caught. What's not so great: it's all concrete and there is no shade. Overall, a wonderful first experience for kids fishing because they actually catch fish.

Worst facility! Should have read the review prior to this. The lake is filled with algae and trash. They charge per person even though you won’t fish. It’s 35 per adult. Steep price for a poorly run place. No fish caught at all. We saw the rest of the people leaving. Don’t go here it’s a waste of your money!!!

Always a great exsperiance with the Family. Since this place reopened, we have not caught any fish. We rented a boat and we had to switch boats because it did not work, same thing happened to the second boat.my 24 and 12 year old were stranded in the middle of the lake. No one came to help. I had to watch helplessly my boys struggle to get back to the dock. We called and no one came to help. Looks to be a whole new crew. They trimmed all the tree so there is no longer any descent shade. The cat fish area is over grown and full of trash. We used to be able to walk through there and sit on this cute bench. It is now 35 dollars per person. Although we still enjoyed ourselves just being outdoors together might not go back.

Won’t catch anything in the center of the lake so no point in renting a pontoon ($95) over priced and $35 per person. The fish hang out at the dock but they don’t let you fish close to the dock. Dirty murky water looks more like a swamp. Dead fishes floating around. DO NOT BUY THEIR BAIT. you’ll never get a bit with their year old bait. Buy your own at a market mix with some garlic. I mean what else is there to do other than it’s not all that good unfortunately. I hope one day they reinvest some of the money they make off of their customers to spruce this place up and make it an ideal place to fish.

I've been here several times and definitely won't go back. Please save your money and go to a real lake. I consider myself to be a great fishermen and always catch fish. This place is a dump. There's very few people that go here who actually catch fish. What am I paying $32 for? Do you know how dishonest that is. They should charge you only if you catch fish.

Been coming here since I was 14, I'm 57 now and bring my boys since they were 6 and 3, love it, just hanging out with family and friends passing the time and maybe just catching some fish

I been there 3 Times and i caught one Trout, last time I was there I had a big bite but my line snapped. It's a tuff lake to fish, even after stocking. I have seen some anglers catch their share. Not sure if I want to spend 31 dollars again and catch nothing.

There should be a limit on how many people can be here. People come and have no respect, cast over your lines, smoke weed, and leave trash. Definitely ruins the experience. I've been coming here for a couple of years. And I probably picked up 50 pounds of trash by now.

This place is awesome we were a group of seven. My buddy caught one fish, we sat by the bon fire, listened to some tunes, fished, drank, and eat some good food and enjoyed the view.. GOOD TIMES, I will definitely return to this place. Thanks again Santa Ana river fir the good time

At first a little disappointing i brought my wife so she could look after the kids. She wasn’t going to fish but I had to pay for both of us even tho she didn’t have a rod in the water. Plenty of parking and plenty of spots to choose from. I was here for about 6 hrs and no luck. I thought it was me but I spoke to several people there and same no catch. For me it was a waste of $70 by the way the entrence fee per adult is $35 a little over priced for me.

This place is pretty bad never caught fish for the past few days I came here and never even seen a fish in this lake. the ground is very dirty and has tons of leaves and a tons of weeds

Love this lake!! Sometimes you gotta move around to catch catfish. Plenty of big fish. Price is worth it when you don't skunk. Trout season is also great, they stock lighting.

Camped overnight … for 109$ me and the fam … gotta know the spots and the times but Great Lake … camp fire … caught bass on nightcrawler !

They let way to many people in with no space. They don't enforce their rules. Supposed to be 2 rods per person. I counted 1 guy with 8 rods and taking up all that space. Left without fishing at all with 0 refund. To crowded. I don't ever want to go back.

they sell more tickets then spots available and offer no refunds. unless you come an hour before opening time you’ll just get scammed

Camped over night was not busy at all. Definitely need to get some garlic night crawlers... people all around us where getting hits . After that went to the kiddy pool got 3 big catfish @$9/lbs they where very good and gave a good fight for the kid. Add a $2 tip per fish and staff will gut and clean the fish also. Did I mention they still have the RC track up and running pretty awesome... so many memories I have forgotten about ... this place never gets old...

The lake is a convenient for short camping trip, but some of the staff are not very friendly & helpful. A guy working at the store seems a little irritated that I disrupted his smoke break because I wanted to spend $30 for two bundle of firewood. The fishing was slow & the place isn’t very clean. If you’re planning to take your little ones for a fishing experience use the kid pond.

It is beautiful here. Redwoods. Tranquility. Parks with swan peddle boats. A gem. A surprise.

The daughter and I love this place. Sure wish they would plant trees to hide the freeway as that's our only complaint. Aside from that you can camp and have a fire while fishing lake side. Yes monster trout get stocked.

Good place to hang with the fellas and have a few laughs. My compa Betto cought a 2 inch fish and was super excited.

Came for the rc track. It's a fun track, well maintained. Everyone is friendly but wish I would have brought a 4wd car. 2wd buggy did horrible. Slick, dirt/clay mix was hard to keep straight. Definitely bringing the short course next time.