Dixon Lake

[Scotty]

I am going to take my two daughters(9 and 6) tent camping and fishing to Dixon Lake in April for a few days. This will be the first time that they have been camping and they have been fishing just a few times. I think Dixon Lake is a good starting point for initiating them into these activities since it is close, cheap, and easy to back out of if things do not go well. Does anyone have any insight or suggestions on Dixon Lake or another San Diego area campground with the same or similar features?
TIA
Scotty



(Edited by Scotty at 1:57 pm on Mar. 21, 2002)

 

[Scotty]

Decided on Lake Dixon.

For trout I was planning to use nightcrawlers and rainbow powerbait on #16 hooks and 4lb test line.

For bass I was planning on using shinners till I'm out and then jigs on 6lb test line.

If this approach does not work I am planning on targeting catfish with mackerel. I am not sure what size gear to take for the catfish.

I will be camping/fishing Monday to Wednesday next week.

Any suggestions?

TIA
Scotty

 

[QALHNTR]

<font face="Tahoma">For the kids, Dixon is best.  The camp sites are nice and if you get to the top, you've got GREAT views of the town at night.  We fish a tourney there every year ( April 6th this year ).  For cats, I usually use my lightweight trout rig or a small bass rod.  Most of the cats are 3 - 8 pounders.  It's been hit & miss for us on the cats - mackeral by the bouy line has been our best area.  One warning - we see rattlers on the hills a lot more often then not.  I keep the kids in tow for any hiking.  Leave a few trout for me!
If you have a quail call, bring it on the lake with you.  The kids have a ball calling the birds after an hour of fishing.  In the small cove by the bouy line, we always get answers.</font>

 

[Scotty]

Qalhntr, thanks for the reply. We camped up top at site 43. That site overlooked the lake and a little circle in the road giving the kids a safe place to ride scooters and bikes.

We fished on Monday morning for trout mostly in Trout Cove. Slow fishing. We got shut out using powerbait and nightcrawllers. I only saw a few fish caught that morning. They were caught in a boat between the mid-lake piers. Tuesday I went looking for bass also without much luck. I was fishing the shorelines and rocks from a boat. Fished with plastics mostly. The water is so clear I could see several bass just watch my baits with no interest. The fish would not spook just watched the bait float by. It would have been nice to toss in a few shinners to see if that would be the trick but I didn’t have time to stop by the bait store. Switched to trout in the afternoon and landed two trolling gold kastmasters down the middle of the lake. Wednesday we fished from the shore again with little success. Landed a trout on powerbait but that was about it. I found the fishing to be a little difficult maybe it was just the days we were there. We had a great time anyway. My 6 year old learned to cast a spinning rod so she loved it.

Lake Dixon is a nice, easy, close to San Diego place to take the family camping if fishing is to be the focus activity.

 

[QALHNTR]

<font face="Tahoma">Glad you had fun.  I missed our tournament but heard it was a little slow.  I'm not an expert on bass, but several of the regulars used to sight fish for the bass.  They'd find that nest and harrass the fish with multiple casts until it got so pissed off it'd bite.  They always got some nice fish.  </font>

 

[mjohns2]

Where is Dixon Lake?

 

[Scotty]

Follow the link below for information on Lake Dixon.

http://www.ci.escondido.ca.us/visitors/lakes/dixon/

Scotty