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Henshaw's story
Historic lake has suffered through low times, but new concessionaires have high hopes
Story by Ed Zieralski, San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE Staff writer
October 18, 2003
LAKE HENSHAW – A solitary angler knelt at the edge of the Lake Henshaw fishing float and baited the second rod of his two-rod setup. Two shoreline anglers stood over their lines with high anticipation. Three fishermen. That was the total number of anglers on the entire lake just after sunrise on a beautiful fall Friday morning in the foothills hard by the Palomar Mountains.
"For too long a time around here, seven fishermen a day was a big day for this place," said Janice Mendenhall, who, along with her husband, Frank, now run the concession at historic Lake Henshaw. "We're going to change that."
Model T Fords once motored here loaded with sportsmen and families. They made the journey to take in the hunting and fishing that made Lake Henshaw famous in the 1920s, '30s and '40s. On Labor Day in 1947, a record 10,000 anglers crowded the lake. Most dotted the 25 miles of shoreline; others rented boats from the lake's fleet of 450 rentals.
Today there are 46 rental boats, 26 with motors. Things have changed.
The duck limit back then was 25, and 10-bass stringers included mostly 2-and 3-pound bass. Brand new Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet has nothing on what Henshaw once was.
It was Southern California's playground, peaking shortly after 1939 and a 50-inch seasonal rainfall filled it and circled legendary Monkey Island (now Monkey Hill). The lake once covered this broad valley, as former San Diego Union outdoor writer Rolla Williams wrote, "from hill to hill and reached five miles north from the boat landing."
As recently as 1972, weekend crowds still numbered 2,000 to 2,500 people.
But long periods of drought, fish kills and lack of good management led to the demise of this once great sportsman's paradise.
Somewhere along the line, Lake Henshaw lost its way from the mainstream as a hunting and fishing destination. The place that was stocked with rainbow trout as far back as 1926 and received crappie, bluegill and largemouth bass that year, too, became a paradise lost.
The San Francisco-based Henshaw Investment Co., had mismanaged it into the ground. And all the Vista Irrigation District, which owns the reservoir, could do was watch and wait patiently for Henshaw's lease to end.
Al and Gwen Socin attempted to bring it back in the late 1990s and certainly improved it thanks to hard work and a $750,000 grant from the Department of Boating and Waterways that helped pay for a launch ramp, parking lot and restroom.
But this lake has always needed a lot of energy to run, and the Socins decided in May to turn the concession over to the Mendenhalls. Frank is a fifth generation Californian whose family homesteaded in what now is Mendenhall Valley in the nearby Palomar Mountains. He and his wife, Janice, have the knowledge, sense of history and certainly the energy to improve the lake.
"We want to bring it back to where it was," Janice Mendenhall said. "I don't know what happened here, but I know all the elements that made it great are still here."
One of the first things the Mendenhalls did was add rainbow trout to a lake that hadn't had them in more than 30 years. Previous concessionaires felt trout weren't a good investment and that the water was too warm most of the year to support a trout fishery.
Both theories were disproved, however, because the stocked trout brought out more anglers and stirred interest, and just last week, an 8-pound rainbow trout, a holdover from that May plant, was caught.
"This lake isn't deep, but there's some deep enough areas where it was cold enough for that trout," Janice Mendenhall said. "This summer was humid, but it wasn't that hot. And we had the aerator going, too, so that helped. You won't see any massive fish kills here anymore."
Past managers always seemed to yearn for more water, but there never appeared to be enough to sustain the fishery. That has changed, too.
William G. Henshaw had the lake dug in 1922 to provide water for Escondido and Vista. The lake's natural water supply comes from Barker Valley to the northwest and the the West Fork of the San Luis Rey River, but it had to be enhanced with wells built by the Vista Irrigation District on the east end. The water from the wells offsets the loss to drawdowns to Lake Wohlford and evaporation.
The wells helped, but the state really hurt the lake when it ordered the Vista Irrigation District in 1978 to notch the dam to meet earthquake safety standards. The earthen fill dam, built on the Elsinore Fault, became an issue with inspectors from the state's Division of Safety of Dams.
As a result of the notching of the dam and the subsequent drawdown, Henshaw never again will cover the valley. At 759 acres, it's about 10 percent of its capacity, according to Frank Mendenhall.
And it seems that fishing never has recovered from that massive drawdown. Then manager Clyde Haag suspected that the rapid lowering of the water at Henshaw might affect future fish spawns, especially largemouth bass.
But despite the low water, there always have been some bass, a good number of crappie, bluegill and catfish, bullheads and carp. Lots and lots of carp. There's so many carp that archery clubs have been holding shoots at the lake, bow-fishing for what most Americans see as a "junk" fish.
"We finally found a use for the carp," Frank Mendenhall said.
The Mendenhalls are adapting in their new role as caretakers of what surely can once again be a sportsman's paradise. They're maintaining the waterfowl hunting program. It will start Nov. 18 (if the waterfowl show).
They're planning at least five more trout plants in the winter. They planted about 800 channel catfish this summer.
And they've been working well with the Vista Irrigation District on maintaining a consistent water level. The district waited until after the spring spawn to begin drafting water to Lake Wohlford. And now, with Lake Wohlford brimming and full downstream, the district has stopped drafting water. At 759 surface acres, the lake is about twice the size it usually is this time of year, but still one-tenth of what it could be.
It's not quite the 1940s, or even the 1970s around Henshaw these days, but the rustic resort never lost its charm, just its fishermen.
And listening to the Mendenhalls, they sound a lot like former concessionaire Jack Ford, who once said: "We like to call Henshaw the complete family resort, and I really believe it is."
Said Janice Mendenhall yesterday morning: "We're planning a kid's fishing derby here, and I'd like to put in an arcade. I want to have something here for all members of the family. We want this to be a family place and have something for everyone."
Mendenhall said that over breakfast at the Lake Henshaw Resort, which opened ceremoniously with dinner on Christmas night in 1945. So much history here, so many fish stories and hunting tales have been told. And if the Mendenhalls have their way, there will be a lot more.
Historic lake has suffered through low times, but new concessionaires have high hopes
Story by Ed Zieralski, San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE Staff writer
October 18, 2003
LAKE HENSHAW – A solitary angler knelt at the edge of the Lake Henshaw fishing float and baited the second rod of his two-rod setup. Two shoreline anglers stood over their lines with high anticipation. Three fishermen. That was the total number of anglers on the entire lake just after sunrise on a beautiful fall Friday morning in the foothills hard by the Palomar Mountains.
"For too long a time around here, seven fishermen a day was a big day for this place," said Janice Mendenhall, who, along with her husband, Frank, now run the concession at historic Lake Henshaw. "We're going to change that."
Model T Fords once motored here loaded with sportsmen and families. They made the journey to take in the hunting and fishing that made Lake Henshaw famous in the 1920s, '30s and '40s. On Labor Day in 1947, a record 10,000 anglers crowded the lake. Most dotted the 25 miles of shoreline; others rented boats from the lake's fleet of 450 rentals.
Today there are 46 rental boats, 26 with motors. Things have changed.
The duck limit back then was 25, and 10-bass stringers included mostly 2-and 3-pound bass. Brand new Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet has nothing on what Henshaw once was.
It was Southern California's playground, peaking shortly after 1939 and a 50-inch seasonal rainfall filled it and circled legendary Monkey Island (now Monkey Hill). The lake once covered this broad valley, as former San Diego Union outdoor writer Rolla Williams wrote, "from hill to hill and reached five miles north from the boat landing."
As recently as 1972, weekend crowds still numbered 2,000 to 2,500 people.
But long periods of drought, fish kills and lack of good management led to the demise of this once great sportsman's paradise.
Somewhere along the line, Lake Henshaw lost its way from the mainstream as a hunting and fishing destination. The place that was stocked with rainbow trout as far back as 1926 and received crappie, bluegill and largemouth bass that year, too, became a paradise lost.
The San Francisco-based Henshaw Investment Co., had mismanaged it into the ground. And all the Vista Irrigation District, which owns the reservoir, could do was watch and wait patiently for Henshaw's lease to end.
Al and Gwen Socin attempted to bring it back in the late 1990s and certainly improved it thanks to hard work and a $750,000 grant from the Department of Boating and Waterways that helped pay for a launch ramp, parking lot and restroom.
But this lake has always needed a lot of energy to run, and the Socins decided in May to turn the concession over to the Mendenhalls. Frank is a fifth generation Californian whose family homesteaded in what now is Mendenhall Valley in the nearby Palomar Mountains. He and his wife, Janice, have the knowledge, sense of history and certainly the energy to improve the lake.
"We want to bring it back to where it was," Janice Mendenhall said. "I don't know what happened here, but I know all the elements that made it great are still here."
One of the first things the Mendenhalls did was add rainbow trout to a lake that hadn't had them in more than 30 years. Previous concessionaires felt trout weren't a good investment and that the water was too warm most of the year to support a trout fishery.
Both theories were disproved, however, because the stocked trout brought out more anglers and stirred interest, and just last week, an 8-pound rainbow trout, a holdover from that May plant, was caught.
"This lake isn't deep, but there's some deep enough areas where it was cold enough for that trout," Janice Mendenhall said. "This summer was humid, but it wasn't that hot. And we had the aerator going, too, so that helped. You won't see any massive fish kills here anymore."
Past managers always seemed to yearn for more water, but there never appeared to be enough to sustain the fishery. That has changed, too.
William G. Henshaw had the lake dug in 1922 to provide water for Escondido and Vista. The lake's natural water supply comes from Barker Valley to the northwest and the the West Fork of the San Luis Rey River, but it had to be enhanced with wells built by the Vista Irrigation District on the east end. The water from the wells offsets the loss to drawdowns to Lake Wohlford and evaporation.
The wells helped, but the state really hurt the lake when it ordered the Vista Irrigation District in 1978 to notch the dam to meet earthquake safety standards. The earthen fill dam, built on the Elsinore Fault, became an issue with inspectors from the state's Division of Safety of Dams.
As a result of the notching of the dam and the subsequent drawdown, Henshaw never again will cover the valley. At 759 acres, it's about 10 percent of its capacity, according to Frank Mendenhall.
And it seems that fishing never has recovered from that massive drawdown. Then manager Clyde Haag suspected that the rapid lowering of the water at Henshaw might affect future fish spawns, especially largemouth bass.
But despite the low water, there always have been some bass, a good number of crappie, bluegill and catfish, bullheads and carp. Lots and lots of carp. There's so many carp that archery clubs have been holding shoots at the lake, bow-fishing for what most Americans see as a "junk" fish.
"We finally found a use for the carp," Frank Mendenhall said.
The Mendenhalls are adapting in their new role as caretakers of what surely can once again be a sportsman's paradise. They're maintaining the waterfowl hunting program. It will start Nov. 18 (if the waterfowl show).
They're planning at least five more trout plants in the winter. They planted about 800 channel catfish this summer.
And they've been working well with the Vista Irrigation District on maintaining a consistent water level. The district waited until after the spring spawn to begin drafting water to Lake Wohlford. And now, with Lake Wohlford brimming and full downstream, the district has stopped drafting water. At 759 surface acres, the lake is about twice the size it usually is this time of year, but still one-tenth of what it could be.
It's not quite the 1940s, or even the 1970s around Henshaw these days, but the rustic resort never lost its charm, just its fishermen.
And listening to the Mendenhalls, they sound a lot like former concessionaire Jack Ford, who once said: "We like to call Henshaw the complete family resort, and I really believe it is."
Said Janice Mendenhall yesterday morning: "We're planning a kid's fishing derby here, and I'd like to put in an arcade. I want to have something here for all members of the family. We want this to be a family place and have something for everyone."
Mendenhall said that over breakfast at the Lake Henshaw Resort, which opened ceremoniously with dinner on Christmas night in 1945. So much history here, so many fish stories and hunting tales have been told. And if the Mendenhalls have their way, there will be a lot more.
