Anyone ever fish Lake San Antonio?

Hey Anglers

I have a business trip to San Luis Obispo on 2/1 and was thinking of fishing Lake San Antonio or Lake Nacimiento on the way home. Any tips or suggestions?

Thanks! Scott

I haven't fished those lakes, but Lake Santa Margarita is great.  It's about 8-10 miles east of Hwy. 101 on the north (?) side of Cuesta Grade.  There is a right turn in the town of Santa Margarita that is easy to miss, though, so watch closely.  The trip to the lake is well worth it--check out the SLO County Parks website for a description.  I can't wait to go back there.

I don't fish much freshwater as big sharp teeth and salty wounds just add so much to the excitement for me, but San Antonio and Santa Margarita are usually pretty good, might be decent striper action now. I haven't head any recent reports from those two lakes since that last cold snap though so it might be a crap shoot. Lake Lopez is another option, it's the easiest to get to from SLO, but to be honest I've just never seen good fishing there, ever.

I did talk to a guy who was up in Nacimiento last week and he said the spotted bass were hiting pretty good, he claimed he had a full bag.

I'd suggest Santa Margarita or Lopez if you're looking for something close to SLO town. Both have trout I think. I know Santa Margarita does. If you're looking at stopping at either Naci or San Anton' I'd suggest Naci. The fishing at San Anton' usually sucks, especially compared to Naci. They don't plant either Naci or San Anton.

There is also the Naci River, below Naci dam. They're planting trout right now but you gotta pay an extra fee to get onto the Camp Roberts base, where they do most of the planting.
There's also the Arroyo Seco for steelhead or the Salinas River below the Arroyo Seco confluence.

But really, if you get to go fishing during a business trip...well, it doesn't really matter where you go because you've already won the battle.

Good luck,
PK