Retirement - Best Lake in NorCal

Money aside, if you were looking at retirement what lake would you recommend with following list of parameters:

1. Fish year round
2. Waterfront house, with dock or beach or at least close enough that you wheel your kayak down to water
3. Multiple species of fish
4. Not to hot in summer
5. Doesn't ice over in winter
6. Within 60-90 minutes of bigger town with shopping and medical
7. North of Fresno and possibly into southern Oregon.

And if you are living this dream, would like to know if it is enough to keep you busy, my wife doesn't believe I could fish same lake all the time and not get bored
 

Lake Almanor has all of that  .  I don't know what the prices are for lakefront property these days, but it's certainly not anything astronomical.  For shopping and medical, Chico is only an hour+20 minutes away.  If you can handle snowy winters (it usually snows up here, unlike this winter), I'd check it out.  I know a lot of retirees up here who fish the lake all the time.

Clear Lake has all of your requirements except it does get hot. Berryessa, Sonoma, & the coast are all close enough to keep you busy year round as alternative fishing spots.

In reality you can't have it all. If there was such a place two things would happen. You couldn't afford it. And no one would ever move or sell. Take what you can get, for most of the year. And travel the balance of the time. I'd rent in the area for a year to make sure you don't make a mistake. Another thing about having water front property. Your house should be at least 200 ft from the water. Because your back yard becomes everyone's play ground. First hand information on that. The boat noise can be bad. If you can handle the people and noise go for it. We have a place about a mile from the water and very glad we did that. One of our neighbors here, has a place on a 5mph no wake area. And people party right off the property with loud rap music the scenery can at times be interesting though. The nudity and sometimes more. They do not enjoy their place at all during big weekends. My brother one time wasn't dressed, opened his curtains and a guy was right off his dock watching him naked.
I just thought you might think all is cool but after 5 years we sold that piece of property.

I love this question!  Growing up (that's a stretch),  I have always thought Almanor would be a great place to live. There is the lake just about year around but also Yellow Creek, nearby wilderness and lots of other water around.  I'm really interested in what others have to say. I wouldn't want to live right on the water; rent a house on the water in the summer before you buy.

Mark

I have a buddy who used to have a house on one of the points at Lake Tulloch and every weekend at 7am the guys who had unmuffled chevy motors in their boats would be there firing them up. Worse in the summer. Incredibly loud. he had thought he had the perfect place and he couldn't wait to move.
Tom

SeaWeed and Skippy are giving some sage advice with regards to the summer activity on the lake.  July and August, you'll hear the drone of Ski-Doos from 9am to dark no matter where you live on the lake.  Some years the 4th of July weekend can be a real shit-show.

But besides those two months, the rest of the year is pretty darn quiet up here.  And like Skippy mentioned, there are a lot of waters beyond Almanor where you'll find plenty of peace and quiet during the summer months: Butt Lake, Yellow Creek, Caribou Wilderness (which has the nickname of "Walking Lakes Wilderness"), Walker and Round Valley lakes for largemouth/catfish/panfish, and myriad other little lakes/streams with trout.

I have often thought about this myself except for the California part.  If I could retire anywhere in the US with the other criteria it would probably be Kentucky Lake/Lake Barkley (same body of water essentially) or Lake Guntersville down in Alabama.  The "too hot" part would be the only iffy as just about everywhere gets up to the 100 degree mark in the summers these days.

Clear lake would get my vote

Money aside?  Lake Tahoe.  I'd prefer the Nevada side, but sounds like you are talking about staying CA?

OK I'll throw in my 2 cents.  Location is everything.  I have a place on the water in the Delta.  Yes, busy weekends I stay off the water or ride my Sea Doos.  Why limit yourself to one Lake?  I can fish the Motherlode Lakes, the Ocean, CL, and of course explore the many areas of the Delta.  It doesn't snow, I'm 30 min. from Sac. Stockton or Lodi.  My plan was originally to move to Lake Havasu City and keep my place on the  Delta.  It would have been a disaster.  Once again location is everything.  Having a place right on the water is great, but  having a lot of other options available is a great plus.

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Clear Lake smells very foul during the summer!
Check out lake Selmac in S. Oregon. Bass and trout, cheap property and plenty of rivers nearby. Not much lakeside but worth looking at.
Lake Shasta is another worth looking at. If I could find a place on Goodwin Res. I would jump on it!! But the more I think about it the better Almanor sounds The whole vibe from that area just feels right, at least for me.

This topic is very timely as my wife and I were day dreaming about a cabin on a lake or pretty creek/river. 

We are more interested in smaller lakes where motors aren't allowed or limited to 5mph for the whole lake.  The two lakes that we had really magical times at with the kids were Wrights Lake and Medicine Lake.  Haven't even checked for listings as we're pretty sure we can't afford it.  But man, it was nice day dreaming about watching our girls grow like wild flowers while playing their summers away on lakes like that. 

How about a piece of property and I can just park my travel trailer on it?  Any suggestions on where I can do that?

This topic is very timely as my wife and I were day dreaming about a cabin on a lake or pretty creek/river. 

We are more interested in smaller lakes where motors aren't allowed or limited to 5mph for the whole lake.  The two lakes that we had really magical times at with the kids were Wrights Lake and Medicine Lake.  Haven't even checked for listings as we're pretty sure we can't afford it.  But man, it was nice day dreaming about watching our girls grow like wild flowers while playing their summers away on lakes like that. 

How about a piece of property and I can just park my travel trailer on it?  Any suggestions on where I can do that?

Blue lakes is where you want to be.

How about a piece of property and I can just park my travel trailer on it?  Any suggestions on where I can do that?

Sierra foothills 2,000 to 4,000 ft elevation. Roughly from Modesto's latitude, going north. North facing slopes tend to be greener. Several locations like east of Stockton near wine country and where you can be equidistant from multiple lakes or even find a piece of property on a small river