Lake Hodges
Del Dios / Escondido · near Escondido · San Diego
Fishing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Best season
- Feb–May prime for giant pre-spawn bass; open Feb–Oct only
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA license (16+) PLUS a city day-use permit (cash/check). Open only Wed, Sat & Sun, sunrise–sunset, February–October. Boats require quagga-mussel inspection.
What is here
- Features
- World-record-class largemouth water · 20+ lb bass potential · Del Dios launch & rentals · Limited 3-day-a-week access
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Fishing detail
- Water type
- lake
- Water
- fresh
- Methods
- Live bait · Casting · Spin · Jigging
- Boat
- both
- Target species
- Trophy Florida-strain largemouth bass · Crappie · Channel catfish · Bluegill
- Intl tip
- This is a specialist's trophy lake, not a numbers lake — hire a local bass guide and fish slowly with big baits rather than expecting a fast bite.
The guide
Hodges is the reservoir that put San Diego on the world bass map — its Florida-strain largemouth have produced fish flirting wi…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Lake Hodges — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.067, -117.107